The two BST on the statuary's hat emerged just fine. The later was first by a week.
Help! cats on my single milkweed plant
Ok, you guys, I took a piece of my milkweed and seared the end with a lighter at 5:00 pm yesterday pu it in a glass of water and guess what, it still as of 5:00 pm today is standing straight, so you might try that technique to keep the milkweed from drooping. Although I really like the idea of feeding it fresh leaves daily from the plant as you should then have a steady supply. What did Benjamin Franklin say..."necessity is the mother of invention" and never type an email while drinking a glass of wine. LOL
I really debated over releasing the wasp for that very reason, I took the chance and watch the plants carefully to see if they did attack, but I am not even seeing any cat eggs. The only eggs I saw were on my Dutchman's pipe and I watched the cats get huge and do see some pipevines every once in awhile. I really think the mocking birds got my Giant Swallowtail larvae off my patio citrus. I went out yesterday and found some potted fennel for sale so I put that in last night.
Have a great day my butterfly friends,
Peg
I better go I am getting dixlexic from 3 sips of wine.yikes, I may be Irish but I sure can't drink!
Ha, ha, Peg. FYI, neither can I hold alcohol. I get plastered from one beer!
Thank you for your input that 1 out of 4-5 generations know they are the ones to hibernate over the winter. I did not know that. I thought all went to Mexico. I need to bone up on Monarchs.
Martha
Its Sunday and the Milkweed is still standing tall.y'aaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllll. Total of 3 days now.
Wow, good to know, thanks!
I Have a Butterfly!!!!!
AND a new crysalis, as of yesterday.
Got some great pictures, will post them later.
She came out between 10 and 1:30. She was in the cocoon when I went out at 10:30 to see her and when I just went out there she was out and her wings were fully pumped out. I put Salvia, agastache and milkweed flowers in her cage.
Letting her be quiet in the cage and we will set her free tonight
Will she be okay in the cage until tomorrow if I keep her quiet? I think that there will be rain tonight (not heavy) and I am worried about her not having enough time to get her bearings.
Is that weird or what? Feeling protective of a butterfly!
LOL
I did read where it takes about 6 hours for the wings to harden.
This is WAYYYY better than TV!!
And THANK YOU to all on this thread, this has been so much fun sharing my trials and tribulations and hearing everybody else's stories and advice. I have learned so much from all of you!!!
Thank you!!!!
Congrats, Lori. Indeed this is the most exciting hobby anyone could have, and I have loved following your narrative. The newness of this business leaves me spellbound. I, too, Lori, have a new Monarch chrysalis as of an hour ago. Meet Ho, now a chrysalis. His mate, Hum, is still a cat. I'll show pics of when both were cats, and then a pic of Ho's chrysalis.
Ho, the chrysalis. Aren't his colors spectacular?
Also, here is my little inchworm (or looper) that I was going to throw away, but instead fell in love with him. I found him on my parsley. He will be a moth. I know not what kind.
Martha
This message was edited Sep 12, 2008 2:06 PM
Finally, here are Ho, Hum, and Looper's residences. Ho and Hum live together. Looper is the cage to the right.
Martha
Finally, here are the residences of Ho, Hum, and Looper. Ho and Hum live together. Looper is in the smaller cage to the right.
Martha
Martha, I'm so happy that you seem to be enjoying your new hobby...it is cool, isn't it? I think that all children should have some exposure to these amazing cat creatures! But it wasn't too late for me, even though I never learned about them as a child.
Thank you, Linda. I have more pics of the life cycles of my Eastern BST and the Monarchs. I am going to show them to my grandchildren when they next come to Brandon. I think I'll do a slide show for them.
I think it is never too late to become fascinated with these adorable little creatures.
Martha
I agree, I just started last year (thanks to DG) and now have a lot of co-workers who are going to start doing it! We have an adult day care next door to us and they are going to do it next year.
Debilu, how wonderful. And more wonderful that you have influenced so many to join us to protect the shrinking population of butterflies. Thank you for letting us know that.
Here is an interesting article of worldly concern. Maybe you could pass it on to your bf friends too.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020402072832.htm
Martha