Now,, I wonder why they were named after them? Will have to search... tomorrow..
I want them ALL! LOL
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 44
MEL...
...glad you agree on the Southern Broken Dash :o) I still haven't even come close to mastering my skipper knowledge. I know only the big ones, a few spreadwings and the tropicals. Everyone in the butterfly club rolls their eyes at me because I say all the rest look alike - they're either brown or brown or brown!!! ROLF!!!
Showing off another lone butterfly puddling. I've mastered identifying this one! ROLF!!! A White-Patched Skipper (Chiomara asychis).
I had a Black Swallowtail
Laying Eggs : )
This is my third time trying to load this picture?
Here's a better one.
-the one I meant to load-
This message was edited Aug 31, 2008 10:19 AM
That girl is in RUE heaven.
Great Meredith! Your rue is healthy looking also.
I really need to check out this rue....
Yes she was flying around me and DD & DH's heads trying to shoe us off! She probably would have laid more if we hadn't been in her territory! The rue looked much healthier until recently. The spot these ones are in is very dry and part sun. We have been lacking in rain and I pretty much neglect that area. It's kinda my weed patch.(for butterflies) The ones I have in my main butterfly bed are much greener and fuller. : ) I want to try them in more areas because they actually have quite attractive foliage IMHO. It's kind of bluish in person. : )
I have a love hate relationship with it. I have planted 6-8 every year. Maybe one will come back the following year. The plants will thrive until it starts getting near the end of June...then they will wilt and die. It's neighbor will be growing fine (same water/sun/shade). Just can't figure it out. Only reason I plant it is for the Giant Swallowtails. I have plenty parsley and dill for the BSTs. So this year I got some Hercules Club trees from a fellow DGer at a swap!! Hopefully they will perform better than the Rue!
Sheila is yours the elata? And Meredith which rue is that?
thnks, Elaine
Never paid any attention to that. They only sell one type down here. I have only had one plant live to bloom and the flower was yellow if that helps.
Well, it's very windy here and there are lots of clouds. I keep thinking if it's this windy here, it's going to be so much worse for the people in the path of the storm. Everyone stay safe!
The butterflies don't seem to care that it's so windy which I find odd. At the museum this morning there were tons of butterflies enjoying the garden. Since most everyone was clean and fed, I went out looking for new caterpillars to bring in. I also feel like I have to rescue them when there's a chance of severe weather.
But first, I just had to take a picture of this HUGE Polydamas cat. I mean, look how big he is!! He's on the screened lid we put on the top of the aquariums. Most of the cats crawl up there to make their chrysalis. I guess it's the same concept as the cheesecloth I use - lots of little footholds for them to hang onto.
I had to check on my Spicebush cats since I brought them in as eggs. This one was hiding in his leaf and probably didn't appreciate me doing this.
I have Ruta graveolens - I didn't even know there was any other type. : )
These are what Spicebush eggs look like, and for that matter, most swallowtail eggs are this size and shape but they will vary in color. I found twelve eggs today on the camphor tree (not a good tree, invasive here in Florida). Dad likes using camphor in his woodworking and I encourage him to try to destroy as many as he can. I'll just have to plant more Spicebush to make up the difference!
I also found a nearly full-grown Orange-Barred Sulphur cat. Also, when I got home one of my Monarchs made his chrysalis and I finally got to watch the whole thing!
For mellie here...Skipper sex!
Thought this was kind of neat
Cute pictures! I'm not sure I want to know exactly where that skipper has his (her?) head at!
I just went outside to pick more food for the Monarchs. I saw a Zebra Longwing flying around. I hope he settles in soon as it's getting cloudy and windier again. I got a pleasant surprise when I saw that a sulphur laid eggs on my senna ligustrina. I have a couple of cassia plants, but I got the senna from the Native Florida Plant Society and I really wanted the butterflies to use the native plant. I guess they were just waiting for it to get a little taller and get some fresh new growth on it.
Melanie
From the pictures above I'm guessing this is a Variegated Frit?
Nanny....I love the ironweed, it is a bf magnet.
I had been outside for a while this morning and another GF was flying over the passiflora; so i had to run get the camera. I dont' think they will be any good though because it kept moving around and mostly on the neighbors side of my fence!! Then I saw what may have been a BST but I was hoping a Pipevine ST! Chased it a while. I am so out of practice with cameras this summer was dull.
I tried some Ironweed seeds this spring but think they got drowned. This year I am going to winter sow some.
This message was edited Aug 31, 2008 7:48 PM
Hi all.
Who do I have here? Question Mark?
Mel - WOW! That is one huge Poly cat!!! Whaaaaa...I want some to show up here!
Nanny - way cool on the Silver Spotted Skippers! We don't get those down here in south Texas.
Love is surely in the air...I caught a couple of Brown-Banded Skippers having a go at it too :o)
Couldn't find our Butterfly Love thread - if anyone finds it please provide the link so anyone with mating photos can add them to it.
~ Cat
ps...whaaaa... I want Question Mark cats too. We get very few QM butterflies here. They supposedly use hackberry trees as a larval host but those tree so abundant it would be impossible to find a caterpillar let alone eggs.
psss...not sure if it is a QM caterpillar - I've never seen one out here before...same goes for the Red Admiral. You're going to make me go to my garage and get my Brock caterpillar book from the car.
This message was edited Aug 31, 2008 8:09 PM
Do you think it is a question mark? I was also thinking maybe a red admiral.
Mrs_Ed...not sure what that cat is. I looked over my caterpillar book and it looks like something from the brushfoot family - perhaps one of the patches or checkerspots.
What plant was it eating from? Or if not eating...what's growing close by where you found it?
~ Cat
well that's the thing, My Mom found it today and gave it to me, but only one leaf "some kind of weed" It's a long leaf with parallel veins.
I'm sad that I didn't make her get more weeds.
I thought for a while red admiral because of those little orange spots where the spines come out.
Hope ya'll are not getting too much rain(wind) down in Florida.
Nice x-rated skippers..
Mellie, that is one FAT CAT.
Does this help?
Here is my "?" cat Mrs. Ed. I don't think yours looks the same.
Nope. Mine is more like the admiral, that has black spines. I'm so sad that it will die because I don't have food for it.
I still can't figure your cat out Mrs_Ed. Am still leaning towards some type of brushfoot - mainly one of the checkerspots. If all else fails...we can guess moth! ROLF!!! Oh well, hopefully you'll be able to raise it and let us know.
~ Cat
ps...if you think it is a Red Admiral look around for pellitory or nettle. If it was in your mom's yard start your search for the larval host plant there.
This message was edited Aug 31, 2008 9:06 PM
can't you go back and get some??????
well it doesn't exactly match the admiral either.
You dont' think it's a buckeye do you?
yah, i suppose. 40 miles away though.
Okay, I'm going with common Buckeye because that's pretty close. PLUS, I just called my Mom and she said the weed it was on was a plantain. SO that matches the host plant. I went out and picked some of that weed from my yard. I'll try to find some snap dragons tomorrow.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/164971/bgimage
Looks like a buckeye to me.
Criminy...I didn't even look at the Buckeye cat :o) Looks like a mighty match...and more so if it was feeding on plantain. Congrats!!!
~ Cat
thanks! Well it isn't eating too much yet this morning. Hope it finds my stupid plantago major to it's liking.
Meanwhile day 10 and 11 for the BST chrysalis watch. No darkening yet. I sure would like to see them eclose before winter though. On the other hand, that would be a nice spring treat.