Pearl Crescent on Thyme
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 46
Great pictures Chamthy! The Hairstreak is the Red-banded. That does look like the long tailed lost his tail to a bird maybe. Not sure what sulphur you have there.
I have had my Great Nephew here a few days and need to regroup. I will say I have had a lot of Monarch cats on my MW, brought 25 or so inside. It is 59 temp wise outside now, so there should be a lot coming through in the next few days!!
I followed this momma around as she peppered my plants with eggs!
This message was edited Sep 17, 2008 6:36 AM
Yes Sheila, The Monarchs are coming through... finally! I had several in back last Thursday, and only one was a female and I believe I might have some hatching or already hatched. I will have to investigate when it warms up this morning.
Super pics everyone! You are on a roll Chamthy! WTG!
Meredith, I looked all over for a cat resembling your post http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=5551570
and couldn't find an exact match so far, though I do believe it is some sort of moth.
Little hummer resting in the Vitex...
Thank you, I looked in my guide and the only thing that I found that it could have possibly been a match for, in this particular guide, was a moth. It had four pics of the cats variations and they all looked very different, so I'm going to go with that. It was a generalist, I think it was some type of Tiger Moth but I'd have to double check to be sure.
Just got back from a week in FL, so I have to catch up on all the postings still, but this morning, out checking on my GF cats on the passionvine, I found this little snake peeking out from where the eaves attach to the roof, right over the passionvine. Does anyone recognize this guy? I don't think it's good that he has such easy access to my GF cats and chrysalides, is it? Please help me identify, and what should I do? I climbed a ladder ready to pull him out to relocate him, but he ducked right back under, and will probably do it again when I try.
And I just found this pretty little guy on a chewed up penta! Is he a TST cat? I've been watching for them because there are so many TST's always around, but this is the first one I've found, and there's not much left for him to munch on. But he's pretty big, I can't imagine he'll eat much more. Should I bring him in or leave him to his own devices?
.....forgot to add his photo.....
Looks like a Tersa moth cat, especially if it's on pentas. Tiger STs eat things like cherry, sweetbay magnolia, tulip tree, etc.
Melanie
Congrat Thea611, you've got a Tersa sphinx moth cat. He's so cute! I raised one last year, and yes he can ruin your budget with his appetite. lol.
We had a cool front and there's more butterflies again. Here's one of the GSTs that came in!
And another...but this shows the Frostweed by the dry creek also. Butterflies love it this time of year.
Beautiful shots Linda!
Thea, Why not post the pic again in a query to the DG Wildlife Forum. Someone is bound to know just what kind of snake you have there. Nice pic of the Tersa Sphinx cat! I love those! They usually pupate in the leaf litter below the plant somewhere, and yours looks like it will be in the next few days. Here is one I documented last year...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/769278/
These cannas are about 25 ft. from my deck, and the little hummers like to rest in it's 10ft stalks...
Linda are those leaves kinda fuzzy like a Joe Pye weed? I saw some growing and wondered if it was anything butterfly related.
Can someone tell me what kind of butterfly this is he is drinking from a yellow daylily i love takeing pictures of these in my garden i have mexican sunflowers and zinnias in my garden. I allso planted some bronze fennel for the catepillars to munch on and i don't know where they go when they get big but i like watching them munch.
I just love takeing the close shots and seeing just how close they will let me get.
Mrs._Ed, the Frostweed leaves are rough on the top, no fuzziness I've noticed. I've heard that Joe Pye Weed is a good nectar plant, but haven't seen that one.
I brought in 7 eggs and one tiny cat from the Hop Trees. I'm not sure what the cat is yet...it looks different, has some goldish color. I have another tiny darker cat I found days earlier on a Hop Tree leaf and I think maybe it"s a Two-tailed Tiger cat. Oh goodie!
oh wow, that would be nice!
Well after all the days of rain, I have NO butterflies now.
Here's a question, do you think my buckeye chrysalis has to hang? It has fallen off of where it pupated. It actually crawled through a hole of an upside down 4" pot! duh. bad butterfly mom!
Harmony it is a sulphur..probably a Clouded Sulphur but not 100% on that.
The rain and wind we had yesterday tore up my Giant Zinnias I had out front. :(
I still have a couple out back...I hoping to get some seeds from them. Kind of beat one of my Black & Blue's too but I had a hoop I could use for it. Hummers still need that! They were unhappy about the zinnias being gone.
Thank you nanny_56 and heres another picture for helping me.
Looks like you have a very pretty Gulf Fritillary there Harmony!
I just watched a Monarch pupate for the first time! I was walking on my deck and thank goodness I noticed a Monarch hanging under the railing with what appeared to be a cap of green on it's head. At first I thought something had gone wrong, then as I started looking at it I realized it was in the process of forming a chrysalis! Lucky me! Boy did it happen quick! By the time I got my camera and got a picture it had already gotten much larger than when I first spotted it. : )
Wow Meredith, that's a great picture. They do change fast. It always amazes me. : )
~Lucy
Great photo Meredith. You were are the right place at the right time!
~ Cat
ps...finally had a chance to walk around the yard without getting kidnapped by mosquitoes. I removed a huge patch of cannas from the front yard several moths ago. Still left two on the side of the house and saw this when I walked around the corner. Seems a Brazilian Skipper has been busy!!! I counted 25 eggs on this one leaf. The other leaves are pretty much chewed up - guess this one is next! :o)
Hi,, just went back through all those lovely pictures.
Thea, Sandy has some seeds for you.
hmmm, that snake looks hungry to me, but maybe he was eating spiders or lizards.
Which butterflies like the candlestick (Cassia)? Mine is beautiful and blooming now.
Really neat photo Meredith!!
Great shot Meredith!! Great timing!
Elaine... A Couple of the Sulphur species use Cassia alata....(Orange-barred Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur, and Sleepy Orange) I have raised the Cloudless on that host. Hope you will too!
ROFL Cat! Glad you weren't kidnapped :-)! What an awesome batch of BS eggies. Pretty soon they will each have to disperse and find their own leaves to roll up inside of... Congrats!! You know how I love those BSs! I may have some too, I need to get into the back and investigate the holes in my tall cannas tomorrow.
Great timing Meredith!!
I just happened into one changing over today too. It had the skin worked all the way to the top and was really gyrating trying to kick it off. It was a really special site to watch. I couldn't tear myself away to go back to the house to get the camera.
I have about 5 in chrysalis and 4 in the "jay" position. A total of about 23 cats inside I think.
One of the San Antonio TV stations mentioned the influx of snout butterflies on tonight's news today. Unfortunately, they failed to consult an expert on butterflies like this one, so no plausible explanation was given for the mass migration. Last time it happened, one station did a nice interview with an expert who could explain it.
Thanks everyone I am still so excited that I finally got to see one pupate! I know a lot of you have seen it many times. I don't bring the cats in so I was extremmely lucky to have seen it! I took a few other pics but I have a short video of it I got with my camera, so it's not the best quality but I got to show my DH when he got home from work and he was amazed. He thinks it's so weird how they do it.
My Frostweed was loaded with bees and hairstreaks yesterday. Here is the Great Purple Hairstreak. I love the way the hairstreaks use their rears to fool preditors.
Thx for the update on Snouts Linda! Here lately I have been seeing more of them.
Beautiful PHS Sheila! Wish I could get some of them up close and personal.
a few from yesterday...of course lots of Buckeyes!
Spotted this Question Mark!! HAD to wonder if it was mine...
A pair of Silver Spotted Skippers
A Painted Lady
This Monarch was a very pleasant surprise!! :)
Fabulous shots nanny! You're blowing me away!!
A day of butterflies...here's the first Monarch I've seen on my place since spring...and a Queen!
Oh you are being to kind...but thank you!
Is this just a beat up Red Spotted Purple or what?
I DOES look kind of like a RSP...poor baby, probably had a near death experience. These GSTs....all over the place, I kept seeing more of them! And sulfurs, whites, snouts, even a PVST.
Yep nanny, she's seen better days...
Heard that Linda! Nice GSTs ...And I still haven't seen any queens, however today I have an ovipositing Monarch. The male Gulf Frits keep chasing her around thinking she's one of them, lol!
