Daily pic. #88

Marna, I suspect the opportunistic wasps. I don't know much about their different species. But it seems I've alot more wasps in the garden when the butterflies number is down. An inverted portions of butterflies/wasps ratio.

I have some hummers, but not nearly as many as I had last year. I have seen 5, but they are hard to count. Last year I had 8 on one feeder and more on the other feeders. I must of had 50 of the little darlin's. Hate it that their numbers are down as are the b'flies. Haven't seen more than I can count on my fingers and toes!

Just went to pick up our grandkids--they had a tornado go through their town, and their power was out--wish i had taken my camera--trees down everywhere. Luckily everyone was OK.

That is good to hear they are okay.

BCH, I'm so glad everyone is okay. We're no stranger to tornados down here. But up North? is that normal to have tornados this time of year?

Goodness BCH, that is one nice looking lobelia!

LL, we do get tornadoes this time of year. Not as much a s in the spring months though.

It's kind of unusual, but lately we have been getting the storms. Had 4" in two hours the other day--had lots of floods. Just a strange year weather wise.

A hairstreak of some kind.

whoa. great picture. Looks like a Red-banded Hairstreak.

I agreeBCH, very strange here. cool and wet then hot and dry.

4 " of what??? Storms....oh, I remember rain storms....I think. 20 days of 100+ temps and months without rain effects your memory.

So glad the family was safe. Crazy weather this year for sure.

More storms coming this am--hopefully not as bad as yesterday.

Trying to decide how many tags to get from Monarch Watch--been getting 200, but we're not seeing near as many this year. I'm lucky to see 1-2 in the evening where usually by this time there's 5-10 at least flying around.

Oh Well we'll probably get 200 again and just look harder for eggs and cats. Had one found last year, so hopefully that will happen again.

BCH521, sorry to hear about your family. Glad they're OK.

Mrs_Ed, thanks for the ID. Found the Red-banded Hairstreak in my book and I'm sure that's him. That little guy was the only thing moving in my backyard yesterday morning. Yesterday's high set a triple digit record here.

Thanks everyone for your kind words--looks like the storms that were coming today have broken up--good news!

went ahead and ordered 200 tags, so told my daughter and grandson we will need to get busy!!

Went hunting this morning and had a banner session--between DD and I 22 eggs and 6 cats! She is still looking, so maybe even more.

I planted A Tuberosa (gay butterflies) a couple of years ago, and that is where i am finding the cats--it's an Ohio native and they seem to love it. I propogated some seeds and got 19 plants, gave some away--and planted 9 more here--looking forward to more cats as they grow.

I need to order some tags also. I only got 50 and had used them up really quickly. I think I will stick with the 50 again because of the low numbers expected. When can you start tagging BCH?

Hi Sheila, you can look at www.monarchwatch.org and get the peak times for your area, but generally they want you to start the last week in august.

DGD checking out her new friend (2010 photo)

Wow, BCH what's sweet baby GD! Congrats grandpa! How tall is she this year? Has she 'helped' release any butterfly yet? Ah, also thank you for sharing the pix of the tag on Monarch. and the link.

I'm not sure if this is a 'Pipevine' Swallowtail? (Marna, I saw no 'tail' to suspect this maybe a tiger?).

Thanks Lily! she really hasn't grown much, and is still a little rough for releasing. Maybe next year

Lily, I'm thinking Spicebush swallowtail.

BCH, thank you. I'm needing alot more practice with identifying these various swallowtails. OT; How wonderful that you can share the love of nature with your wee ones at early age. Sweet moments to be cherished a life time.

Yah, I'm going spicebush on that one too. Why? Because on that first row of orange dots closest to the head, you can see the sort of blue spike of color between the dots.

BCH, did you get any of the red flowers from your Gay Butterflies seeds? I have two plants. One gold, one orange. And of course I have the standard tuberosa. I've never seen anyone have the red. I don't know why, but my gold is not setting seeds.

Pearl Crescent--can't believe how hard this guy was to catch up with.

Mre Ed--I have one Gay Butterflies budding right now that I believe will be red; I should know in a couple of days, and will take pictures. If it is I'll send you some seeds if you like.

Couldn't get this one to hold still long enough to get the camera focused for a really good pic. Don't know what it is, looks different than any I have seen around here.

another

oops

Crit, that's a tough one w/ the fuzziness of the picture--I'm thinking a fritillary meadow or Great Spangled

Has anyone had any luck starting A incarnata (red milkweed) from seed? I have tried to germinate about 100 seeds, and have had one germinate. It is really a nice plant, though, and worth it.

How about cuttings--has anyone done this w/ milkweed?

BHC521, have you tried Cold Moist Stratification? Put your seed in a plastic ziploc bag w a little damp seed starting medium and place in fridge for a month or two. Then start seed as you normally would in flats or pots. It worked for me. I have never heard of starting Asclepias from cuttings. DG plantfiles recommend stratification when starting indoors.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/539/

Her's a link to ButterflyEncounters You tube video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkYx_5lvurw

They use sand (I have also heard of using vermiculite) in place of seed starting medium. I bought seeds from ButterflyEncounters once with good results.

Kate, thanks for responding--W/ swamp milkweed I have had very good luck starting from seed--also w/ A tuberosa I have had good luck.

After storing seeds in the fridge over winter I put the seeds in a ziplock bag inside of a folded moist paper towell and place in a warm spot--always had good germination w/in days.

never tried to put the seeds in medium and refridgerate--but I am going to try it starting today.

also, this milkweed i am trying to propogate looks nothing like swamp milkweed although when I bought it that is what they called it, and said it was an Ohio native which I believe because I recently found some along the roadside. perhaps it was mislabeled.

i will repost an image of the plant.

TST, and if i learned from some earlier posts--he is male, or I am a slow learner!

Hint, hint, lot of blue on the hindwings ... an indication it is .... wearing pink ribbons. lol BCH, we need to team up. I'm not a slow learner, but these butterflies have challenged me big time. BTW, those yellow blooming MWs, they seem to be native -- even down South. I often found them along roadway. I planted one called 'Hellow Yellow' MW, the cultivar didn't return for me the following year.

UR right Lily, I just googled it, and that was a female--so much for my memory.

So far all my gay butterfly plants are gold or orange

Thanks BCH. That does not surprise me. I keep wondering if the seed companies are faking the red.

As far as the A. incarnata, I find them super easy to winter sow. I have a really good germination rate. The first year I tried to grow them, they bloomed!

And speaking of Swamp Milkweed. Yay! A monarch.

Wooohooo, congrats Mrs. Ed. Common Monarch this away!!!!! Lots of blooms for nectar. lol

I had what I believe is an eastern black swallowtail on my zinnia's last night. (YEA!) Of course, the camera was in the house, but it was black and had a lot of blue towards the tails. This is not it, but is a picture I found on the internet, that looks like it .

Ummm ahhhh, ? Spicebush Swallowtail? gender? Ummmmmm, dunno.

Mine looked like it might be missing one tail. Couldn't tell for sure and not absolute that this pic is what it was. The heading on the pic was an Eastern Black Swallowtail

Crit: That picture is a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (dark form).

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com