Beautiful !! There are not Zebras Longwings here

Thanks! They're actually the official state butterfly of Florida. We like them that much.

Well, Dad weeded the yard and got rid of most of the Spanish Needles so my butterflies have deserted me for the time being. That, and it has been a little cool outside (warm in the sun, though). Today I was out taking pictures of many of my bromeliads that are blooming so I can share over on that thread. But while I was out there I did stalk a Monarch that did not want to sit still! I finally got a picture right as my camera battery sign started flashing.



I also have a few Monarch cats hanging around.



And apparently my Corkystem Passion Vine (P. suberosa) got egg-bombed about a week ago judging by the caterpillars now swarming it. I think they're Gulf Fritillaries because the biggest one I could find is definitely orange (a Zebra Longwing would be white). In the second photo you can see where the little guy just shed his skin. And you can see how small they are compared to my hand!

So good to see those Monarch cats!!

Yeah, I've had Monarch cats all year long, both at home and the museum. Certainly there were less of them for a while, but they seem to be making a comeback now that spring is here. My milkweed never even got touched by frost; we had such a mild winter. So I guess it helps that they have lots of host plants to lay eggs on!

I saw some Tropical Milkweed at Home Depot the other day. Couldn't help but think that they probably have toxic systemic pesticides, so couldn't be used for any Monarch cats that show up. My milkweeds got clobbered by extreme cold this winter. Some have new growth, but it's gonna be a while before they can be used. And I don't know how many of the Tropical ones will be back. I need to check with one native plant nursery in another county...they don't use pesticides and I know they're trying to grow enough milkweeds!

Linda, how long do you think the pesticides would remain in the plants and toxic to the cats, could you not just isolate them for awhile?

The longer-lasting systemic pesticides could take most of the season to wear off...if it's present. It does help to cut them back a lot, but even then, the long-lasting systemic stuff is still in the roots, soil and the unpruned parts, could possibly go the new growth the first year. Considering the Monarchs and Queens are so scarce, I prefer to stick to unsprayed stuff from my own strictly no-pesticide plants or from no-spray growers that have been verified (I have complete faith in the native plant guy I know very well at that one nursery). Or milkweed in the wild, not in cities that might spray for mosquitos or such. This year isn't looking good for the wild milkweed in many parts of Texas. With the drought, we really need RAIN! I'm carrying water to the A. asperula and a couple of the A. texana out on my property to speed up its new growth...need to get another water hose out there!
Here's something I found about one of the systemic pesticides that is now banned in most of Europe, but commonly used in the U.S.:

How long do systemic insecticides such as imidacloprid (Merit) remain active in nursery grown plants? Asclepias curassavica (tropical milkweed)is frequently grown with imidacloprid to prevent aphids but it also kills monarch caterpillars utilizing the milkweed. How long will the milkweed be toxic for monarch caterpillars? Thanks.
ANSWER:
Imidacloprid is a chemical to avoid if at all possible. It is a synthetic analog of nicotine and is slow to degrade in the environment. According to the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network, it has a half-life in sandy loam soil of greater than one year. In bright light it degrades faster, with a half life of 39 days. But even the degradation products that form inside plants are highly toxic to insects, and their half-life is not reported.

Imidacloprid has been implicated in the mysterious colony collapse disorder of honeybees. For this reason, certain countries, e.g., France, has outlawed its usage for many purposes.

It seems safe to assume that milkweeds treated with imidacloprid may be quite toxic to monarch caterpillars for an extended period. Mr. Smarty Plants recommends the use of much less toxic sprays, such as Safer soap, which may be less effective on aphids but harmless to monarch caterpillars

Oh, forgot this source of native milkweeds grown for the Monarchs, but unfortunately you have to order at least 32 seedlings.
http://monarchwatch.org/milkwe...

Linda, that is a horrible insecticide, no wonder the bees, birds and butterflies are getting more scarce all the time, very sad.

I use a translaminar insecticide on my large lilies (which means it moves into the leaf). It is the only way to have any large lilies at all. The native moth Brithys, a lily borer, just turns them to mush. It gets below the epithelium and cannot be sprayed or powered. It makes its way to the bulb and thus endeth the lily.

After much research, I used a insecticide whose active constituent is Spinosad, which is a natural product. It apparently has negligible risk to pollinators once it has dried. But what do you trust?

On small lily varieties the cats cannot burrow and I can catch them easily by hand. Nothing eats them because they are toxic and blare this with their colouring.

I worry though. It might be that I will have to just give up on Hippies and Crinum.

I have purchased some.

Here's a bit more info ... http://www.livingwithbugs.com/...

That was interesting Tee. I am hoping it is the goods.

I have to say I generally buy milkweed from my local nursery as they are very good about not spraying their host plants with anything. In fact, I usually get free caterpillars there when I buy plants. But a few times I have gotten desperate for milkweed and bought from Lowe's or Home Depot. I've never had a problem with either and sometimes have seen caterpillars on their plants. They usually sell them so fast that the cats rarely have a chance to even get on the plants to begin with. But I would always recommend going with someone you know and trust.

I've also bought organic parsley at the grocery store to feed my Black Swallowtails before. Since the BT caterpillar insecticide spray is organic (since it's a naturally occurring bacteria) you could still end up killing your caterpillars but I took a chance since they would instead have starved. So far my local Publix grocery has been fine. The only downside is since the parsley has been cut it's constantly losing its nutritional value so you tend to have to feed the caterpillars a LOT of it.

I have some little red bugs on one of my milkweeds that I'm going to have to address. I should have taken a picture when I was outside the other day. They're a little bigger than the aphids but sort of similar-looking. I don't know if they're baby milkweed bugs or what but there were a bunch of them together all on one leaf. I usually just let things go on the milkweed but occasionally they do get overwhelmed by aphids or something and I have to deal with it. Fortunately, I don't seem to have any caterpillars in that section of the yard right now so maybe I can just spot-spray some insecticidal soap.

I live near the river (Rio de La Plata), and I went to the riverside today.
There were lots of butterflies !!


















The last two photos don't show how beautiful this one is. It is a big butterfly of a very pale blue, almost white. That color is not appreciate with its wings closed, and the one we could catch with the wings open was very high and the wings were broken. I must search for their names.

This was the place were the photos were taken





And this is a terrible photo, but I noticed that this butterfly has more yellow on its wings than a very similar one that I put in the previous post

Very nice.
Hints of beauty are certainly there (last 2 pics posting above this one).
Are you in the north part of Argentina?

What a lovely variety of butterflies. ♥

Jmorth, I live in the central part of Argentina, in the province of Buenos Aires. But I have never seen those butterflies in my garden.
Thanks Tee.