I think this is a fiery skipper, but I never did see it with the wings open...
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 43
2nd skipper picture.
Yes to the Variegated Frit!! Gulf Frits and VF's are the ones I'm concentrating on this year, besides my old favorites the BST's. Oh, and I have some milkweed now, for the Monarchs....
Okay whew!...Yes My BST was on the stuff that looks like Queen Annes Lace... for the brushfoot,I was looking on the caterpillar site and the Question Mark looked a lot like it to me.
so that's a good thing. now apologize for calling it ugly. LOL.
Hey I got a better pic of it...sort of. It get's cuter the more you look at it! LOL
What kind of cat is that and what is the host plant, nanny?
Don't know...Mrs. Ed ID'd it as some sort of brushfoot earlier. Melanie and I think it may be a Question Mark. I have know idea of the plant. It is by the roadside where I walk. I am a newbie trying to learn.
Well the question mark and comma are in the brushfoot family. If you look at all the brushfoot cats, they all seem to have the same spikes.
yah, probably a question mark. look at this picture:
http://www.giffbeaton.com/Caterpillars/Question%20Mark_2006-06-12-0191.jpg
Yay, looking at the last pic...I think we have a match!!
yah! They are pretty. And didn't you just see an adult a couple weeks ago?
I have had Comma's ... as far as we could determine on a couple..couple others remained unable to ID which they were.
Yep, I think it is a match for a Question Mark. Here's another picture id.
http://www.thebutterflysite.com/14-create-butterfly-garden.shtml
Their host plants are Nettle, False Nettle, Hop, Elm and Hackberry according to several sites I looked up. I sure wish I could have some visit me.
Isn't she pretty?
Yes, You take great photos!
thank you, I am getting obsessed with taking these. LOL
=^..^=
They either hear me or smell me. I just can't seem to sneak up on'em
Great pics everyone.
Nanny...the cat is pretty not ugly! LOL! I raised a couple of Question Marks last year. Here is a pic of two different instars.
Also if you look out on bug files at a pic I had posted there you can see how nice their chrysalis looks.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/showimage/4288/
This message was edited Aug 21, 2008 12:43 AM
Thank you Shelia!!
Oh I forgot to say the host plant is Elm trees and Nettles.
That whole "nettles" thing always throws me.
I don't know what is that it was on, but got fresh this morning. Both were given fresh plants this morning and boxes cleaned out.
oh so fun that you brought the "?" in. Get lots of pictures for us and the bug files.
*happy dance*
Early instar of BST??
Yes that is a BST cat. Good close-up, need to put that in our BugFiles.
Speaking of BST cats, here's three of mine. I wanted to show how much they can vary between instars. The Giant ST was back outside enjoying my pentas, but of course I didn't have my camera. It had been raining and I was just aiming to run out and pick some food, and there was a female Monarch and the Giant ST flying around! They must have been waiting for a break in the rain.
I also had my Polydamas clutches hatch and more Zebra Swallowtails hatched today! Also, the second Spicebush ST came out. So it's a caterpillar nursery in my house.
Loving the variety of butterflies everyone - keep up the good work!
That is quite a diversity. I don't think I had that much variances in mine.
nanny_56, the leaf that cat was on looks like some kind of elm. I've got nettles growing now, but I don't think the Question Mark comes here often. Sure would like to spot some kind of cat on them.
I think it might be an elm after looking a bit nore/better today and comparing leaves. The cat I would love to find is a Mourningcloak. I saw a MC butterfly earlir this summer and it was so pretty. The cats look like they are too!!
I was fortunate to find one of the Mourning Cloak cats in the "J" last year. It was on a small peach next to a Hackberry, so I am not sure if it fell or crawled up the peach. I posted the picks in the Bug Files, it was a pretty cat.
Beautiful photos everybody! I'm glad you shared that not so focused one Nanny b/c that was a beauty.
Linda, I was quite taken with your Queen -- stunning!
Spicebush on the waterlogged plumbago.
Gulf frit mooning me.
My brushfoot cat is in his 'J' this morning!!
wow, that did not take long. Looks like you got it inside just in time!!!
Some of my BST chrysalides are a bright green, others the usual dull brown. So interesting! They've all been eating the same parsley and dill, out of my gardens.
And the difference between the actual morphing into the chrysallis stage, between the GF's and the BST's is amazing to me. Of course, I've only see two BST's and one GF actually change into the chrysallis, but the BST's I watched just sort of magically and quietly, quickly evolved into the chrysallis. The GF, on the other hand, looked like it was doing gymnastics! It wriggled and writhed as it changed, I almost wanted the process to hurry and be over for the poor little guy!
nice! I had a green one too.
Not sure what determines the color differences. I used to think it was that the brown were because they pupated on the sticks I put in the cage, and the green were usually on sprigs of parsley. But with yours both in the same cage and location, that blows my opinion.
Not a good pic, but I saw this one yesterday on my Skeleton Plant....I think it's a PVST. When I was driving around yesterday, I saw quite a few BFs....including a Monarch or two.
When I see this on Texas Mountain Laurel, I know it's a Genista Moth cat.
I think I found BST eggs!
