Not a great picture, but need a new thread NOW!
This was some of the 30 BST cats that stephanietx brought to me. Most of them pupated and emerged! I have the large square cages that I put them in when they get large enough to pupate, then open the door and let them out when they are ready to fly.
We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1303421/
This message was edited May 20, 2013 8:06 AM
Beautiful Sheila! and thanks for the new thread. People often tell me i take beautiful photos, but really what i do is take okay photos of beautiful things.
Thanks Sheila. Saw a dark moth yesterday not yet identified and an Eastern Tiger Tail, but no pics. Hope I will be able to adapt to using my BFs Sony since my Canon is broken. Wah.
yippee. just saw my first monarch of the season. no pix though
Huzzah!
Btw, just read "flight behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver which was fictionalized account of the monarch migration. I don't read much fiction these days, but it does a nice job as an educational vehicle.
A.
I have seen a large Mourning cloak and a few Sulphers the past few days , Difficult to get pic's when they are searching for food and not much is there , Saying so,, I can watch pic's and conversations here
I saw a Red-spotted Purple this morning!!
Hooray! Those are one of my faves. It's just the usual Monarchs and Gulf Frits around here today. The parents report seeing a Giant ST but I haven't seen it yet.
Melanie
Hey A-! I wanna read that.
We have a problem in our front yard where the neighbors old septic leach bed has a leak that is creating a muddly mess. UGH! The up side is that it is creating quite the popular butterfly puddle. 2 days ago there were 3 Tigerstripes, and a PVST hanging out , sippin' Maybe it's going to be the butterfly version of 'Cheers'.
I have not seen a Monarch yet this year
LIKE the BF Bar&Grill lol
If you all haven't checked to see if you can borrow digital books for free at your library do it soon! I still love the feel of a book but the kindle has made it so incredibly convenient!
Just a few pics from the yard today. First, is a little skipper I saw and thought was cute. Next is a Zebra Longwing on porterweed (they're always on the porterweed, LOL). Then, we have a Monarch on its usual milkweed. Finally, one of my loyal Duskywings was hanging out.
I also brought in one Monarch cat and somehow ended up with two. One was small and hiding I guess. They're sneaky like that. My Zebra Longwing cats are still very small but I'll update once they're big enough for pictures.
Melanie
This is the first time i've seen this little hairy beastie in the garden... could be a female White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus albescens), or P. philetas, or P.communis adepta or a combination. Not entirely sure but a new visitor to the garden is always a happy sight...maybe there will be more new-comers in response to new plants added this year. I hope.
Mornin'!
Vitrsna- what a pretty little thing! It's markings on the wings remind me of hand crocheted lace. What new plants did you put in? I may have missed it in an earlier post.
I have been seeing lots of e. swallow tail tigerstripes. Yay!
Wow ladies and gents, please keep those pics. comin'. I've kept my eyes peeled back for more butterflies activity. Saw a few swallowtails here and there, and just a little while ago I saw my first question mark for the season. I'm hoping to see more.
Skipper says "thanks scarlet for the nice complement!". Actually i see this skipper uses Malvaceae as a host plant and i don't have any of that...well except a hibiscus. I had a turk's cap for awhile but gave it away after two years of having most everything completely ignore it. I'll try again with a different plant. My general rule is whatever comes to visit my garden gets a host plant (whether i have enough space or not). I added both fennel and dill to the garden this year to hopefully host blackswallowtails. I've had rue forever but now all the predators know to check the rue for snacks so i added the dill and fennel hoping the survival rate will increase. I added Dalechampia hoping to host some Crackers, and all three shrimp plants (green, yellow, and red) hoping to host Malachites, White Peacocks, and Buckeyes. I am also in the process of adding several new nectar plants. Happy to hear the ESTTs are abundant for you...a beautiful butterfly that we don't see here, but abundance is always good news where ever it is happening, yes?
Vitrsna, I agree wholeheartedly! I want shrimp plants! I am planning to mail order at least a red one, I was interested in its hummingbird drawing, but butterflies are a great addition. I have always been partial to buckeyes. I have been tucking dill and parsley in all over the border this year.
Any one have a good source for a pawpaw tree? I made a deal w/ my landlord that I would not make a big fuss over his removal of a Catalpa tree (scrubby and stunted) if I could put in a Pawpaw. I am leaning toward a named cultivar which I understand are grafted to assure fruit production. I have never tasted this fruit, supposed to be very luscious. As the host for Zebra swallowtails, I think it will be a nice addition. Anyone grow it?
We grow Snapdragons here for the Buckeyes , My big new for the year is three new Milkweed (syrica) plants have came up .. well it is something ,, anyway
I am going to try letting the Honeyvine milkweed grow in the red runner beans , to see if they are compatible. There are a few things to let t grow with that work okay ..
I went hiking in a new preserve today and made the mistake of trusting the county-drawn map. Two preserves back up next to each other and Dad and I ended up in the wrong one! We were looking for native orchids that are in bloom right now but that didn't happen. We did, however, see lots of butterflies which I am happy to share with my DG friends. So after walking six miles, begging water from a passing bicyclist (who was so nice and gave me his water and rode back to give me another bottle), and seriously contemplating calling 911, please appreciate these photos!
The first thing I want to say is that I was completely surprised to find two butterflies that I have raised at the museum but never seen in the wild. They are the Great Southern White and the Variegated Fritillary. Here are some Great Southern White pictures. You can tell them because the clubs on their antenna are turquoise in color.
Here are some Variegated Fritillary poses. Most of the butterflies were near the creek, nectaring on Bidens alba (Spanish Needles). There was also a lot of passion vine around, as expected.
I also saw a Spicebush Swallowtail, a Zebra Longwing, a Gulf Fritillary puddling, an unidentified skipper, and a Zebra Swallowtail caterpillar (ok, Dad found the caterpillar - I just hadn't made it to that side of the plant yet).
Other butterflies seen but not photographed include many, many Buckeyes, a Checkered Skipper, Zebra Swallowtail, Palamedes Swallowtail, and Giant Swallowtail.
So despite the fact that I thought I was going to end up in an ambulance, I made it all the way back to the parking lot and brought you these photos. I've also downed a TON of water in the meantime. I almost feel human again, LOL!
Melanie
Boys, am I glad to see you and your dad were safe after a long hike without enough to drink. God so blessed the biker that was so thoughtful. Melanie, the photos are fabulous, thank you for sharing. I've lots of sasafras around our area, hoping to see some spicebush swallowtail....so love all those that you've shared. Especially the Great Southern Whites with the turquoise clubs on their antenna.
Yes, I'm sending lots of good karma to the nice biker who helped me out. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers.
I also have a small sassafras tree that I bought last year with hopes of enticing Spicebush Swallowtails. So far, no luck but it's still a pretty small tree. I need to go back on my neighbor's property and search some of his camphor trees; I find a lot of Spicebushes that way.
Melanie
Mellie- I am so glad you found that nice passing bicyclist...otherwise you may have dried into dust and blown away...and then what would I do without your great photos and astounding knowledge of BF's?!!?
Thedre are always some small(a foot or less) sassafrass saplings growing on the bank of the drainage ditch in my neighbor's yard. I would like to transplant them into my yard because in about a week or so they will once again dump what seems like a huge industrial drum of Round Up all over their portion of the ditch. It is such a bummer, as there are cardinal flowers, thistle,black eyed susans, daisies, queen Annes lace, etc,etc growing like mad , plus the grasses and such provide shelter for frogs and a family of killdeer. Last year I think the runoff from using so much of this Defoliant resulted in the death of a dinnerplate sized snapping turtle living under a natural bridge on my stretch of the ditch. I had gotten fond of that big ole turtle. Anyway, anybody ever tried digging up a tree? I am thinking I wont be able to get the root system intact.
Exciting news everybody! I was out watering the orchids and there wasn't a lot of butterfly activity except for one Monarch and a Gulf Frit. Since we were talking about sassafras on here I thought I'd go take a look at my tree. Well, it's only about 4 feet tall so maybe it's not a tree yet, LOL! Anyway, I found two Spicebush caterpillars on it!!! I didn't think it would get any caterpillars until it was bigger but I guess mommy butterfly found it satisfactory. Here's a picture of one of them.
Melanie
Congrats Melanie, your spicebush cat. is just as cute as a button! Thanks for sharing.
Cute Melanie!! I found my first BST cat of the year this morning while out waking the dog. Brought it home and have it tucked in now. I hope it is a better year this year for them.
((((((((((Melanie))))))))))
THANK YOU
and
way to go on the spicebush cat!
I have a small lindera benzoin that I started from an offshoot of a momma.
Also -Scarlet - the pawpaw would like more moisture than less if you can give it.
Like everybody here I do what I can to accommodate everybody. I have P. incarnata from seed for years and no takers that I can see, although I did have red spotted purples last spring courtesy a large unnamed cherry planted by the owners/landlords in a bad spot. It looked so unhealthy last year I didn't think it would make it, but with the butterfly cats coming off of it, I made sure to pound in some of those tree food feeder stakes.
Plenty of MW here, plastic bins at the ready to host cats and re-populate the planet.
I've seen several cabbage whites today and a Blue Azure ( I think). Yesterday saw a lot of EST flying around and saw a Red Admiral the day before.
Hope to have pictures soon. :D
Glad everyone enjoyed the pictures. I enjoyed taking them, just not the walking so far and getting dehydrated part. Here's some pictures from the yard today. A Monarch I released, a Gulf Frit and a Zebra Longwing. All are on porterweed which is a great butterfly plant (and the spreading blue variety is native, too)!
Melanie
Someone here turned off the Butterflies .. I saw a painted lady stop at the clump of Alaska daisies for about 10 seconds ' That is first BF I have seen use them in a decade ..
A mourning cloak or BST passer by's ..
My milkweed are lonesome and no Monarchs or not much of any others to be seen here .. I have seen around a dozen BF;s for the season thus far ,, good grief ..
All I can say here is thank you for some great pic's!!! at least I can watch them here ...
Melanie....There is nothing like a mistake that might cost your life! I bet you take water with you wherever you hike next time! Thankful that God put the desire in that biker's head to go that trail that day and at that time. He was indeed a lifesaver for you and Dad. We do appreciate the super butterfly pics, but appreciate that you are safe more!
Thanks Sheila! Dad and I were talking today about how anyone can be a hero and I was saying that mystery bicycle guy was my hero.
Today we went back to the correct preserve but I still didn't find the orchids I was looking for. I did find the Florida Butterfly Orchid (Encyclia tampensis) though so that was cool. And I took four bottles of water, had on SPF 70 and lots of bug spray with super large amounts of DEET. Dad gathered some of the sawtooth blackberries and snacked on them. So we were ready if things got desperate, LOL!
I did get some cool butterfly photos for everyone. I enjoy seeing which species live in which kind of environment: scrub, swamp, flatwoods, etc.
First up is a Duskywing. I've never seen one in the wild; they've always been in my garden. Second and third photos are of a Zebra Swallowtail caterpillar on pawpaw. There was a lot more pawpaw growing in the preserve than I would have thought. I thought it was too wet for pawpaw, but there were some drier sites where it was growing alongside the blackberries. In the spring, when the blackberries bloom, the Zebra STs are all over them.
Fourth photo is a Ceraunus Blue (I had to check my book to be sure). I get a lot of Cassius Blues at the house because I grow their host plant, plumbago, so it was neat to see a different kind of blue. You can tell the difference between them because the Ceraunus has only one spot rimmed in orange whereas the Cassius has two. Fifth photo is some kind of Hairstreak; I didn't get a look at the side so I couldn't tell. That's really weird because Hairstreaks hardly ever sit open-winged but this one was basking on Bloodroot.
Melanie
Now for my favorite butterfly - the Zebra Swallowtail! There were five of them nectaring on the flowers in the picture. I'm not sure what the plant is but they really liked it.
After the hike - and lunch at Applebee's - I went to Worm's Way and Lowe's to pick up some orchid and regular gardening supplies. I ended up buying a new kind of coreopsis (it's called Route 66 coreopsis) and some of the yellow-flowered milkweed. I have a couple of the yellow flowered variety but wanted a few more. The more milkweed the merrier! I came home and this Gulf Frit was on the verbena and then checked out the new milkweed. It's not just a host for Monarchs; it's a great nectar plant, too! Also, here's a pic of the new kind of coreopsis I bought. I thought it was cool. Plus, coreopsis is the official Florida state wildflower - I have the wildflower license plate and it's got a big picture of a coreopsis on it. I like people to know I support native wildflowers!
Melanie
Wooohooo! I saw an orange butterfly in the garden today for the first time. It was so fast, I couldn't make out whether it was a Monarch vs a Gulf Frit. I'll take either one since I have both of their hostplants growing in the garden.
Love all your pics. Melanie. And your State's flowers are lovely.
Yesterday or day before I saw , Mourning cloak again , happy that they are here , still no Monarchs ,,
A happy coreopsis blooming in the rain and storms here ,, lance -leaf,,), bees and Goldfinches love them .
Here's a Cassius Blue for those of you who would like to compare/contrast it with the Ceraunus Blue. You can see the Cassius has far more markings on it. A good test is to see what plant they're on. I know mine are Cassius Blues because they are always on their host plant, plumbago.
1. Finally a GST cat on my lime!
2. I had a swarm of Queens and Monarchs after the rains today. I tried to get a picture of the group of them, but couldn't get them to cooperate.
3. GST posing on BF bush.
What a nice afternoon.
Russell
So you think it's time to take my orange tree outside? It's still flowering and has three fruits on it inside...
Saw an Ebony Jewelwing ' Black damselfly' today. Really very pretty, but not a butterfly! Also saw an Eastern tiger swallowtail and a skipper or two from a distance. Been giving away MW seeds and seedlings at a crazy pace. I'm sure traffic will pick up soon!
Nice photos Russell! Amanda, when I went hiking I was seeing tons of those black damselflies. They kept fooling me into thinking they were butterflies.
Well, Mom went to get the mail outside and she barely opened the door before she was yelling at me to bring my camera. Turns out I had a Black ST on my new milkweed. Like I've said; it's a great nectar plant, too! I also found the Gulf Frit hanging around, and a male Monarch.
Not pictured is the Zebra Longwing which didn't want to hold still. I also found a couple more Monarch cats that I brought inside; they were on the native milkweed and I need it to recover from the last round of chomping.
Melanie
