A few shots from today.
DAILY BUTTERFLIES Page 53
Not sure what kind this is.
I like this one.
Gardenpom...that looks like a Brazilian Skipper. I had one ovipositing like crazy a couple of days ago. It must've have left a good hundred eggs on one canna plant.
Kelli...lovely Buckeye...that's a cool photo of it...brown on brown - excellent coloration!!!
Mellie...go ahead and rub it in...we don't get those ZSTs here...grrrr!!!! That is one awesome butterfly!!!
Elphaba --- what does that screenname stand for? Am trying to figure out how to remember it - I always have to scroll up to check the spelling :o) Do you get sulphurs mud-puddling?
Linda - what great action on the mistflower - you're giving me competition!!! :o)
Any more malachite sightings?
I haven't been to the park in a couple of weeks - we're due for a cool front. The butterfly activity picked up today - guess they're trying to get in all the nectar they can before they freeze their patooeys off :o)
~ Cat
Cat, you get so many butterflies none of us get that I have to rub one in! And the Zebra STs are my babies! They're the first butterfly I ever raised.
Hey everyone, check out my thread where I compare Spicebush and Palamedes caterpillars: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/923764/
Melanie
Great comparison thread Melanie! Now if I'd only get those two species as well :o) Okay, I can't whine too much...I did get to see those when I was in Georgia earlier in the year :o)
~ Cat
Cat, I haven't spotted a Malachite again yet. But one friend of mine from NE of San Antonio area ID'd a Julia at her place earlier today! Even with the mistflowerand all I have, it seems like there's not enough blooms for the crowd I'm seeing. We're in severe drought here...I've seen what's blooming along the roads and it is really pathetic right now, next to nothing. So the butterflies find whatever they can, whatever people are growing, gotta have nectar after all!
Cat, no sulphers mudpuddling -- just laying eggs on the cassia and then they taking off. 'Elphaba' is from the book Wicked -- actually, it's better known as a musical/play now, huh? I've never seen the broadway version. You can just do Elph or Elf or El if that's easier! She's the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz who is just misunderstood according to Wicked. I collect witches, and Elphaba definitely has a green thumb since she's green all over, so I thought it would fit this forum!
Cool pics everyone. I can't believe you spotted that tiny egg Molamola. GP, I just love Gulf Frits. Their colors are so wonderful.
Those are SO pretty! There were less butterflies today. Windy and cooler today. The front must have blown this one in...FINALLY one that actually visited the fruit I put out! But this was the only pic I could get of the poor tattered Red Admiral...it landed next to my kitty, who took no interest in it.
A couple of these Variegated Fritillaries were nectaring today. I felt sorry for the butterflies...all this chilly wind, then temps in the 30's tonight.
And a duskywing, probably Funereal Duskywing on the cosmos.
heh heh...
That's some type of sphinx moth cat on papaya???
Went to the ranch today in the hopes of finding out where all those Red-crescent Scrub-hairstreaks are coming from. Saw only a dozen today and tried to watch where they'd fly off to but it was just too cool and windy and they were just too small to keep sight of. I must've have turned over a gazillion leaves from a variety of wild mallows trying to find eggs or caterpillars...but alas, no luck at all except lousy luck :o)
~ Cat
A Sphinx type moth, yes. Eating frantically, even all stretched out like that, funny. Maybe another Ello sphinx, that made it through the hurricane. It has a sort of green back like the older one that went off and hid. Lots of eggs on the papayas now.
Hairstreaks are so cute! And pretty, if you can see the little buggars. There are some zipping around here sometimes, but they're too quick for me.
Debnes, I did indeed notice a bit of parsley planted among the plants where I found the chrysalis. I forgot I planted it. I think your glad cage is a super idea. Thanks for that info.
There are so many great pics that I can't comment on all of them. Melanie, Elphaba, Linda, Kelli, and Mola, thanks so much for these greats. And Melanie, I loved your link on Spicebush vs. Palamede cats.
I ended up bringing the lone Black ST inside. It will freeze tonight, and I felt so sorry for the little thing. I stuck the wrought iron stake, chrysalis, all, in one of my butterfly cages zipped open just a hair. The top of the stake is propped against the wall in a very precarious position. I'm going to buy a gladware container, like Debnes has, and try to hang my little friend in there.
This message was edited Nov 16, 2008 12:59 AM
Oops, wrong pic above!
First freeze, 30.6°...so I covered the White Mistflower with sheets last night, should be okay, I hope. I hate to see blooms start disappearing in the fall! It must be difficult for butterflies to migrate, with cold weather following them down. The severe drought here doesn't help either.
Paper towel is most likely used to keep the bottom of the cage clean from cat frass as well as the liquid a caterpillar will expend prior to pupation...and for putting them in the cage where you have chrysalids - well, the emerging butterfly will also expel liquid - makes the cage clean-up so much easier! It also helps give the newly emerged butterfly something to cling to as it crawls around the cage.
There is also a thread we created so everyone could show off their cat houses - everything from plastic containers to some really nice and fancy cat cages :o)
I have several dozen plastic containers I made into cat cages. If you have some plastic containers (I either purchase some or just use the kind dog treats come in), a glue gun, a woodworking tool with a cutting tip and the nylon screen used for windows you can easily make a whole bunch of cat houses :o)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/643281/
~ Cat
Fabulous pics everybody!
I hear ya Linda, it is kinda late season action, and even with the cold coming on.
One of my Black STs actually eclosed yesterday!!! I noticed the chrysalis getting dark, and when I touched the container it was wiggling. This was one of the containers inside the mudroom where it is cooler than the house, and not as cold as outside. I store all of them in there as I have for years, and none of them have ever eclosed this late!!!
Let him out and he stayed on the red Salvia greggii all day yesterday. This morning he was basking there and decided to fly around the yard in a circle and landed on a high spot in the Vitex tree.
V-ray (my oldest daughter) helped me release, but not before getting a good tickle... see pic.
Yeah Martha, Cat is right... The paper towel is for absorbing any liquid expelled after they eclose. If they get caught in the pool of liquid sometimes they will wallow around and their wings get all wrinkled making it difficult or impossible to fly.
Cute photo Deb!
~ Cat
Stepped outside for a few minutes and decided to take a photo of one of my lantanas. I'd dumped on some super bloom a couple of weeks ago and the difference is amazing :o) Lots of butterfly action too.
Did I forget to mention I'm quite bad at cutting back my plants? This one is taller than the fence :o) There is an orange honey suckle to the right side...I should've given that a dose of bloom buster too but that one already grows too big for it's britches :o)
~ Cat
An odd looking Gulf Frit - this one most likely had a spot of trouble eclosing - hence the mis-shaped wings...but must say, they make it look quite neat and unusual. Doesn't hinder flying either.
~ Cat
There were a good dozen Queens nectaring on it too...look quite fresh - must be those Queens that were chomping down my milkweed a couple of weeks ago :o)
Saw a Soldier in the bunch. I have yet to raise these.
~ Cat
Get a look at the 'do' on this Julia caterpillar :o) Guess this is a teenage caterpillar's idea of a mohawk?! Heh! Heh!
Caterpillar is now 6 days old.
~ Cat
The spines on the Julia caterpillars are extremely long compared to the Gulf Frits and Zebras. Here's another view of it with a Zebra cat peeking over the passion vine stem :o)
~ Cat
I was looking at this Queen today...looked different, dark and dull color.
Oh...BTW, Cat...beautiful pics of the Julia cats. The year I had a few of the cats I had such a lousy camera that I never even got any really good pics.
This message was edited Nov 16, 2008 2:51 PM
Some crazy hair-do on the Julias Cat! LOL@ teenager.
Nice pic of the Queen Linda!
Linda, I've noticed on the gulf frits that they really vary in color. Some are neon bright orange and some are almost brown. I think your Queen is beautiful.
Nice pics Cat!
This Painted Lady has been hanging around today.
Elph....thanks for the name info...now it makes sense to me :o) Can't go wrong with a green thumb that way!!!
Was outside again this afternoon when I spotted a Zebra ovipositing on the passiflora biflora. I was smart enough to leave my camera on the back porch table so I quickly grabbed it to take this photo. Poor darling has seen much better days - but she's still still ovipositing. Am sure this is the same butterfly I'd seen a couple of weeks ago ovipositing.
~ Cat
ps...there was also a Gulf Frit around the vines and I was out there shooing it away. It finally got the hint and moved to the vine in the front yard :o)
pss...also watched a Monarch and Queen ovipositing on the milkweed plants...and also found several Guava Skipper eggs on the guava tree - must've laid them there yesterday as I'd not noticed them before. The Brazilian Skipper is still ovipositing on every canna leaf it can - my poor cannas are turning to shreds - I just love those big chunky skippers...but those caterpillars - ugh ugh ugly!!! :o)
This message was edited Nov 16, 2008 7:50 PM
Great reading and photos here!
I just found out that the Lemon, or Lime Swallowtail is a pest on citrus in Indonesia, and they're upset it's gotten to the western hemisphere. Being a strong flyer, they're expecting it to get to Florida in a few years.
Sigh, tha a pretty butterfly can cause damage...
I've brought my passion vine indoors so it can grow some leaves! Poor thing has been nearly eaten to death! I think I'll go around like Johnnie Appleseed, be Mola passionseed!
Mola P...lol! If you plant the PV in the ground it will send runners out. It sends runners out but makes for a thicker plant. Those Orchard bfs are like our Giant STs here. The citrus growers spray for them, and we love them. I was at the same bf exhibit as Debnes and got to see them up close....very pretty!
Poor little Zebra!! She is truly commended for her egg laying efforts. Looks like she has been through a hurricane; I doubt she flies too much more. :-(
Wonderful pics everyone!!! Deb...guess Ben isn't the only butterfly wisperer in the family! lol!
Never the less you saw one in your garden!! Aren't they beautiful, I love the eye spots.
I have a lot of bfs out today here also. Guess the cold front drove them down. I am seeing sulphurs, monarchs, queens, gulf frits, skippers, and painted ladies.