I sure would like to see some buckeyes here...the agalinis is waiting! Among other things. I went to check an area in San Antonio yesterday that had hundreds of agalinis last year and I saw only two small small, splindly ones. The construction nearby and the drought have really made it look sad. They're clearing more land all the time. Butterfly habitat disappears, so sad!
This message was edited Oct 4, 2008 1:03 PM
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 49
I released four Polydamas today! They come out at all different times; one was already out when I woke up at 8:30, and another came out around 5:00 pm!
Here's the one from this morning.
I went to pick food for the caterpillars at my favorite hiking spot. I saw this White Peacock while walking around.
There were lots of Palamedes STs flying around, but I didn't think I'd ever get one to stop. But this one wanted to bask for a moment so I snuck up on it!
I also didn't think I'd get any good Zebra ST photos, but then this one was resting and let me take a few shots. There were lots of them around. I saw a female laying eggs, and what I guess was a male fly right at a dragonfly like, "Hey, this is my turf!"
I was there picking pawpaw and of course, picking up new friends. I guess I got around 10-12 Zebra ST cats. Two of them molted on the way home. I like when they go from black to their reddish stage like this one.
Melanie
Ooooh, how sweet is that! I knew, I loved butterflies, but my fondness of caterpillars just newly discovered. I owed that to many who have posting here. Thanks Melanie for sharing those pictures.
Kim
Kim,
You're very welcome. I like how each of the caterpillar species has their own personality. I tell people I raise butterflies, but really I raise caterpillars. Once they're butterflies they fly away! I just think the cats are so much fun to watch.
Melanie
Mellie...way to go. Awesome photos!!!
Well, I didn't see anything truly unusual at the park today. Saw a couple of Julia Longwings, a Zilpa Longtail Skipper and a Gold-Spotted Aguna that are worth a mention...other than that...everything else were the normal butterflies.
Had to come home early as I hired a guy to come help me clean out my back yard. It was truly overrun by my yellow morning glory vines, chalice vines and yes, dutchman's pipevine. Hated to get rid of the dutchman's pipevine but it was several years old and had not attracted any Polydamas (unlike Mellie - who gets them all the time!!! GRRRRRR!!!!) Still kept a good sized dutchman's pipevine on the west side - just in case :o) Besides...there's about 8 feet of lantana in front of it and I couldn't get to it if Iwanted to without cutting back the lantana.
I know it's a bit late to work on my yard...but heck...better late than never?! This is a before photo from 09/29/08 of the east side fence.
~ Cat
...and this is a photo from this afternoon. Big difference ey?! I knew there was a pony tail palm in there somewhere...glad to see it is still alive. Still want to get rid of it though...but brother will come dig it out for his yard. I can finally see my two pride of barbados trees...they were covered in vines. Now I need to work on putting in some flower beds along the fence...no vines...must stay away from planting vines...no vines...hmmm...I have some dalechampia that needs to be put into the ground. I promise I will make use of those tall trellises in the photo too. Uhhuh, I promise to keep the vines on them trimmed properly...want to buy a bridge?
~ Cat
That does make some difference Cat!!!
I guess I tell people the same thing, and you're right Melanie; we raise the cats!
Well this is the first year I have had a Passion Vine in the front yard. I don't collect the GFs they usually do a pretty good job of taking care of themselves. But the other day we were getting ready to go somewhere and I noticed as I stepped out of the house a GF in the "J'' hanging on one of my lights. Then I noticed another and another! LOL! The fixture is about 20-25 foot away from the vine. There is a perfectly good rail fence by the vine, go figure!
Another thing I noticed is that unlike other GFs that I have seen, or raised; these are gray/black not rust brown colored. I guess they are picking it up as a camouflage.
This message was edited Oct 4, 2008 8:36 PM
Shiela...Nice camouflage indeed!!! I wonder how many caterpillar "miles" 25 of our feet is? :o)
The Pink Spotted Hawkmoth caterpillar I'm raising is getting bigger and bigger. I swear it looks like it's going to burst open! This thing is real eating machine. Of course, having an abundance of morning glory to feed it helps :o)
Here's a photo of it.
~ Cat
...and the underside...which looks like it's about to burst open! It was none too happy to be upside down for the photo :o) but I wanted to get a photo for my records.
~ Cat
ps...the photos are from a couple of days ago...this thing has grown even bigger in the past couple of days. It really needs to quit eating and pupate!
This message was edited Oct 4, 2008 8:44 PM
OMG that is a big fella!!!
I don't know why those Polydamas won't fly over to TX. I can't tell you how many we have here. At the museum, the Polydamas make up nearly half of our butterflies. A lot of that is because the cats are so easy to raise; their survival rate is much higher than any other butterfly I've raised. My pipevines are just now starting to recover from being munched down to nubs. There was a Polydamas on the plumbago when I came home; probably one I released yesterday. He then hit the porterweed and then the bougainvillea. I guess he wanted to sample everything on the buffet!
Here's a White Peacock I got to release at the museum today.
I tried to get a top view but the wings were still a little wet.
After I finish up, I usually walk around and take pictures. It's cloudy today and a little windy, but there were all sorts of butterflies flying around. I got really excited to see this Pipevine ST.
Another view of the Pipevine ST.
I was taking a picture of one Gulf Frit basking and then this other one came and settled down next to it. There are lots and lots of Gulf Frits around right now; they're having a bit of a boom I guess.
Zebra Longwing on the firebush (big surprise there).
By the way, the USF Fall Plant Festival is next weekend so I will be spending all of my money on bromeliads. Then, I'm going to spend Mom's money on butterfly plants, lol! There are a few nectar plants I want, but I'll have to look over my books to see if there are any more host plants I might be able to squeeze in the garden.
Finally, I went to pick a little willow for my Viceroys and saw this cool looking moth. I'm not sure if the stuff behind it is eggs or silk. But I thought it was cool.
Melanie
Very pretty moth Melanie... It is a fall webworm. We had them so bad here in North Texas last year, that people went crazy with BT and Chalcid wasps to get rid of them. It pretty much worked, though it has taken all summer for us to see just a few real butterflies.
Don't let it lay any eggs.. a little can do so much, yikes.
D
Not sure of the name, but there were five sulphur butterflies on the Pineapple Sage today.
And this gorgeous thing... a Palamedes Swallowtail!
Barb
Hey, Barb got a picture of a Palamedes, too! Those guys are super fast! And for those of you who still can't identify one - notice the line on the underside of the wing that runs parallel to the body. Only the Palamedes have those. And this may just be me - but the yellow on a Palamedes has a kind of "air-brushed" look as opposed to the Black ST.
That makes sense about it being a webworm - there were webs all over the trees, but I didn't want to assume the two were connected. The tree it's on is in the "backwoods" of MOSI where they have walking trails and such. That particular tree was next to one of the entrance roads to the museum. They pretty much leave the area natural, except for their invasive species expert who is trying to win the war against kudzu, Brazilian Pepper, etc.
Hopefully they won't invade your area like they did ours last year. A lot of us in TX feel that is one of the reasons that our butterflies are just now coming back. People overreacted when they were doing so much damage to their trees.
If I were going to overreact it would be in the spring when the tussock moth cats rain down upon me like a plague from the oak trees. I've actually had to twirl around while my parents inspected me to make sure I wasn't carrying them into the house. They're everywhere! I have noticed the webs in the trees lately, but it doesn't seem to be any worse than other years. Maybe because we had a really dry September - I noticed the love bugs were hardly even noticeable this season.
Melanie
True Sheila!
You're right Mel~ The Palamedes does have an airbrushed look.
Nice butterflies Barb! And I was was just about to dig up my Pineapple Sage... Nothing seems to really land on it much at all, and it is getting monstrous. Maybe it's a regional thing, maybe they just like the Cuphea, Flame Acanthus and the other Sage/Salvias better here.
I have Sulphurs all over my two Pineapple Sages too, they seem to love it!! They really show up, hanging off of the red blossoms.
Nice photos Mellie, I LOVE that white peacock, wish we had that one (and quite a few of the others you see regularly) up here.
Cat, you're hawkmoth cat is so interesting! How are you set up for when he pupates, is he one of the ones that goes down into the soil?
Here's a couple of Zebra Longwing cats. Only two hatched and they're doing well!
I wish this one was around more...so pretty! Great Purple Hairstreak.
omgosh. gorgeous
Ahhh...those GPH are soooo beautiful! I haven't seen any around in several months. They'll show up soon enough though. They are always a treat to see.
~ Cat
This message was edited Oct 7, 2008 10:03 PM
OOooo, that IS a pretty one!!
I've been enjoying everyone's butterflies... silently : ) It rained all last week so I had no action here. The last couple days I had a single Monarch on the Verbena bonariensis for quite some time... and I think an American lady or two and that's about it. Last night we had temps drop down to 32 F - had some frost pockets too. I didn't cover anything because the forecast had said 37, so I may have lost my tomatoes that haven't even come close to ripe yet. What I'm more concerned about is any late bloomer butterflies. Hopefully they found somewhere warm to hide last night.
- I accidentally posted this on another thread lol! I was wondering why it didn't show up after I sent it.
Yeah Thea the hornworms use leaf litter and soil to make their pupa. Can't wait to see that one of Cat's. :-0.
Nice ZLW and GPH Linda.... Echoing Mrs. Ed...very beautiful. Surprised I haven't seen any in my back yard yet, I know Sheila gets them, and we do have a few oaks with mistletoe around here...
Guess the great winter birds will keep you until Spring Meredith, when temps dip that low the bflies are sparce, except for the very hardy ones.
I will be a little busy for the next couple weeks. Keller Garden Club has me doing a presentation tomorrow morning, ...And next Thursday.. The Fort Worth Women's Club. I have all the 5 page color handouts printed up and almost ready to go. Pray I do well and stir them up to host butterflies. Meanwhile I am waiting for Ben's school to clear out an area for a small garden. (52x28) Right now there is not enough sun there with all the trees and brush. All except a pine tree will have to go. Keeping the pine bc it doesn't shade too much and the needles are great for deterring weeds.
:-Debnes
Plus in our area pine trees are so rare!
It would be nice to raise GPH cats. I'm not sure if I have any mistletoe around, however. Let's see, how could I introduce some? Hmmm! Don't birds spread that stuff?
Mom watched one of my Polys come back to lay eggs on the pipevine. This picture is through her office window so it's a little blurry.
Melanie
