DAILY PICTURES # 110

Ivy ~ Your comment about the winter Monarch population in Mexico is certainly encouraging. Thanks for sharing pics of those two (unfamiliar to me) butterflies!

Ju ~ OMG, that's HUGE! I assume that's also multiple plants? Someone on one of those old threads said hers grew up to her roof.

Kim ~ Because of all the info I get here, I have an advantage that some of you "old pros" didn't have. I remember Mellielong. She hasn't posted in a very long time. There are also some other frequent posters that haven't been around in a while.

N.A.N, I miss some of the previous members too. mellielong moved to allthingsplants.com and vitrsna has not posted for awhile. Also lepfarmer has been a big help on identification and rearing butterflies. The winter pics from Russell a.k.a. yakmon really helped me getting thorough the winters.
I think we lose some participation when we renew the thread and it does not get added for automatic notification of messages to members on their home page.

Ivy, it's sad indeed. yakmon, left DG as well? Ummmm

Ivy Those are Goldenrod indeed , a weed ,, for Bird ,Butterfly and Bee ..lol

N.A.N. there are five plants there .

I saw Monarch this morning , only one today ,,

As far as the migration , Monarch may come through for a month or more , not many usually after this week .

Ivy, another DG member recently mentioned that quite a few members are now at All Things Plants (owned by our original Dave). She said some even use both sites. I stopped in there to take a look and noticed some current DG members using the same name on both sites.

It's a very nice site, but I'm comfortable here, even with the glitches and changes. It feels like home to me.

Thanks, Ju. They're beautiful! Shame I don't have more sun, but I have considered trying just one 'Torch' (not sure where, though) or a dwarf variety.

Friends or Foes? These spiders aren't good to have in the butterflies garden. These pictures were taken last year.

As far as Monarch, I haven't seen one single one, my neighbor who planted a small bed of Zinnias in his garden saw 4 today.

1) Monarch egg on MW's flower. I've also collected another egg that was laid on the underside of a leave on another plant. I'm monitoring both of them and try to find out if the two will hatch the same time?
2 - 5) are various pix of the 3rd instar. I watched these cats, some traveled to the bottom of the cage and pupate, it takes them about 24 hours for the process, once they shed their skin, they were slow and sluggish, as they become more active, they begun to return to the MW to continue eating. I'd not try to disturb the cats while they're motionless awaiting to shed their outer skin.

With a glass house; one can monitor the larvae as they developed. This pix was taken last year around this time. These are the BSTs ready for release.

Good info Lily-love on cat observation. I always worry when they get away from their food and are hard to locate but as you indicate they are soon back at the trough pigging out.

I like my glass pillar houses with a mesh screen cover. I constantly monitor for excess moisture since it encourages bacteria, fungus, and mold growth. With all that cat poop, moisture can create a mess.

I saw at least two Monarch's today. I have loads of zinnia. But what I noticed the most was the large sulfurs (big yellow).

No photo but I did see a Monarch a silver spotted skipper a few few smaller skippers ,

Sulphers Migrate south this time of year also , Georgia , northern Florida their overwintering sites ,

Ivy, with excess moisture it could cause all kind of problems. And cleanliness, hygiene issues. For the larvae as well as hand-mouth disease. Especially when children are involved. Hah, so hand wash, hand wash, something so simple but sometime we forget.

Lily is that a green house jungle. Lovely. My side yard looks like a hide out for Tarzan and Jane.

Brenda, lots of big Cloudless here too. Busy laying eggs on Coffee weed and other wild sennas. They love red blossoms like zinnias, calibrocha, and pineapple salvia. This one preferred the blue and white florets on the coleus. Maybe the red leaves confused it.

Fascinating info! Things like moisture issues aren't often mentioned in basic info about raising BF.

Great pics, everyone! I'm not sure if I've ever seen a Sulphur, though they do supposedly come this far north. So they only migrate as far south as Florida?

I just noticed there are 333 posts on this thread! It doesn't affect my fast computer, but I wonder if it's a problem for people with slower computers or mobile devices?

There are so many Sulphurs ,, I know they exist in Mexico and south America ,
Western populations probably go farther south .
The Eastern population overwinters in northern Florida
I do not see near the numbers I use to either , Orange Sulphurs Because their crop eater like cabbage white ,

Crop eaters? Okay, Ju, which side are you on? The CROPS or the Sulphers? Just kidding friend. If I were given a choice, between our farmers, and the crop-eaters? I would support our farmers. But for us butterflies farmers? Put that Sevin down. It isn't needed here. Your butterflies success depends on you caring for your plants, especially your host plants, and the stuffs that beautify your garden, and also provide nectars for the bugs and bees -- in short.

Back to my Monarch nursery this morning, I've got good news, and I also have bad news. Bad news first. The only egg that I brought indoor disappeared. While getting up for something during the middle of the night -- I walked by the pillars house, I saw a cat (not the feline kind), but my 3rd instar Monarch wandering on to the branch .... this morning, that MW branch, where the egg was last seen, it was eaten down to a nub. Well like Paul Harvey used to say, "and now you know the rest of the story!". And the good news? Well, the good news is the eggs that I noted outdoor on the MW's flowers, it's still there, hasn't hatch yet. The bonus is though, there were more eggs nearby that I didn't notice before.

Happy butterflies gardening everyone. Oh, another minor "bonus", the cuttings that I took several days back? They begun to send out roots. I've got to tend to them before the cats eat me out of the house -- chuckle, chuckle.

Lily Several host plant tries for next year are in the works , (or pot) if you prefer , lol
I have some alfalfa still a bucket full or several small pots got ate to stems , I was surprised at how many critters use that plant ,
Got this a while ago
The monarch migration is over for the most of that here ,
Couple of a silver spotted skipper ,
I need to start some Amorpha Fruitcosa for these also

As N.A.N. noted this thread is getting very long so I started a new one at http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1405490/ DAILY PICTURES #111.

Be sure to click on this thread and stay attached to this group of butterfliers and gardeners..

WOW! This was just outside my window. Very interesting and different. Not the best of pictures, but under the circumstances - the best I could do. It frosted here last weekend, but there are still a few blossoms that were not killed and this guy looked very healthy and was taking advantage of what was left.

I would imagine that Gulf Fritillary is rare for you in Illinois , What a Delightful Visit!!!

Your poat is on the wrong page of this thread. Sorry! Great pictures!

Wow is right! Your photos are super considering it was a grab the camera and run photo shoot. I wonder what a nice Gulf Fritillary is doing in Zone 6b in the middle of October, but i see on the range map the GF's do wander as far north as Illinois, but not farther. At any rate good for you for getting those pics. He does look very healthy! Is this the first one you have seen in your garden? I'll bet you are happy you have food for him :-) Maybe this means you will have a mild winter?

This message was edited Oct 21, 2015 2:54 PM