Well I hate to be the one to start a new thread, but the other was long and I'm so excited about today's major sightings (for me at least) that I thought I'd start one again.
We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1096866/
Was delighted to see this Red-spotted Purple in the garden. First of the Season!
And when I went to take a picture of the RSP, I saw my first Monarch of the season!
Congrats Mrs_ed. Beautiful RSP and Woooohooooo Mornarch, FOS! So excited for you! I'm gearing up to raise some cats. this season. I'm all fired up--so to speak. lol
Ha. Best of luck! I've not had good luck with Monarchs but excellent luck with the black swallowtails.
Last year parasites infestation was bad for my mornarches. The year before last I had success with Tersa Moths and lots of GFs. Those GFs proved to be the easiest to raise thus far.
I brought EGGS in and had bad luck. :(
No GFs up here! I found a buckeye once and that did well.
Giant Swallowtail
Oh, beautiful! I love them. I didn't see any ALL last year and can't wait to see them this year.
Beautiful pics. I can't seem to get the GFs to keep their wings open long enough to get a pic.
Very nice Mrs. Ed!! No RSP's here yet and I usually have a bunch of thme by now.
Nice to see a GST! I didn't have any either last year.
hey all glad to see that it is really happening for everyone. I had a great weekend but as usual not ready for the photo op. But here are a few I did get.
caught him gettin ready for bed.
thought this was a nice pic.
What a sh yucky weekend. Did not get much done outside. I did manage to find two spicebush cats and a two RSP cats.
A very worn looking Red-spotted Purple enjoying some orange last night!
This Red Admiral had gotten its fill of the grape jelly.
Thanks for starting the new thread.
I had a TST camp out on a 'Black Knight' butterfly plant and hopefully got some good shots...will load later...too sleepy tonight.
Great pics nanny!
Here was my treat for the day Monday, just now posting.
It was intent on the butterfly bush. We were headed somewhere, already backed out the drive and I shouted..."Tiger...stop!" We had a small camera in the truck so I grabbed it and snapped away. My neighbor came over to see what I had stopped in the road for. LOL!
How pretty!! I saw one flitting around the other day but it didn't stop here..darn!
Another Red-spotted Purple today...the fruit is working pretty well to draw them in.
This message was edited Jun 10, 2010 7:28 PM
Beautiful Nanny. That one is on my still wishing list.
nice!!
Not sure since I never got an open wing shot....But I think this is a Hackberry Emperor.
Yah, pretty sure.
Just found three eggs on my common milkweed. I only saw one monarch so far and never saw her oviposite. Now I'll have to check all the others.
Hope you have better luck than I did MsEd. Only spotted about three Monarchs in the early Spring and didn't find any eggs. I had over-wintered several MW plants so I would be sure and have plenty ready.
I released two GSTs and two BSTs this morning. No time for pictures they were too frantic to hold still.
Well I have to say that I have NOT had a successful monarch eclosure yet. Last year they all died at some stage, AND I had them since Eggs.
Swallowtails seem so much easier for me.
Makes me wonder if the culprit was OE.
http://www.butterflybreeders.org/public/health/disease_prevention_what_is_oe.html
Well now that I read about it, yah probably. This quote is exactly what happened.
However, research has shown that adults that are severely infected with OE often have difficulty emerging from their pupal cases, and can be too weak to cling to their pupal case to fully expand their wings. These heavily infected adults either fail to eclose fully or fall to the ground, leading to severe wing deformities and relatively rapid death.
Had a 3fer yesterday....a Red-spotted Purple, a Hackberry Emperor & a Red Admiral all at the same time!
Hello everyone! it was A Great Saturday in the Garden. I had visits from 2 monarchs, GST, a Queen, and my Buckeye showed up for a while.In addition I found some new me Cats, 2 Spicebush and 2 TST cats.
Here is a pic of A Viceroy Cat sorry so blurry.
Here is TST on Silkbay. I hope he turns out as pretty as yours Shiela.
I had 2 that emerged with wing deformities at the beginning of the month (2nd and 4th). They are still alive and walk around the cage. They seem to be fine other than not being able to fly. Everything I read said to put them to sleep, but they feed regularly, and do not resist if I try to move them around.
Now I am concerned that if the Monarchs are infected that the disease will spread to others that I may raise. Does anyone know if this is true. Is there a way to disinfect the cage? Should I have put them to sleep?
Should I start anopther thread?
If anyone can help with any of this, I wouild appreciate it.
Jennifer
Yes it will spread Jennifer....read the article that I posted the link for. I believe it will tell you how to clean and help prevent. I would use bleach in a sink and soak the cage, which is something that needs to be done after each group anyway.
Here is another link that shows pictures of the infected cats. I had to eliminate two last year. It is hard, but if they emerged, the number of other victims would be much greater.
http://www.mymonarchguide.com/2007/11/oe-on-caterpillars.html
I'm looking, and kept looking for caterpillars in the garden via various hostplants. But none were found. However, while visiting my family out in the SW, we were both pleasantly surprised to discovered this 'big fella' on Dd's Apple-blossoms grass. Then there were two others instars, their sizes varies considerably on the same plant.
This was where (SW region) I saw a Giant Swallowtail for the first time ever.
We visited the Butterflies Pavillion at NM's Biopark. A memorable visit. There were many more bfs. But, the heat that day was nearly 100F. yike!
whoa that one is pretty.
My TST finally showed up and hung around on Sunday got a few nice pics.
