My first Attempts

I finally found a cat on my dill last night. This morning I took a closer look and found some more. I decided I wanted to raise these even though I never have before. Considering I also host birds I wanted to keep them safe. So today I quickly made a cardboard house.

The dill is in floral foam. There is a dowel rod through the top for any chrysalis development. I'm keeping it on my covered porch. Is that okay or do they need sun? If I have to move it out then I suppose I'll need to use wood instead of cardboard.

Here is the larger instar.

and here is the group. Can't believe how tiny they are. I'm checking my other host plants a couple times a day for other varieties.

Mrs_Ed, that looks like a great setup! My cage is in the garage, no need for full sun......the parsley family plants stay nice for a long time, especially in the foam.

And, the plants seem to go a long way towards feeding them.....unlike the little Monarch piggies.

Nice BF house Mrs_Ed! Sure makes my coffee pot setup look shabby, LOL! fly_girl, you're right about those monarchs being piggies. I whacked one of my poor butterfly weeds practically down to the ground just to get ONE to the chrysalis stage!

Mrs Ed-
You're doing great! I love how you added those "red arrows" to show us the babies! How'd you do that?

Adrienne

Thanks everyone!!

Adrienne, I have photoshop and I use it for my profession, so I can do stuff like that pretty easily. Every software is different, but many have th ability to add text and graphics.

Let me tell you a funny story. A couple years ago I got that butterfly weed (my first). I knew it was a nectar plant, but not a host. I did not know much at all about butterflies in fact. I found a monarch on the tiny buttterfly weed and thought I'd move it to the dill before it ate all the plant. After all, I had PLENTY of dill. I Laugh now at how silly that was to try and get the monarch to eat the dill!!! My plant is much bigger now so I'm ready for those monarchs.

Now, how long until these guys start to make their "J"?

I found another cat this morning. Must have been one I missed before because it is already striped.

Yay.

Here's one of the two "older" BST cats, s/he was very rambunctious!

And the next oldest… and much more calm.

In total, I have 10 now. I did not find any new ones today. Still no sign of monarch eggs or cats either.

Wow! What pretty colors! What kind are they?

Black Swallowtails

I just raised 6 swallow tails and 2 pipevine swallow tails on our lanai. We now have 19 black swallow tail cats on there. They've eaten 2 parsley plants and are now devouring the 2nd. fennel. The first ones chrysallised (sp) on the basil plant than was in the same container. The pipe vines did on the vine. I'm not sure where all these new babies are going to go. The hummingbirds are back also. I'll try to find a pic of the swallow tails.

congrats mrs ed!!!! thats lovely.great arrows too.
did you get one from somewhere first or did they find your dill on their own?
The only thing to find my dill is a garden rat. :-(
A.
ps.Do cats like fluorescent pink tape?
:-)

This message was edited Jul 19, 2008 7:43 AM

Ewww, garden rat. Yes, they found the dill on their own. I never saw them there, but I saw the BFs in the area. I have dill everywhere and most of these were found in one area.

Pink tape???hmmmm… I just don't know!

i know ewwww
we have the trap ready but im afraid the squirrelie will get in, so we never set it.
How do you get a cat ,mrs Ed?
I have 3 milkweeds,2 dill,no cats.
A.

I have no idea how to get them, they just showed up. I have tons of dill though, maybe that helped. I did not see any of these BST cats on the dill last year, but I was not looking. I did see one monarch cat on the milkweed last year, but none so far this year. I read that they were late, so I expect I'll have some late cats around the beginning of august. I can't speak for the western population.

Earlier this spring we had an eastern tiger swallowtail that had recently emerged (wings were still curly-wet) on the garage. I can't figure out where the chrysalis was, but we have two ash trees in the front yard and they are a host plant. I keep trying to see if there are any cats on the tree, but it is very difficult.

I have been out daily to check on the various host plants, but I have not found anything else. I tell you, those first ones were tiny but at least they were dark enough so that I could see them.

Okay, here we go with the show.

This big guy/gal spent about an hour searching for the perfect place to make a chrysalis. This is actually the second to go on the search. Sadly the first one got out of the cage as I did not have the door secure. We looked everywhere but did not find it. Hope it made it to safety.

After it is done I'll cut this piece of cardboard off so as not to disturb it when changing the food for the others.

I forgot to say that pastelpaul gave me some guidance and told me that this BST was not going to make a J like the monarchs.



This message was edited Jul 20, 2008 12:25 PM

And here is the little one closer. Very difficult to get a good macro on this. I'll have to get the tripod out or move this into better light.

Look what happened overnight!!!

I have another one on the move. I think tomorrow there will be several ready to go!

YAY keep us posted!

It's just so fun. I hope they all make it.

I noticed a few days ago that a huge mature Butterfly weed was totally naked. (the main plant that I harvest seeds from) ..BTW- it is in a large patch of Black eyed Susans.....anyway...is there a specific BF that loves this plant or am I just serving a grand suppe for mant types? (this is the firs time this has happened and this plant is at least 4 years old.

Monarchs eat milkweed. so there's your culprit!!!

In fact, I found one on my butterfly weed tonight and it has joined the black swallowtails.

ohhhh i am so jealous!

I didn't even know that Butterfly weed was a milkweed., (well maybe I sort of forgot) So should I look for Chrisalis now? Maybe on the nearby tall Black eyed Susan?
I still can't get over the funny fact that the other night when you said you had a tiny "cat "loose...I wondered "how tiny can a cat be (of course thinking feline, as I have 3). LOL

Yes, I'd look nearby for a chrysalis!

Do you think I really only have one monarch? I checked for more, but still nothing.

Birdie, butterfly weed is excellent because it is a nectar AND a host plant!!

is buddleia a milkweed? I dont think so,but im not sure, But it sure is a butterfly bush! Is it a milkweed?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/49898/
one cat Mrs. Ed????

I only have one monarch Cat-erpillar!

No, buddleia is not a milkweed. It is strictly a nectar plant and a good one.
I just so happen to have a list of milkweed plants that monarchwatch.org recommends. (for my upcoming article)

MILKWEEDS (monarch host and nectar plants)

BUTTERFLY WEED (Asclepias tuberosa)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/73/

SHOWY MILKWEED (Asclepias speciosa)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54079/

COMMON MILKWEED (Asclepias syriaca)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/40130/

SWAMP MILKWEED (Asclepias incarnata subsp. incarnata)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/539/

SWAMP MILKWEED (Asclepias incarnata subsp. pulchra)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/133587/

TROPICAL MILKWEED (Asclepias curassavica)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/81057/

SWAN PLANT (Asclepias fruticosa)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/37912/

PURPLE MILKWEED (Asclepias cordifolia)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54136/

thank you!!!
I just planted 5 kinds.They are tiny. are they for next year?
where do I get a cat!!!!!????

When a butterfly comes and lays some eggs!!

Maybe now that you know what milkweed looks like you can go hunting for the cats!

How long are they in the chrysalis form?
Years ago i noticed one next to my front porch steps. I watched it daily and was very blessed to see it emerge and gradually stretch its wings. I even held out my finger which it stepped on, I remember it seemed to be getting its bearings as it perched on my finger, trusting me for what seemed like a very long time. I eventually sort of launched it like a birder does at a demonstration and it flew away to a nearby flower. after a while it just took off. Now that was a very memorable experience, and one that I have many pics (35mm) somewhere!!!

I've been trying to find that out, as this is my first try.

I think 7-10 days, but if it is the last chrysalis of the season, then they might stay in all winter?? And I'm sure all species are different. Someone posted that they knew a guy who had one for 11 months! So we'll see!

Mrs Ed - been waiting and waiting for the monarch cats! Checked the map and you're a bit south from me, so I'm guessing I'm a week or so behind. I check my milkweeds daily! Been seeing a few monarchs around for the past 7-10 days so I think it will be soon.

Yah, that's about the same for me with the Monarchs… also I never saw them laying eggs or even ON the butterfly weed though. They were mostly on the coneflowers. HOW they find these host plants is beyond me.

Also, when I found the monarch, I was so surprised at the size, because there was NO leaf damage (which is what I was looking for). It's as if it was just delivered to the plant by the Monarch Fairy. but that's a different story now. I put in some common milkweed yesterday and he ate a big chunk out of that right away. Unfortunately, that is wilting pretty fast, even in the floral foam. That's okay, when my two plants are diminished, I know lots of edges of corn fields where there is more!!

Chat, did you notice the odd smell from the BST cage? I think it's a combo of dill and poopies!

Yech!! I sure did! I cleaned them out over one of my flower beds and I kept thinking What Is That Smell! LOL! Took a couple of days to figure it out!

I'm not sure that I'm cut out for this!! I had another escapee, so that brings my count down to 8 of 10 BSTs. I should have gotten out and bought a rubbermaid container!!

One has pupated and is bright green, I expect that one to emerge deformed as it did for another on the forum.

And sadly, the monarch has died. Seems it fell into the container with the floral foam. Although there was not water in the dish, this proved fatal. I found it this morning, still convulsing, I'm going to give it a few minutes and then put it out if it's misery.

awww im so sorry Mrs. Ed
They should be flocking to you not running away,your such a good butterfly mama.
Im sorry for your sad time..thats life i guess..some will survive...some will not....
A.

I'm sorry to hear about your losses. I had wondered about that cup of floral foam. Didn't seem very safe, especially for the smallest guys. And when I cleaned cages, I'd set the cats on my stone wall. They are unbelievably fast! But 8 of 10 is still a lot. And if one has pupated the rest should go within a couple of days I think. It was much easier for me to take care of them then :)