Daily Butterfly (etc.) Pictures. #95

Hi all... I'm new here, and won't have much time for forums until after June 20th as my garden is going to be in a local "Garden Walk" and I still have SO much work to do! My husband and I love taking pics of butterflies in our gardens, so I hope to have more to share this summer.
Here are a few- including ones I need help ID'ing... I'm just starting to try to ID all the flying things in my garden!
1. First Tiger Swallowtail this year- 04/05/2012
2. Monarchs - from a few years ago
3. 7/26/2009 - what is this? Looks like red spotted purple, but no red spots
4. Sept 2007 - Fiery Skipper?
5. Sept 2007 - Fiery Skipper?

A "heads up" to local Dallas/Ft. Worth butterfliers. I've had two Palamedes Swallowtails in my yard here in Dallas County. The only previous record of this butterfly was a stray that got blown in back in the 1980s with a hurricane. This is normally an east Texas species that we don't see in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex. Populations in southeast Texas have been off the charts recently and a friend of mine in the Houston area has been amazed at how many are on the wing currently. So give those dark swallowtails a closer look. ((This photo is from an exhibit from years back -- not the ones I saw in my yard, but just something to look at.))

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

Very cool Dale! Things have slowed down around my house. Hopefully things will pick up when the wind dies down.

Russell

Welcome Sallie! Yes, that is a Red-Spotted Purple; the spots are on the underside. I won't even try to ID skippers because so many of them look the same to me. Congrats on your house being included in the garden walk; I wouldn't want people seeing how weedy mine is!

That's neat about the Palamedes; I usually seem them early in the spring and then not again until the fall. Remember to look for the diagonal line on the underside of their wings to be sure it's a Palamedes. Or, I always think the yellow on the upperside has more of an airbrushed effect as opposed to the "stay within the lines" Eastern Black STs.

Melanie

Thanks Melanie! I was searching for this guy on a butterfly site and found it ID'd as red-spotted Purple. I just did another search and found pictures of both this and the other pic... so is this a purple, or something else altogether?

That's a Red-Spotted Purple, one of my fave butterflies.

Melanie

Hey folks - found what looks like an orange sulfur on my collard seedlings today. Don't know how it got there/where it came from, but I don't have any senna at all sprouted.

Collards typical fare? They were in 2" pots and there won't be much more before they're completely defoliated.

Any other known host plants? Suppose I could go out and get collards tomorrow - my iguana eats them so I wouldn't REALLY be buying collards for a worm. :D


A.

I have a lot of Questions! hahahah

Also, check out the Nessus Hummingbird Moth. I had no idea they'd eat fruit.

WOW! That's so awesome. :)

Great shot Marna...I didn't know the HB moths would nectar on the fruit either.
I don't know if I shared this or not, but I had moths come at night to the butterfly brew.

That's really cool - wish I didn't have rodent "issues." I can't put out anything that may attract other critters right now. WAH!

By the way - the sulfur caterpillar went its way - it looked large enough to pupate. Will keep an eye out for it.

The Polydamas are munching away and getting bigger!

Melanie

Looks like an invasion! LOL!

Too bad you have so few. ha. Kinda creepy seeing them all together like that.

Here's a link (hope it works) to the short article in the Dallas Morning News this morning about the Palamedes Swallowtails that are showing up in the Dallas area.

http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/home-and-gardening/headlines/20120530-piney-woods-native-butterflies-showing-up-locally.ece

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

Sorry been MIA for a while. Amanda, I would love to be your swap partner for June. I have already signed up for 2 boxes. I'll let Susie know that one of those will be us.

I had an unknown plant start growing next to another plant on my back fence last year that I didn't know what it was. I left it until I could determine if it was something I had planted or a weed. The other plant died in the heat last summer, but the unknown one came back this year. Much to my pleasure, it has started to bloom and is a purple passion vine! What I've been wanting so badly. Glad I didn't pull it. The yellow one would be great since I know know I have the purple.

I was setting on the patio the other day and saw a tiger ST fly through the yard. It's the only one I've seen, or at least I've only seen one at a time. I'm so happy. No pic though, it flew too fast.

Good info Dale. I'll keep closer watch here too. You aren't that far from us as the crow (or butterfly) flies. ^_^

That's cool about the HB moths Sheila. I'll have to watch for them too.

A. I have one of my butterfly feeders hanging from a tree branch. I am using one of those plant hangers that you put the pots down into, like macrame, but instead of a pot I put a plate with some sand and put my brew on that. It seeps into the sand but the BF's can reach it. I sometimes add just a little bit of water to it.

dragonfly

I was posting the other morning that I haven't even seen a GST and today there was one all around my citrus trees!! Of course when I went out with the camera, it was no where around. Didn't see eggs on them or the rue plants, but I am still hopeful!

Good for you Sheila. Glad you at least saw it.

I haven't seen anything on my Rue, but found this little guy (and I mean LITTLE GUY) on my fennel. I have blown up the pic so you can see him. Anyone know what he is?

I had something that was eating my Cyclomin leaves so I moved him over to the Rue. Don't know where he went from there. He was about 1" and green with some black. I didn't look at him real good, I just wanted to get him off my plant. I am babying it back to health as it is. He curled up when I picked him up and put off some tobacco juice.

Thanks, that would be cool. It is so teeny tiny. The ones I always saw on my dill were a lot bigger.

Yah, that is an early instar black swallowtail. I have so much parsley this year that it is tough to look for them.

Agreed - their appearance changes very dramatically Patti!

Glad you found your purple passion flower. One of mine has reached the top of the fence and is now reaching for the mulberry tree. I'd rather the passion flower up there than kudzu or ivy I guess. Not sure how I feel about it, but that's what it would do in the wild I guess . . ..

A.

New England Aster is blooming so out of season this weird year.

Oh jack, I'm glad you posted that. My asters and one mum are blooming now. Weird.

My mums always start blooming now, and I am not one to pinch them back to force fall bloom like others. It did concern me when I saw blue flowers appearing on my NE aster though. Fortunately (?!) for me the dogs trampled thru it and I had to cut it back so it gets to start over again.

We had a question mark yesterday land on both of us as it darted thru the yard. Mostly cabbage whites here and tiny skippers, and bees - all kinds.

Dale....Keeping my eyes peeled for the Palamedes!

I did watch with smiles and snapped pictures of the fluttering of a male and female GST yesterday!!! She was an older female trying to lay eggs and the young male was pursuing her madly. Looked later and found no eggs though.

Went to Walmart yesterday and was walking among the flowers they had outside. They were covered with either Black Swallowtails or Red Spotted purples. It was cool seeing them all fluttering around.

I don't seem to be seeing many of anything this year,A few red admirals that look bigger and stronger than years past And as always sulphers are everywhere.

I bet you will be seeing Monarchs this year in droves. FL people are loaded with them right now.

I saw a couple monarchs real early this year and haven't seen any save one since, maybe July.We usually have have more swallowtails also,they are normally everywhere ya look by this time.
At any rate,I am glad the monarchs are doing well,I can remember those guys making shade as there was so many.Back in early 89 I remember seeing what must of been a 150 cats starving because they ran out of food,(Only 1 milkweed plant for all of them). I suppose that is why everybody who gardens should keep a few plants for them as the fields and prairie dissapears.

After the drought and wildfires we had here in TX last year, our populations aren't what we normally see. That said we had an abundant Red Admiral showing earlier and then I had Pipevine more than before. But only now seeing the GST and hearing about the BST close by.

Pretty quiet here, after having had a great Red Admiral and Question Mark showing. Probably another two weeks until things start to pick up on my butterfly monitoring route.

I can't imagine monarch cats starving. There is so much common milkweed here in rural Illinois.

That reminds me that I need to start more and have it as back up.

I've got the strangest thing happening to my MW this year. It is being eaten or broken off by something that is NOT a monarch! My poke milkweed have fallen prey. My purple MW also. Discovered the swan plant down, and yesterday found that 3 baby common MW seedlings disappeared. I thought MW was toxic?! Who else would eat it besides a starving rodent or stupid rabbit?!

-sigh-

Sheila -- worry not about swallowtails. I was at Harry Moss Park in Dallas yesterday and there were easily 40+ swallowtails (Pipevine, Eastern Black, Eastern Tiger) flitting about nectaring on Thistles, mostly. Alas, no Palamedes, although Sunday I had four in my yard (not at one time), which is just surreal.

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

Oops. Forgot the picture.

Dale

Nice pic of the PV and TigerST Dale. One of these days I am going to surprize you and show up at a meeting / outing. LOL!

I had a great treat today just as I finished mowing I saw a BST on my fennel. I now have about a dozen eggs!! Woohoo!! I got pictures but they are on my phone ....post later.

I love how those eggs stand out on fennel and dill. cute little round things.

1st one of the year! With more in the background.

Yes Marna, those eggs are pleasant sight to watch on Fennels and Dills, except I haven't any right now. :(( Bruce, Olalala!!!! Congrats! All line up in a row purdy!