Looking to attract a Atala hairstreak

My previous two posts talk of success in attracting specific butterflies to my yard via planting "larva plants". This post is a chronicle of my attempt to attract an Atala hairstreak to my yard using the same technique.
It all started two years ago when I read a newspaper article about visitors to an area just a mile or so from my location. The visitors came from as far away as Australia, California and New York to see a rare butterfly at an undisclosed yard within the Riverland Area of Fort Lauderdale. Well, if there are rare butterflies around, I want them to visit me too.
I began in earnest to plant to attract these rare butterflies. Some plants are easier to come by than others. One of the more difficult plants to purchase here is a coontie. The demand for them is high so basically the nursery houses sell them to professionals. I learned they are easy to grow from offshoots the coontie plant makes profusely. This past fall I began planting the offshoots from coonties I collected anywhere I found a mature coontie plant. The picture is of the first offshoot I planted in my yard. Yes it's a small one, but it won't be that way forever. My coontie offshoots seem to make a new "frond" about every five to six weeks. By the end of summer this plant will look different then it does now, with only it's baby fronds showing. The first real fond is at the bottom left. It's the one with six "leaflets" showing.
The whole purpose of planting this (and other coonties) in my yard is to attract the Atala hairstreak butterfly to my yard.

The following was copied from the University of Florida website. I post it so you will have background on the Atilia hairstreak butterfly. Additionally I am always looking for butterflies that "land on me" and those that will pause occasionally, so I can get a decent picture of them. This just might be one of them as you can read below.

The atala is a great example of aposematic (warning) coloration throughout its life cycle. Its host, Zamia pumila is laced with the toxic secondary plant chemical cycasin with greatest concentrations in the new foliage favored by atala larvae. As it feeds the larva stores the cycasin in its tissues. The cycasin is retained throughout the pupal and adult stages rendering all three stages distasteful and toxic to predators. In adult atalas, the cycasin is distributed equally between the body and wings.

The appearance and biology of the atala are typical of many chemically defended insects. Most aposematic insects advertise the fact that they are dangerous with bright contrasting colors. Also, they often are found in aggregations. It is likely that the bright red-orange scales that are placed around the atala eggs and possibly the eggs themselves contain cycasin. By aggregating, the bright red-orange and yellow larvae enhance their warning coloration. A predator tasting one of them will most likely leave the others alone. The iridescent greens and blues on the wings, the red-orange abdomens, and the red-orange spots on the hind wings of the adults are also conspicuous warnings to would-be predators. Even the slow flight of adults and their reluctance to fly when disturbed are characteristic of many aposematic insects.
There are many flights throughout much of the year. Both males and females generally stay in the vicinity of the host plants. Adults have a slow, fluttering flight and sip nectar from flowers primarily during early morning and late afternoon. Resting adults are not readily disturbed and may often be touched.

Will be watching, Art.

Very interesting, artcons---do you have a picture of this rare butterfly? I will be watching this thread...

I planted for the Monarchs this year, but no action yet on my milkweed---maybe I'll try to attract another butterfly next year...

good idea to post your progress. thanks. t.

t.

No, I don't have a picture I took, but you can see one by clicking on the link
http://bugguide.net/node/view/8064 If I enclosed the picture I copied from the site, Dave's puts the copyright notice in as mine, and it's not so you have to visit the site to see it.
I don't think the Atala Hairstreak is rare. In researching it locally, I get the feeling it's more and more being considered common. It was mentioned in the newspaper article I noted above, along with the Miami Blue, which is no longer considered "rare", since the UF recently released over 9,000 into the S. Florida environment. However the article did not say specifically which "rare" butterfly the visitors came down to see.
What I find unusual is, mentioned above in the text I copied in from UF is "Resting adults are not readily disturbed and may often be touched." Hmmm! If they are that cooperative, why isn't there a better picture available?
Art

Hey Tobasco, Did you get to see the recent exhibit at Krohn Conservatory? It was mentioned in the local newspaper here. It was supposed to be a great exhibit.
Art

I haven't visited the Krohn recently, but maybe I will go today...will let you know how it is...

The only place I know of that has a colony of Atalas is Fairchild Gardens near Coral Gables, Florida. I know of someone who lives very near Fairchild Gardens and has planted unbelievable numbers of Coonties in hopes that they will discover her sanctuary and start another colony. So far, no Atalas have appeared.

Hey Ed...I recently read they are becoming more common due to the amount of Coonties being used in landscaping around here. They sell so many to commercial landscape companies there are hardly any around for the rest of us to buy. I do see Coonties everywhere and manage to get seedlings from almost every bush I stop at. I currently have 7 of 'em growing nicely. Only one has been planted in the yard so far. If the rare butterfly is in fact an Atala, the location they were discussing in the article is less than a mile from my place as the blackbirds fly. There is a chance they could drop by. I have planted a lot of native fauna in the yard the last two years in an attempt to attract as many local butterflies as possible. It seems to work. I get a pretty good selection of butterflies and moths that visit regularly. Last winter I made a trip over to a native nursery in North Naples just to pick up native fauna I couldn't get locally.
In a few weeks I plan on visiting Butterfly World. When there I will see if they have any Atala for sale.
Art

This is a really interesting project. I'll be checking in to see what the Coonties look like when they are bigger. I've never seen or heard of them before. And what a gorgeous butterfly you're trying to attract too :-). I sure hope it works for you....for our sake as well as yours: I want to see the pics! LOL

Oh, and just FYI, fauna refers to the animal kingdom. Flora is what you were referring to in your above posts :-)

-Julie

Thanks Julie! I needed that.
I mean the flora vs fauna.
Art

This message was edited Jun 24, 2005 9:31 AM

The Atala cats have a distinctive look also. I wish you the best of luck in attracting them to your yard. Coontie is the key host plant, I think. I do not know what they prefer for nectar.

Well, the plot thickens (a little pun there since the coonties were originally harvested for their starch.)
It turns out the plants I have been growing for the last six months (coonties) are not really coonties at all. They are Cardboard Palms Zamia furfuracea.
I ordered coonties from a Amy's last week and got them in last night. I opened them this morning and low and behold, her plants are correct and mine are wrong. But as I noted above, the plot thickens.
It turns out these plants are known as different plants depending on who's source you are reading. Some say there is only one truly Zamia in Florida, Zamia pumila. Others say there are lots of varieties.
I currently have three varieties in my yard.
I just hope the Atala I am looking to lure here is interested in one of my three.
The picture is of the one that came in the mail last night. It's a Zamia pumila. I won't put it in the ground until it makes a new frond.
Art

Another Zamia I have in the yard is the False Zamia, ZZ plant, or Aroid palm. There are a couple of hints this plant is not a "real" Zamia. Can you pick them out. (:
Art

A shot of the largest Zamia furfuracea, or cardboard palm I am growing. I chose to plant another seedling in the ground instead of this plant because this plant had not grown a new fond yet. The original picture in the first post of this string had already grown new fronds, even though it's a much smaller plant.
Art

I thought I would update this thread as today I am taking another step to attract the Atala butterfly to my yard.
First off, the three storms that came into S Fla this year greatly affected my yard. I did lots of replanting and changing things around to take better advantage of the abundant sun here. I moved my single Coontie closer to the nectar plants and also created some shade in that area too.

Today our SF Galloping Gardeners club is making a trip to Plant Creations in Homestead. My prime goal is to buy two Bahama Berry, Nashia inaguensis plants. These are the prime nectar sources for Atala butterflies in the Bahamas, where the Atala is not rare. I have been looking for these plants since June and finally found a source them at Plant Creations. In June he had sold out of these plants. I had to wait for him to get more plants in. Now he has them.

One of the problems getting this plant is they are in high demand for folks that Bonsai them. They are an excellent plant for this purpose.

Today I will own a couple of them and by tomorrow they will be in the yard. Hopefully within a short period of time I will be able to complete this project.
Attached is a photo from Plant Creations showing a flowering branch of the Nashia.

Art,

I do hope you are able to attract the atala hairstreak. The caterpillar is truly awesome looking! We don't get those down in the south tip of Texas...but maybe if you pass along your source for coonties a rare stray may eventually find it's way down here? You just never know...new records are being made every year :o) more so now with the hurricanes blowing things around.

I've read that there are various places in Florida where the Atala is common and so much so that the caterpillars are a nuisance because they chew up the landcaped coonties in yards out there.

I did find the rare marius hairstreak butterfly caterpillars on my duranta bush. As far as I was told nobody had every seen the caterpillar or photographed them. We were all on pins and needles when they went into the chrysalis stage and waiting for the butterflies to emerge. It was great!!!

~ Cat

Cat, I bought my two Nashia bushes yesterday and will have them in the ground today.
I have a Coontie, which is difficult to find locally due to high demand for their usage in landscaping. They are rarely found in retail nurseries here. I had to buy mine via mail order. I found mine at this link. http://www.mailordernatives.com The plants came nicely packed. I bought two of them and each pot contained two plants so I got four for the money. I have since given three away.

As noted above, the three storms we have had since July have greatly disturbed my yard so the butterfly activity I am having is not a true reflection of what should have happened here. Although I saw my first Question Mark ever, just this past week.

I put in the ground this year the following plants/bushes/trees to attract butterflies. Most are Florida natives but occasionally something like the Nashia, which comes from the Bahamas, has been inserted also. The Bahamas are only 45 miles away as the crow flies. They have the same climate we have here in Fort Lauderdale. If something works there it will also work here.

I planted Bloodberry, Strongbark, Spotted Beebalm Monarda punctata, Blanket Flower Gaillardia pulchella, ZZ Plant Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Variegated Jewels of Opar Talinum paniculatum, Wild Lime Zanthoxylum fagara, and Wild Coffee Psychotria nervosa, all this year.
Additionally I moved several Schefflera 'Nova' Schefflera actinophylla, moved a Duranta into the sun. Then I cultivated Yellow Buttercups Turnera ulmifolia var. elegans, Shepherd's Needles Romerillo Bidens alba var. radiata, Wild Poinsettia Euphorbia heterophylla, Pine-Barren Goldenrod Solidago fistulosa, Danglepod Sesbania herbaceae and milkweed all of which are basically weeds that attract butterflies.
My yard also had before the additions above, Christmas Senna Senna bicapsularis, Cork-bark Passion Flower Passiflora suberosa, Night Blooming Jasmine, Beach Sunflower Helianthus debilis, Spicy Jatropha Jatropha integerrima, Desert Lantana Lantana achyranthifolia plus three other var's. Coralbush Jatropha multifida, four varities of Clerodendrum. I have four colors of Porterweed, lots of Plumbago and Pentas. I am sure I forgot several other things that are out there.
Then I am probably growing at least twenty native varities I picked up from cuttings this summer going to Key West and visiting local community gardens that are all still in the nursery. All of them attract native butterflies.

Additionally I plant parsley, fennel and rue, just for the butterflies larvae.

The point of all this is I want this yard to look like Butterfly World. A lot of my stuff is odd to find in a cultivated yard, especially the weeds. I have found the weeds are great in the off growing season because they bloom all year round. In the winter there is not that much for butterflies to nectar on so if you have nectar plants they like, they will show up all year long. The next month or so will bring in butterflies that are not common in other yards in Ft Lauderdale, just because I have planted the yard to provide food for them all year round. Butterflies like the Monarch and Queens will winter in my yard and will be here until June. Same for the GF's and Zebra Longwings. The swallowtails will continue to come all winter because of the parsley, fennel and Wild Lime bushes they use for larvae. The small Cassius Blue's, White Tip Moths and Oleander Moth will continue to come because I have the larvae plants they need. I keep my grass high during the winter months so the casual weeds that grow here will continue to grow and flurish, providing additional nectar for bunches of small butterflies too small for me to id. Also the skippers like the weeds.

Whenever I wander, with our SF Galloping Gardeners or on my own, I am constantly looking for butterflies and moths. I watch what they land on and make cuttings. Soon it will be in my yard. I don't care if it's a weed or native or invasive. I plant it. I do watch my yard carefully to not let invasive plants get out of control. I am sensitive to our environment and do not want to cause damage of any kind, to this very sensitive environment that is S Florida.

I know, a long piece, but I wanted you to know my motives and methods. If there is anything I can help with, just ask.

Art


This message was edited Nov 15, 2005 10:30 AM

Art, help please. I bought 3 coonties from a native nursery and picked up many seeds from some coonties where I work. I scarrified them and planted the seeds, but supposedly, from my reading, they can take 2 years to put out a seedling. And SOME CREEP stole one of my coonties when I went north for the summer. Is there a way I can grow more Coonties faster? Is there a link that can show me how? I am a very novice gardener. Thanks, Sheila

Art, also, do you have any insight as to what might be killing my Monarch cats? I had many of them the 1st year I planted milkweed (no natural enemies or disease?) but now I have tons of milkweed and adult monarchs and eggs, but the cats never survive infancy. I can see where they have hatched, but then they are gone. I have milkweed bugs, but not that many because I try to squash them, aphids, and I think a problem with fungus on the milkweed, because they get spots on the lower leaves and then they get all yellow and spotted and then they fall off. I have not used anything because I do not want to harm the Monarchs. I am a very novice gardener trying to develop a butterfly garden. This is my 3rd year. I also go north for the summer and it took me 2 solid weeks just to cut back the weeds when I got here, but the plants have mostly survived. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me re the Monarch cats. Sheila

Sheila, If you got down this far in the thread you know I can be wordy in my posts. Sorry about that, but I feel it helps to understand fully the situation you are discussing. With that said, There are other
ways to grow Coonties than by using seeds. Below is the story.

In my experiment, I tried several varieties of Cycads due to the difficulty I was having getting Coonties. One of my Cycads, a ZZ plant took a direct hit by a 2X6X8 during the first hurricane during July of this year. The plant was destroyed. I did a google search looking for ways to save the plant. In one of the articles I read it was noted "any cycad can be cut up into pieces to make a new plant." I did experimenting with pieces of the plant and found I could make new plants from just about every part of the destroyed cycad. I used various sized branches, leaves, parts of the root system and a whole frond. All produced new healthy plants that have the same characteristics as the host plant had, and they did it quickly (two to three months.) Now, I have not tried this with my Coontie because it's the only one I have and it's still small. I will try it soon when I feel the plant is growing again after Wilma.
In all the searches I have done on growing Coonties, none of them mentioned cutting off pieces of the plant to make more plants. Coonties are cycads. Although all the parts may not produce new plants I would guess several parts will. My first try will be with a stem.

It makes sence growers not telling us this about Coonties. If we knew we could duplicate these plants just by cuttings, so to speak, that would eliminate a very big seller for them.

Below is a quote from the article and below that a link to the whole article, including pictures.

Enjoy,
Art

Never Throw Away a Cycad
by Tom Broome, President, The Cycad Society.
Owner of The Cycad Jungle.
"Any cycad can be cut up into pieces to make a new plant. Each genus of cycad will produce growth from a different part of the plant. Zamia, Bowenia, and Stangeria will produce new plants from any part of the stem or root."

http://www.plantapalm.com/vce/horticulture/neverthrowaway.htm

Shelia, I am not sure what the problem is. The Aphids are not a problem. I get them too and they don't seem to bother the cats. As for the fungus, I don't know how to handle that.
Since last year I have been cutting my milkweed to get them to branch. They only grow to about 18".
My standard milkweeds are mostly in shade and I have a couple of the yellow var in the sun.

Keep in mind when dealing with me, I am a novice too. I can grow stuff but don't know much about gardening. I have learned mostly by trial and error.

I belong to a small group called the SF Galloping Gardeners. If I have problems with anything I just ask them about it.

I would suggest you go to the butterfly forum and start a thread stating your problem. Explain it throughly and someone will suggest an solution. Monarchs are very popular in that forum and everyone has them along with the milkweed. Someone should know what to do.

Art

This message was edited Nov 18, 2005 8:43 AM

Art, thanks so much for the help. It is always good to hear about people's practical experiences and that I am not missing anything obvious. Interesting about your milkweed.
Some of mine in a crowded patch have stems running along the ground for almost 6 feet, not putting out roots but putting out new leaves and branches from the buds. I have 5 patches in various locations and each is a little different in the way the plants grow. When I cut back some of the others after the Monarchs are gone for the season, I will leave these branches long to see what happens. I don't want to cut them now because most of them have eggs on them and I want to give them a chance.
Sheila

An update to keep you informed of the project to date.
First, to Shelia, shelialarry. Since your post above I have been paying close attention to my Monarchs. I have lots of milkeweed in two colors. The area they are usually planted in has partial shade in the afternoon. This year, because of the storms, especially Wilma, much of my shade in this area has been destroyed. It's a lot easier for me to observe what's going on there. It seems this area in my yard is inhabitated by lots of creatures, from birds to lizzards. They are the main reason I don't get many mature Monarch cats in this area, or my yard in general. The cats get eaten before they can mature. None of my milkweed plants ever get tall enough to supply enough foliage for some cats to go unnoticed. They are always exposed. I will be planting other small bushes between the milkweeds to give the cats some cover for protection. I will keep you informed.

As for the project, I have not seen any Atala's so far. However I do have a membership to Fairchild Tropical Gardens now and will be visiting it often. Supposedly there is a colony of Atala's living there. I will ask the staff where I might find the best chance of seeing them. If I find the Atala's there I will be looking to see what keeps them coming back to Fairchild. I will also try to capture some cats if I see them.

In the yard I have planted just about every native flowering plant I can get my hands on, even though many of them are weeds. However, Val from our local garden club noted to me recently, weeds are just another name for wildflowers. You remember that old saying, "one man's junk is another man's treasure" I hope it works for me here.

One other thing I have done in the yard is to redistribute my butterfly attractors more evenly around the yard. I am sort of redoing my yard and this is a good opportunity to move plants around so the whole yard gets good butterfly nectar and larvae coverage. In another two months just about everything in the yard will be back in bloom. Surely with all the natives I have planted, if there are Atala's around, they will find their way to my yard...I hope.

Art

Art, I just posted a lengthy reply on another thread and wish I had read yours 1st, since some of that makes sense to me. Although it seems like a tiny cat might not be such a tempting treat to a lizard, my situation is much like yours, with the undersides of the leaves very exposed. Please let me know what seems to work well between the milkweed, since I am reaching that stage and have been contemplating what I should plant. I have several hundred milkweed and many other butterfly attractors and have been working to find larval food plants. Some of my milkweed are in continuous sun, some in partial shade and it hasn't seemed to make a difference to the Monarchs, although the plants in sun do better.

I have some coonties too, but no sign of an Atala. Please keep us posted on that.

As always, thanks for your help!! Sheila

Shelia,
You can plant some herbs like parsley, rue & fennel. They attract several varities of swallowtail butterflies. They are cheap, available and work well through the early summer. If you plant some in the shade, possibly under other bushes, they may last through to the fall.

The native passion flowers like Maypop Passiflora incarnata (blue) the Corkbark Passiflora Suberosa (green) and the Wild Yellow Passion Flower Passiflora lutea are favorites of Florida native butterflies. BE carefull in planting red passionflowers as some var. of them will kill GF butterflies.

The Christmas Sienna will attract yellow and white varities of butterflies.

There there are lots of other larvae plants you can use.

Below is a searchable data base where you can find more information on larvae host plants for butterflies.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/hostplants/

The picture is of a Black Swallowtail cat eating parsley this past June. In the next couple of posts I will show other cats.

Good luck!

Art

Shelia,
Here is a Giant Swallowtail cat eating my Wild Lime bush.

Shelia, another one. This is an I/O moth eating Blue Plumbago.

Shelia This is a GF on a corkbark passionflower.

There are lots of things you can do. Native plants help a lot. I even have weeds I keep in the yard just to attract butterflies, especially during the winter months when there is not much else around for them to nectar on. For example I have goldenrod, spanish needles, and false poinseta just for the butterflies in winter and they are all weeds and easily obtained in almost any vacant overgrown piece of land.

There are several nature area's in your area that feature sections on butterflies. Visit them and see what they use for larvae plants to attract specific butterflies. Anywhere you see butterflies pause and look at what they are eating or laying eggs on. Then you will know what works in your area. This is the easiest thing you can do to increase your butterfly population and variety.

Art

And...on my quest to attract an Atala butterfly,
My latest developments are, I have a half dozen new Coontie plants I recently traded for. I also found a good sized Coontie in the woods this past Sunday.

My recently planted Nashia, Bahama Berry bushes are flowering. This just happened starting on Monday. In the Bahama's these are the favorite nectar plant for the Atala butterfly. I hope this helps draw them, I sure went through a lot of trouble to find and buy these plants.

On Saturday I visited Tree Tops Park in Davie, specifically to visit their Pine Ridge Trails and butterfly area where they have a good sized Atala population. Both area's were closed due to damage from Wilma. They are not expected to be open until the spring.

One of the park staff told me I should be able to get Atala cats when that section opens in the spring. She said they give them away to people they believe have the resources to maintain a population of Atalas.

Did I mention I havn't seen an Atala in my yard yet? Well I haven't but I have not given up, in fact I am just starting to get serious about it.

Art

Way to go, Art!! Two-bits says this IS the year. :-)

John

I agree...this is the year the atala butterflies will visit your yard. Hopefully we'll be reading about a colony that has settled into their new home!!!

~ Cat

Hi Art,
Thanks for all of the encouragement, pictures, and advice! I have picked up several books on Florida butterfly gardening and they have some good lists. So I am starting to collect plants that the larvae like, and actually seeing some other butterfly species than the Monarchs that are around every day and so showy.

I have to be a little careful on some. I left a couple Spanish Needles in the ground last year while I went to Maine for the Summer and when I got back I spent two weeks pulling all of them and will probably be pulling seedlings until I leave again! There are Spanish needles all over town in some of the empty lots and wilder yards so I don't feel like I am depriving anyone. Also, as the native nurseryman said, "They'll be back." My gardening is not only complicated by being gone for 4+ months in the summer, but my yard is in a flood zone, and it doesn't necessarily need a hurricane to flood. A brackish flooding in the summer, when I am gone, may wipe out many of the plants I am putting in. So you see, I am gardening dangerously.
Thanks again, Sheila

Art ,
How far up Florida do you think Atala's could survive?I'm I just to cold in the winter here in New Port Richey?

At the University of Florida Master Gardener course material, they note the range of the Atala. "Range. The Atala has been reported from Dade County north into Martin County. In 1993, it was sighted in St. Lucie and Indian River counties. The increased presence of Atala butterflies can be attributed to the increased use of coonties in the landscape and a series of mild winters."

The entire article on Coonties and the Atala butterfly can be seen at the following link. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG347

I recently added six coonties to my collection via plant swap and four more from division of an existing plant. Interesting note here on the Coonties. They are cycads and most people won't even think about reproducing their own cycads because they think it's difficult to do. It's not! If interested in the techniques for propagating cycads, go to the following link. http://cycadjungle.8m.com/cycadjungle/Horticulture%2C%20Article%204%20Never%20throw%20away%20a%20cycad.htm This is a terrific cycad information site.

Art

Well, still no Atala, but tomorrow the Galloping Gardeners are meeting at Tree Tops Park in Davie, FL for a Water Matters Day event. Since my last visit there, they have reopened the butterfly area.
On my last visit there, I met the ranger who oversee's the park. She indicated I should be able to get eggs, or cats if they are available. In my discussion with her I had mentioned how many Coonties I have and she noted it was enough for a small colony and she would gladly give me permission to have Atala eggs or cats, if they are present.
Soooo...wish me luck on my latest quest, Atala eggs or cats tomorrow.

Art

Well, the park was open for Broward County "Water Matters Day" but the trails were not. I wandered around the main building to the back where you would normally head off to one of the trails. Just as I was just getting into it an Alata flew by me. It landed on a wild coffee bush a few feet away. Got out the camera but I was on the wrong side of the butterfly as the light was coming from the East and I was on the West. I took a couple of shots anywhay before I attempted to get on it's other side. This is one of those shots. Not great, but at least you can see it fairly well. Good thing I took the few i did, as when I got around to it's other side, my battery went dead and the camera closed. By the time I got out a spare battery it was getting late. I was meeting other SFGG'ers there so I packed it in and went off to meet the others. I'll be going back there in the morning for a another walk. One never knows what one will find out there.

Art

Art,

AWESOME!!! Am so thrilled for you!!! That's a great photo!
Please share your photos of the eggs and cats if you get them.

I recently bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ30 and made it a point to get an extra battery as well as a 1gb card - got the new kind of sandisk card that folds over and turns into a USB card :o) Oooooh I love it!!! No more wire hooks up...just plug the card into the USB port...so easy!!!

Hated being out in the field butterflying without backups...I have six batteries for my old sony mavica fd91 :o)

Best of luck...keep us posted on the coontie and the atalas.

~ Cat

Art,
Great! I doubt I will ever catch one myself; thanks so much for sharing. Sheila

Anouncement.
This morning at 11: am I spotted Atala caterpillars on the Coontie bushes. Two out of the three bushes I have in the ground had cats on them. Note the aposematic coloration to help ward off predators. The butterfly also has aposematic coloration. Because of this, the butterfly is slow flying and will often appear on nectar flowers with it's wings wide open and appears to be poseing for a picture. Most parts of the Coontie plants are dangerously poisionous.

A group of the cats are shown in the picture below. Hopefully in a few weeks I will have some good Atala Butterfly shots for you.

Art