Melanie's Spring Butterfly Thread

Hi everyone! In case you're wondering where I've been...

Well, after I had my gall bladder out in January I was feeling a lot better. I learned to give myself B12 shots so my energy levels were back up and so that was going fine, too. Then, about a month ago I got a sore throat and went to the doctor thinking it was strep (some ladies in the office and their kids had strep the week before). I got some antibiotics, but a few days later I woke up and the left side of my face was droopy. Apparently, I picked up a virus that caused Bell's Palsy (facial weakness or paralysis on one side). That in turn, triggered some massive anxiety on my part so I've been visiting my doc, a neurologist, and my psychiatrist!

Plus, I've been off work since driving is a little tough when you can't quite blink one of your eyes. I haven't worn my contacts in over a month which is weird; thank goodness I have a decent pair of glasses. Mostly, I've been curled in bed getting lots of rest and reading lots and lots of romance novels. But I've still made time for the butterflies!

So let me recap the last month or so for you...

Here's a Buckeye on my Spanish Needles. I finally gave up trying to pull them and I'm letting them grow in front of the house. Once they go to seed I'll yank them but for now they bring in the butterflies like you wouldn't believe. They are also a host plant for the Dainty Sulphur but I haven't seen any of them yet. I generally have about six duskywings flying around them at any given time. This is also the first time I recall seeing a Buckeye in my yard; I usually only see them on hikes.

Melanie

When I was hunting Zebra ST cats I ran across this neat looking cat. I looked him up in my book and it's a Grapevine Epimenis (Psychomorpha epimenis). It's actually a pretty moth so I may have to raise one someday.

Mom and I went to the Renaissance Festival which happens to be held on a piece of property right next to MOSI (where I volunteer). The rest of the year the property just sits empty so there are lots of good weeds and plants to attract butterflies. I was chasing Checkered Whites around the parking lot and snapped some pictures. I was surprised to find when I came home that I happened to get a pic of this one ovipositing on Virginia Peppergrass! Like I always say, take enough pictures and you'll end up with at least one good shot!

Another Buckeye siting in my neighbor's yard. The plant it's on is Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) which hosts the White Peacock and the Phaeon Crescent. It's also a popular nectar plant when my neighbor doesn't mow and the flowers have a chance to bloom!

My first Zebra ST of the season! My aunt sent me a get well card and a pictureshe took of a Zebra ST up in WV nectaring on honeysuckle. Down here they nectar on the sawtooth blackberries in the spring (they grow among the pawpaw so I guess it's easy pickings).

One of my several Duskywing friends on the Spanish Needles by the front door. Mom has fun watching them from her office all day. They're a funny butterfly - they'll all be hanging out on a flower and then it's like the Mad Hatter yells, "Change places!" and they all fly around and switch to a different bloom. They also like to chase other butterflies away from their food source. I saw one chase a Gulf Frit over to the verbena and I just shook my head and thought, "Don't you know he's bigger than you?" Although, I guess the worst that could happen is they stab each other with their proboscis.

The Spanish Needles are coming up beneath my porterweed which, if you remember, was extremely popular last year. The porterweed just started blooming so I'm expecting some kind of butterfly bonanza! Plus, the Spanish Needles bring in bees by the truckload. My dad said he never saw so many honey bees before and was glad to know we're supporting them. I also like that you get a lot of the smaller butterflies like this Hairstreak.

And let me stress again that this is right outside my front door. The bricks in the picture are the pavers at the entrance to my house. So you can attract lots of different kinds of butterflies to your yard - even if you're on a half acre in the suburbs like me!

The Duskywings may have chased the Gulf Frit off to the verbena (Tampa Mock Vervain or Glandularia tampensis) but he seems to be enjoying it. This is my favorite endangered plant! We grow it at the museum, too.

Here's a nice shot of my duskywing friend. I usually get the Horace's Duskywings (which I believe this guy is) but sometimes I see the Juvenal's duskywings.

The skippers love the Spanish Needles, too. I often say that some of the best butterfly plants are weeds. At the USF plant festival this year the native plant society (who I have the utmost respect for) was naturally selling lots of native plants to folks. A good mission, but some of those plants are sooo common and people were paying $4 a pot for them! Like the above-mentioned frogfruit, and I also saw Spiderwort for sale. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling people to just go dig some up off the side of the road (or your neighbor's yard - tell them you're "weeding" and they might even thank you for stealing their plants).

Last fall was the first time I saw a Painted Lady in real life. So I was still surprised to see one this spring. I've spotted them in my yard and at MOSI. Maybe some years are better than others for these butterflies?

I've made it my personal mission at the museum to gather up the most, and most interesting caterpillars. Lately, I've been on a Spicebush/Palamedes hunt. They both use bay trees so I end up finding both when I search. Here's a cool Spicebush cat I found. By the way, I still proclaim them to be the smelliest of all swallowtail cats.

Now, for comparison purposes here is a Palamedes cat I found. He's currently chilling in his chrysalis in my room. Notice that the Spicebush has a smaller set of eyespots behind the main ones. The Palamedes will have yellow spots here, but they aren't the true eyespots of the Spicebush.

The freezes hit the plumbagos hard this year so Dad chopped them down to the ground. As soon as they started blooming, the Cassius Blues came back. They lay their eggs on the little leaves right under the flowers. This guy is naturally, nectaring on the Spanish Needles growing next to the plumbagos (see why I stopped pulling them?).

This Spicebush at the museum is changing color as he gets ready to pupate.

So today I was wandering through the yard when I saw something flying around. It turned out to be a Red-Banded Hairstreak. I think it was laying eggs at the base of one of our oak trees. I left it alone so I wouldn't scare it off. I tried looking for eggs later, but I'll be darned if I could find any. I'll try again in a few days to see if I spot any caterpillars.

I also had my head in the milkweed today looking for cats when I heard a fluttering beside me. Sure enough, Mommy Monarch had come to lay eggs. Once she settled, I picked her up (don't try that at home, kids) and relocated her to another area of the yard where I have milkweed growing but hasn't attracted eggs yet. I mean, one plant can only take so much! Well, it's actually four plants by the house but they keep laying on the one all the way to the right for some reason. Project Monarch Relocation was a success as I got her to lay eggs on my other milkweeds!

Another obsession I developed this spring was finding some of those Checkered White cats. I finally spotted one laying eggs at MOSI this weekend so I started looking at the peppergrass. I remembered that Whites and Sulphurs are related and sure enough the White eggs looked like little orange footballs. Like the Cassius Blue, they lay them on the flowers. Once I spotted one it got a lot easier, and then I managed to find some caterpillars. When I got home I ran across the street to this vacant lot that had some peppergrass and I gathered up a bunch of cats so I could raise them at home. I also noticed there's some wild petunia (ruellia caroliniensis) growing there and I'm going to go dig it up when I feel better (and the neighbors aren't looking).

Other than that, I've got lots of Zebra ST in their chrysalises, a Palamedes, a Spicebush cat, a tank of Orange-Barred Sulphurs, my Checkered White cats, a bunch of Gulf Frits in chrysalises, and the never ending Monarch cats. I'll be sure and keep you posted on all of them in the daily thread.

Melanie

Melanie,

I thoroughly enjoyed this thread. Firstly let me say that I hope your physical health improves and you can say goodbye to viruses, infections and organ removal!

I always love reading your stories. I tell everyone about you running through the house yelling "butterfly sex."

I'm gonna have to get me some of that there Spanish needles. I see it's an Illinois wildflower so I'll be on the lookout.

this thread makes me want to go out caterpillar hunting! Thanks.

Hi Melanie!!
We have missed you but I knew you had been recovering from the surgery. Just figured you were busy at MOSI trying to catch up. Hope you get through the new illness without any long lasting problems. Glad you can still enjoy the bfs as you recover and gain your strength back.
All of the pics are so neat! I love the buckeyes! You mentioned the Frogfruit, it is also a host plant for the Buckeyes; as is the verbena bonaries. Hope you get to raise one of them. I don't see them very often but have planted lost of things to encourage them.
Enjoyed the thread and the pictures. Praying your health gets better each passing day.
Sheila

Thanks guys! My face is almost back to normal and I go back to work on Monday. Last night I dreamed I was caterpillar hunting and found lots of Long-Tailed Skippers and my first Zebra Longwing of the year. When I woke up this morning, one of my Monarchs was just started to eclose! I have their cage setting on my nightstand.

Speaking of butterfly sex...I had a couple at the museum and the woman was asking a lot of good questions. Then, she leans over one of the flower containers and says, "Are these two Monarchs okay?" I looked, then leaned over and picked them up. "Oh yeah", I replied, "they're having sex." So then I got to explain butterfly sex (no kids around, thankfully). When I mentioned how they stay joined for anywhere from a half hour to an hour the wife says, "So they last a lot longer than the average human male?" The husband didn't look happy but I giggled and said, "Oh yeah".

Melanie

Great pictorial Melanie!
Glad you bounced back from the surgery and are back in your *element*..:-).

Love all the cats and its really nice to see ya!

Debnes

Great butterfly adventures! I'm glad to hear you're feeling better as well. :-)

Me too, I'm delighted to see you're back recovering from ailments and what not. Love reading your stories and your love of butterflies and senses of adventures. Great pics. as always, and informative narratives. Thanks Melanie.