Daily Butterfly Pix, #102

Time, I guess for a new thread. It's been a long wait, but starting to see a few butterflies in the garden. I have a HUGE patch of dill right now and no Swallowtails, so I suppose i better get to harvesting that!

1- Mourning Cloak.
2- Red Admiral

I also saw an easter tailed-blue yesterday. So cute.


#101 can be found here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1313552/

Rats! don't know what happened to the pix.

Well, my yellow caterpillar Gulf Frit came out as a very normal butterfly. And here I was hoping I had a new subspecies I could name after myself, LOL! Second picture is one of many Zebra Longwing cats on my Corky-Stemmed Passion Vine. Next is a skipper that I could probably look up in my book but I'm feeling lazy right now. And finally, here's a Zebra Longwing on firebush. They love the stuff.

I was wearing my Monarch shirt today that reads "Restore Habitat - Plant Milkweed" on the front and the pharmacist at Walgreens noticed and said she planted milkweed for the butterflies. I thought that was really cool. On the other hand, I have asthmatic bronchitis and have the prednisone and amoxicillin to go with it.

Melanie

I went out front to see who was flying and guess what I saw? My Gulf Frit had already found a partner!!! Then, a Monarch was hanging out on the coneflower. Then, I got a nice pic of a Gulf Frit on the jatropha followed by the Zebra Longwing on the jatropha.

Melanie

Great pics Mrs_Ed and Melanie. Love regal mourning cloaks and red admirals as well as foreign (to me) zebra longwings.
Went crazy today. A local commercial nursery is having its summer clearance plant sale. Large perennial plants for a dollar including butterfly bushes.
Commitment papers read "old man who chases butterflies, digs in the dirt, wonders around in the sunshine while babbling to himself about focusing". Life is great.
By the way I did see my first of the season Common wood nymph in a small wooded area at the Arkansas River Valley Nature Center.

Still trying, still watching. some ()tuberosa) running around.

I like those nymphs and satrys. I've only ever seen the Carolina Satyr and then it's usually when I'm hiking.

I had a girl Monarch come out today and I reluctantly released her outside where two male Monarchs were flying in circles with a Gulf Frit. When will they learn there's enough nectar for everyone? My Gulf Frit couple had apparently finished their business so I set the Monarch to dry on the usual porterweed right in front of the house. I also took a picture of my biggest Eastern Black ST caterpillar and my Spicebush ST pair.

Melanie

Thank you!!!

Love to see your pics. of the cats. or 'pillars' Melanie. I'm so happy to see you've success with many newly eclosed butterflies. I'm suprised to learn your unique looking GF larva turned out to be identical to others. Following your tips for the "caterpillar's trail" Over the weekend, I noticed some large balls of caterpillar frass presumably fallen from the above Sweet Gum tree. So does that mean I've Lunar Moth 'pillars' up there? I've seen the beautiful green moth around the garden before.

Thank you Mrs. Ed for the opening of the new thread. I'm glad to see you're beginning to see some butterflies activity there. Like you, I haven't had any BST nor Monarch, or GF down this way.

Shorthog, thanks for the pics. I am learning so much from your post as well as of those from Melanies' like Mrs. Ed's and Sheila's. Thanks all.

AS is before , still trying here , not colorful , not as good as could be but , a hair better , Indeed,, this is a wonderful thread ..
Truthfully I don't know what this is , I would presume a skipper , or one of the metalmarks

Lovely pics all...shorthog, your commitment papers are hilarious (much funnier than the last book i read which was supposed to be funny but wasn't) and something i can relate to...so maybe it's time for you to start your "Arkansas Butterflies" book. Your commitment papers would make a good introduction and i think it is time for a truly hilarious book about butterflies...i really don't think it's been done yet...put me down for a copy. :-D while you're at it perhaps you can tell us why "Arkansas" is pronounced "are can saw" instead of "are cans as"?

I just went outside to water in the new plants (no summer thunderstorm here today) and I found some caterpillars. It seems the next generation of Monarchs is here. Then, I took a good look at my Passiflora caerulea and there are dozens of Gulf Frits on it! I mean, LOTS! Like, enough to impress me! You can see a few in the photo but trust me when I say there are many more where that came from. Good thing that vine grows fast!

Melanie

Great pic;
Maybe name the second A gulf garden party
or perhaps We just couldn't pass-(i)(pause at the (i) the -flora

LOL at Juhur!

Melanie

Definitely not keeping up with Melanie and others on the photos this year. I am enjoying those everyone else is submitting though.
Mrs Ed....not to worry about the thread picture...you posted it, they will come. I am sure it happened by going back to copy the old address, or that is what happens to me anyway. It doesn't drop the text, but drops the pictures!

Thanks Sheila. I think it happened because I forgot to put in a subject line, so it prompted me for that. I didn't realize it did not hold the images.

Vitrsna, I am not shorthog............. but here is the official "explanation" of our pronunciation:

"ARKan-SAW or Ar-KANSAS

Many place names in our state, including Arkansas, are French pronunciations of Indian words.

At the time of the early French exploration, a tribe of Indians, the Quapaws, lived west of the Mississippi and north of the Arkansas River. The Quapaws, or OO-GAQ-PA, were also known as the downstream people, or UGAKHOPAG. The Algonkian-speaking Indians of the Ohio Valley called them the Arkansas, or "south wind."

The state's name has been spelled several ways throughout history. In Marquette and Joliet's "Journal of 1673", the Indian name is spelled AKANSEA. In LaSalle's map a few years later, it's spelled ACANSA. A map based on the journey of La Harpe in 1718-1722 refers to the river as the ARKANSAS and to the Indians as LES AKANSAS. In about 1811, Captain Zebulon Pike, a noted explorer, spelled it ARKANSAW.

During the early days of statehood, Arkansas' two U.S. Senators were divided on the spelling and pronunciation. One was always introduced as the senator from "ARkanSAW" and the other as the senator from "Ar-KANSAS." In 1881, the state's General Assembly passed a resolution declaring that the state's name should be spelled "Arkansas" but pronounced "Arkansaw."

The pronunciation preserves the memory of the Indians who were the original inhabitants of our state, while the spelling clearly dictates the nationality of the French adventurers who first explored this area."

Not sure that really "clarifies" anything, but at least you know the thought process of the legislature! LOL......

Genna

Genna...Thank you! I had no idea my innocent question would yield such an interesting response and reveal so much of your State's history. I love the story/history and appreciate your taking the time. Throughout many years this question would pop up in my mind but i never took the time to research it. Now I know...one more of life's mysteries solved :-D.

The State of Michigan is named from the same native american word as the Mexican State of Michoacan and means "by the lake". I'll bet you always wondered about that, right? :-D

I have heard from someone who came from Kansas that the pronunciation of the River changes in Kansas. Here in Colorado (we have the headwaters) it is ARKan-SAW, but supposedly changes to "Our (or R) Kansas" while it passes through Kansas - then the name changes back.

Well, I had a nice surprise as I was leaving for a doctor's appointment this morning. There was a White Peacock on my coneflowers! I hadn't seen one in a while and this one was a big one! He must have fed well as a caterpillar. Then, one of my little Duskywing friends was also enjoying the coneflowers. I'm really glad I bought them; I didn't realize the butterflies would like them this much! And finally, one of my many Zebra Longwings enjoying the porterweed. You can see the pollen on its proboscis if you look closely. Zebra Longwings secrete a special enzyme that liquifies the pollen so they can suck it up with their proboscis. The added nutrition is why they live 6-9 months instead of a few weeks.

Melanie

That White Peacock has been in my yard for hours at this point. Here's another look at it. Then, when I thought it was gone, it reappeared on my bougainvillea! I also spotted a Zebra Longwing drinking out of my hummingbord feeder which was pretty weird. I also released a Monarch; this one was a boy like many of the others. This was also the last release of this generation. Finally, my Eastern Black ST cat is getting so big I just had to take a picture of him.

Melanie

Well nice pic's there ,, you always seem to do for us ,, thank you ..!!!

I didn't get the two red Admirals playing on the stinging nettle a while ago today .
Maybe this counts , maybe a thread stray . only hey it is milkweed ..

Hmmm...aren't nettles the host plant for Red Admirals? Might have some caterpillars there soon. I like your milkweed; I need to plant more native varieties and phase out the tropical milkweed. It's just so available here and it's hard to find the other kinds.

I switched the Black STs over to eating fennel so I can have enough rue for the Giant STs. If things get desperate, I'll buy some organic parsley from the store. That's what I did last year. If I get really desperate I send them to the museum for adoption, LOL! That one Black ST cat is so big; I'm not looking forward to when he decides to gut purge. Ugh!

Melanie

Sure the Admirals do lay a few eggs there on the nettle , I have seen a few new BF's sitting there drying their wings , cats are itty itty tiny..
Lots bronze fennel but the ST's like the green better . or seem to .
I raised some BST's a few years ago , oh yeah! that purge gets messy .. I had to change the container as a recall .
I can save you some seeds or grow you some small potted starter plants (next spring) if you would like any of the tall syrica (photos here are that)
Red incarnata ( If I get any seeds)
Orange tuberosa
Honeyvine or cynachium ) as near as I can spell ..

Ibet you have bunches of these though

I value the A. tuberosa as a nectar plant, but I don't find many/any cats there. They seem to really like the common MW, swamp MW, and tropical MW the best.

Anyway. Saw a red-spotted purple and and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail yesterday, but the rains are still suppressing our populations.

Keep the pics coming Melanie! :)

A.

Hey Mel, I could send you gobs of dill! Lol no BSTs here

I found common buckeye caterpillars about 10 days ago on blooming watercress. One was brought home for an attempt at rearing. It pupated five days later and emerged yesterday. Success, a lovely butterfly. After exercising its wings for awhile it flew across the yard and rested on a zinnia plant. It was still flying about the back yard later in the day.

Great photos of the Buckeye, shorthog!

I'm a little sad today because one of my Spicebush cats is acting like he's been poisoned. I was running low on sassafras so I gave them some of the spicebush I just ordered. I didn't think it would be contaminated because the growers are very pro-butterfly but maybe their supplier used something? Or, maybe the county sprayed my neighborhood for mosquitos or something? Either way, he's rolling around in pain with his stinkhorns out so not a good sign. I put some fresh sassafras in there and am hoping for the best.

Melanie

Aww, Melanie I'm sorry. I know what you're going thru. I messed up bad with a tank full of Monarchs a few years ago - I posted about it here before. It's so humbling to have these tiny lives in our care. At least there's comfort here in knowing that you aren't alone in your bug obsession.

xox

Shorthog - Is the plant with the blue flowers the kind the buckeye cat was on?
I have some and was considering ripping it out. But if it is a host, I will give it another chance.

Thanks Amanda, I hate seeing him suffer but I can't put him down yet if there's a chance he might get better. Luckily, the other one seems to be just fine.

I just went out to spray the orchids and snapped a couple pics. First, is the ever-present Gulf Frit, this time on Tampa Verbena (an endangered plant here in Florida). Next is a Monarch cat I saw on one of my nearly empty milkweeds. I moved him to one with more leaves but it also had more caterpillars. Looks like I'm going to have to do another Monarch round up and take them to the museum. Then, I saw a male Monarch on the anise hyssop. I saw him on there yesterday, too. I hadn't seen anything using the anise hyssop yet so I'm glad it's attracting something. Next up is one of my Duskywing friends still checking out those coneflowers. Glad they like them; I like having the Duskywings around. They seem to show up earlier and stay later than any other butterfly in the yard. And finally, my Corky-Stemmed Passion Vine is chewed to pieces but I found the chrysalises left behind. I brought in about four Zebra Longwing chrysalises (as pictured) and one Gulf Frit chrysalis. The Gulf Frits wander more, I think, whereas the Zebras are lazy and stay on the plant, LOL!

By the way, my first Black ST gut purged but luckily he chose the corner so it's not too bad. When I went to pick fennel today there were all these little aphid looking things on one of the branches. Anyone have problems with them? I can't really spray it if I'm feeding it to caterpillars so I think I'm just going to have to plant more rue, which seems to have few pest problems.

Melanie

Buckeyes here when I was watching , snapdragons of course, black mustard , stinging nettle , and lupines , The last three are not usually listed as a host plant for Buckeye's , Only I have seen red admiral cats on black mustard also chewing away ,
With omnivore's it is difficult to say as to absolutely , (no such thing with BF's )
Watch if you can ... When you can ...

Buckeyes eat a lot of different things. At the museum we tend to feed them plantago.

My other Spicebush cat that I thought was ok just started acting weird. He's thrashing his head back and forth and rolling around. Doesn't look good. : (

Melanie

I looked into Buckeye habitat - I think I am too dry here. The plant with the little blue flowers is in my "bog" garden, which is only 2'x3' - so space is at a premium. It may have to go to make room for Lobelia cardinalis, since I know I get Hummingbirds.
I am re-doing the snapdragon bed - it is being taken over by grass.

Thrashing sounds like a parasite - my condolences

Both Spicebushies have their stinkhorns out and are writhing around except the one is almost still. Looks like this batch is a bunch of goners. I'm going to have to get them out of the house too because Spicebush stinkhorns are the WORST! Stinky!

In better news, I went out to water my new plants since the thunderstorms are all going north of us today. I saw the Giant ST which Mom had seen earlier today. After snapping a few pics I headed toward the hose only to see - another Giant ST! That's right, there were two, each on a different color penta. One looked a little smaller than the other; maybe a mating pair I hope? I checked the rue in hopes of eggs but all I found was another Black ST caterpillar (drats, right?). He's in the third picture. I went over to the other hose which we have hidden behind a stucco wall with the air conditioner and the garbage cans. A Gulf Frit had already made its chrysalis on it but today I found another one. I would have brought them in but it's hard to get them off stucco.

Melanie

Sorry to hear about your caterpillars........... didn't realize you had to worry about them being poisoned!

Shorthog, how was the butterfly festival at Mt Magazine? I didn't get to go because my kids didn't get in from serving as staffers at camp until around 3 pm on Saturday. Then they just wanted to sleep! LOL

No problem on the state history.... i learned all that in 7th grade, but couldn't remember the specifics of why we decided on what so i had to go look it up! LOL.... Pollengarden, you are right..... most everyone from Kansas refers to the state as R Kansas and the river as well. LOL wonder what they would think if I called their state Kansaw? Never thought of that........... Got to spend two summers living in Colorado while my husband worked on his masters. The Arkansas River is so beautiful there!!

Beautiful butterflies everyone. Obviously I need to add a lot more butterfly plants next year - i can't even find the common milkweed in my area to purchase! :( What would ya'll suggest for starters??

Genna, I would let shorthog chime in since you're in the same state. I'm not sure what would grow in Arkansas vs. what works in Florida.

Today was fungicide the orchids day so I was outside in the heat watching the butterflies again. I saw the Giant ST again but couldn't get a good photo of it. I did catch the Zebra Longwing sneaking into the firebush for a sip. Then, I had two loyal Duskywing friends on the coneflower and porterweed, respectively. Finally, the Gulf Frit was hitting up multiple sources but here it is on the porterweed.

I just had my first Zebra Longwing emerge from its chrysalis so I'm going to watch that. I've also got that big Black ST cat in a sling just waiting to make his chrysalis. I also rounded up the Monarchs late last night so I'm taking care of them until I can get them to the museum.

Melanie

Yaaaaaggghh! I'm languishing for butterflies. :/

Things begin to look up down here, I saw a sulphur yesterday. Today I saw my first Admiral and a Gray hairstreak for the first time. Like Amanda, I'm sooo ready for some/more butterflies. Melanie, those those pics.

Glad I can help the rest of you get through your butterfly cravings. I'll try to send some up north, but I think they like my yard too much, LOL! I saw a little orange skipper on my verbena this afternoon but he was a quick one.

Melanie