Carla, it sure looks like the ones that have been visiting my garden!
Barb: a friend of mine told me I needed to run a defrag on my computer and also a disk clean-up. I did both of those things and it seems to be working fine now. I can never remember to do the regular "housekeeping" items on my computer--good thing I had somebody to remind me! :o))
Marilyn
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 51
Wow lots pf cool things here!! That Palamedes Cat is a trip!!
Not much here..still see buckeyes and a few sulphors. Lot of Painted Ladies...here is one on my sunflower...with company!
Well, my Palamedes cat didn't make it. He started to pupate but I just knew something wasn't quite right with him. I still have the egg I found and now that I know where to find them, I think I'll go hunting again this weekend. I have to go pick more food for the piggies anyway.
Speaking of the piggies, I was feeding the Zebra ST cats and cleaning up their many gut purges today. I had them sitting on the cheesecloth while I cleaned and it occurred to me that I should take their picture. I wanted to show the diversity in color of the caterpillars.
Melanie (who doesn't get Mourning Cloaks and loves the pics)
Bummer news...remember that Pink Spotted Hawkmoth caterpillar I found and put inside a cage to raise. Well it pupated fine and looked good but a few days ago it went kaput! There was all kinds of gunk at the bottom of the cage and the pupa was split open. Numerous tachinid fly pupae were in the gunk. UGH!!!
~ Cat
On a much better note I saw several malachites today. This one looks almost fake! It was just perched on the eupatorium nectaring away...I had to take a photograph!!!
~ Cat
Also was so intent on getting this Great Purple Hairstreak's photo that I did not realize I was standing on an ant mound!!! I must have been shuffling my feet around for about two minutes when I felt a bite. I looked down and my boots and jeans were just about black with lines and lines of ant crawling up my pant legs!!! YIKES!!! I jumped back and started to brush them off as fast as I could. Then zipped over to the ladies room to shake out my boots and pants :o) I ended up getting three ant bites...not bad considering the mass of ants that were pissed because I stomped all over their home!!!
Of course, everyone always wants photos of a Great Purple Hairstreak so I had to show the park visitors where this one was hanging out. Needless to say, when I warned them about the ants and they saw the flattened ant mound...I heard the snickers! :o)
~ Cat
This message was edited Oct 21, 2008 7:47 PM
For grins I took this photo of a Tawny Emperor just so I could have one of the ventral view. When I got home and looked at it on the computer I realized she was oviposting! Way cool!!!
~ Cat
awesome!
...and who can resist this little Silver Banded Hairstreak :o) I just love these little green butterflies!!! About two dozen of these can probably piggyback on a Malachite!!!
~ Cat
Terrific photography Cat.!!! Love those hairstreaks too!
Gotta show off these two sharing - a Great Southern White and a little Gray Hairstreak :o)
~ Cat
Nice shots everyone!
Sorry about the Palamedes cat Mel, and the Pink Spotted Hawkmoth Cat.
I have been having Gulf Frits crawling off to pupate in weird places again. About three have gone over 35 foot away to a bench near my front door others near a light and on the soffet of the house. It is no telling how many we run over with the cars as they cross the driveway to get there I think. One was smart and chose the bottom of a little yard art bird house along the fence.
I've just never seen so many beautiful butterflies! Cat, It would be so cool to see those beautiful Malachites and the others in your photographs in person! Lucky you!
Wouldn't it be just the icing on the cake to get a bus tour organized to go down to Edingburg area next year??
Ok, I went to pick more caterpillar food and while I was out I had to scour the bay trees. I found this caterpillar and I'm trying to decide whether he's a Spicebush or Palamedes. Right now, I'm leaning toward Spicebush because: I found him rolled up in a leaf nest. I've heard Palamedes aren't leaf rollers. He has brown on his rear and I read that early instars of Spicebush cats have brown but Palamedes don't. However, he was on a Redbay tree. I won't swear it wasn't a Swamp Bay, though.
I didn't take my camera of course because I was "just going to pick food and it's almost sunset anyway". So naturally, I saw a Carolina Satyr, three turkeys walking down the road, and two clusters of strange orange caterpillars on a bay tree (I'll get my book out and try to ID them). I also saw a dead cat on a camphor tree. It was probably a Spicebush.
Notice in the photo I got a bonus egg. At first I thought it was the egg he hatched from, but it doesn't look hatched. I'll keep you posted!
Melanie (who is rooting for the Rays!)
Edited to say I found two more Zebra ST cats while I was picking pawpaw.
This message was edited Oct 22, 2008 8:19 PM
Hey, I've got a paw paw growing here and it is doing well...now tell those ZSTs to fly their patooteys to south Texas!!!
Yeppers....ya'll need to organize a road trip to south Texas next fall...make sure you come when our butterfly festival is going on in Mission TX - third week in October :o)
~ Cat
ps...had a Julia Longwing in my yard today...yippee!!! It was nectaring on the Pride of Barbados. I cleared away some vines that were covering those trees up so the butterflies are now noticing the flowers!!! Now if I can only get a female to oviposit on some of my passion vines!
Yeah Melanie,
That is definitely a SBST. Cute lil thing!!
Mellie--isn't that the truth?--You never have your camera when you really need it!
A bus tour? sounds like butterfly heaven! LOL
There's a butterfly festival in Arkansas in May or June every year up on Mt. Magazine. I've never been but it would be nice to be able to go next year.
I'm coming.. Buying my bus ticket now. We have a friend who just moved to Houston, so we can stop and see him, then come on down.
Beautiful butterfly pics.
Longtailed Skipper on Salvia.
Beautiful--great pic!
Well, ya'll need to shake a leg and get a move on! Our first fall season butterfly count is this coming Saturday. We're hoping to get at least 150 species and there's no telling how many of the same species we'll see. I know for a fact the Queens, Tawnys and Snouts will run into the hundreds if not thousands :o)
Was out at the park today...got a nice dorsal shot of a Mallow Scrub Hairstreak :o)
~ Cat
ooo, good luck.
Leafhoppers! I'd not seen so many before...had to take their photo.
~ Cat
...and another photo of the leafhoppers...notice the two odd colored one at the back of the line :o)
~ Cat
oh, those all are so cool!
A fresh Texas Powdered Skipper :o) It's so nice to have butterflies with state names :o) Of course, that can't compare to Ray Stevens' Mississippi Squirrel Revival :o)
~ Cat
I had those leafhoppers bad like that one year on my Powderpuff. That was a few years ago, and have not seen any since then.
Wow. I'm in awe of the amazing butterflies.
I thought this was a pretty moth, but I haven't been able to figure out what it is. Moths are tough to ID.
Update:
Found its name!
Anna Tiger Moth
Grammia anna
This message was edited Oct 24, 2008 12:36 PM
Great photos, cat! Those leafhoppers are something else! I read somewhere here on DG that they can spread the "Asters Yellow" disease that infects coneflowers.
Borders, I used to see moths like that quite often but I haven't seen one in a while. I don't know what it is called.
Yep I lost 3 of my Echinacea this year because of Asters Yellow. NOT a happy camper..I will replace them next year and see what happens.
Those leafhoppers are unique!!! Never seen anything like them!
I just despise leafhoppers, but they are quite interesting to look at. My Texas Big Bug Book says that leafhoppers are responsible for spreading 150 plant disorders. I rarely say this about a bug, but kill them!
I'm excited that I finally have a Red Admiral!!! Whoohoo!
Nice! I find them hard to photograph and that is a beautiful picture!
He was so difficult! Apparently, it was too much to ask that he land on the dark pink pentas and open his wings long enough for a photo! I just saw him again and ran outside. I have a feeling I'm going to be chasing him all day. He's pretty battle worn though -- missing some chunks of wing.
I KNOW! stinkers.
This Imperial Moth was on our patio this morning.
Beautiful red Admiral, Elphaba. The green leaves, bright pink flowers and the colors on the butterfly all make for a nice contrast.
GP--nice pic of the Imperial Moth. I haven't seen any butterflies and or moths flitting around my garden the last few days--must be too cool although it is currently 62º and sunny.
I haven't seen many butterflies today but we had a front come through and it rained most of the day. Dad reports lots of Gulf Frits out and about. I have my hands full with caterpillars right now. Check out all the Polydamas I brought in off my pipevine!
Again on the subject of color variations in Zebra Swallowtails, this black caterpillar made a green chrysalis.
Melanie
