Melanie,
I had seen it before it made its' chrysalis, was laughing cause somehow it managed to crawl onto a pot of Dwarf Papyrus that's sitting in a tub of water, guess one of the stems was hanging over enough to crawl up. Saw some others crawling up a Gloriosa lily that is climbing up an Oak Tree and looked for them but didn't see them, which if they made a brow chrysalis up high somewhere would explain it.

Foung this swallowtail of all places under our glass sliding door..so close to the ground..hiding..

Tarev, I'm going to make a wild guess and say you have the Western Tiger Swallowtail as opposed to the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Either way, I'm jealous. But I've got their host plant just waiting for eggs...

In the meantime, I'm swamped with other Swallowtails! I keep finding Pipevine Swallowtail eggs. Mom even found a caterpillar! And she is not very good at finding caterpillars (especially ones that small) but she insisted it was right there in front of her. She brought the whole leaf in and I moved him to the right plant. Here's a picture of two of the eggs about to hatch. You can totally see the little caterpillars in there turning dark. In case you didn't know, caterpillars eat their way out of the egg. What else are they going to do? They don't have hands or beaks! Then, they eat the egg as their first meal.



But it doesn't take long before they start eating.



I also found two Spicebush cats that I must have missed and I think I've found four more eggs since I last posted. They're still not laying on the Sassafras but I guess that's ok because at this rate I'm going to run out of spicebush and I'll have to feed them something. There's also lots of Red Bay growing behind MOSI so I can always snag that, too.



So when the parents were on their way to the Grand Canyon, the only other car on the road in Clovis, NM threw a rock at them and cracked the windshield. Mom called yesterday to get it replaced. The appointment was for this afternoon, but the guy called at 7:15 this morning to let us know he'd be here around 3:00 pm. I was annoyed at being woken up, but I guess it was a good thing because I had my alarm set for 10:00 am and TECO finally turned our power off at about 9:50 am (without the notification phone call this time). So I totally would have missed my therapist appointment. Anyway, I went out about 8:00 am to get the Pipevines some more food and to gather eggs because Mom said she saw it laying eggs last night. And I didn't take my camera because what butterfly is up that early? Well, I found one that was still asleep! This Gulf Frit was hanging out in the plumbago. I always assumed they went up in the trees. The passion vine grows next to the plumbago so maybe this one was just lazy?



In the meantime, the Pipevines got breakfast. By the way, don't try to move a tiny caterpillar unless absolutely necessary because they may be molting and they're too small to be able to tell. I learned this the hard way. FYI, I think I've lost a couple of the Pipvines but more seem to be thriving than not so we're heavily in the plus column. Also, setting the old food on the new food, as I did in the picture, is an easy way to get them to move to it.



This afternoon, the Zebra Longwings were flying around.



Speaking of Zebra Longwings...a few years ago, I planted some Passiflora lutea out on my corner. No matter what I do, this plant always comes back. It doesn't grow crazy fast and isn't invasive, but it is persistent. I spotted it a few weeks ago and I was telling Dad I want to dig it up and put it in the butterfly garden. I actually had some planted there but I think I really did kill that one. Well, the plant isn't very big but the Zebra Longwings found it. And with all the weeds out there, I have no idea how it found it. I found two caterpillars and relocated them to my P. "Lavender Lady" because there wasn't near enough P. lutea for them to grow to a full caterpillar. Zebra Longwings always lay eggs on the native passion vines (P. lutea, P. suberosa) but they seem to eat all the other kinds just fine (with the exception of the red-flowered ones which are bad for everybody).



Meanwhile, the Gulf Frits weren't being jerks today and posed for a few shots. This is actually two different butterflies. There was like three of them chasing each other around.



And while I was feeding the Spicebushies I took this picture. There are two cats - one all the way to the left, and one straight up from the egg. And that hole on the right? There's two more cats on the other side of the leaf. Which brings me to the point of making sure your caterpillars have fresh food at all times. I have seen caterpillars drink water (mostly when I was forcing them to when trying to nurse them back to health) but this is not a normal thing. They get water from eating the plants they ingest. So try not to let their food dry out or you get dehydrated, and eventually dead, caterpillars.

For you mellie...these ones have been hovering around here all day long all the time during these warmer days:

Yay! Tiger Swallowtails just for me! Now if I could just get some to lay eggs on my Sweetbay Magnolia! I paid $60 for that thing and so far I've had only one cat that died on me! Patience, Melanie, patience.

Well, I'm up early because sometimes that just happens. But I guess it's good because I got to go out and pick food before it got up to 90 degrees. Seriously, they're forecasting a high of 94 for tomorrow and I'm so not ready for this. Our average is 88 for this time of year. And there's a difference between warm and hot, folks.

Unfortunately, being up early means one of the teenagers on the block was at the corner waiting for the bus and I didn't realize this until after I had yelled at the caterpillars and apologized to a Monarch I scared. Oh, well. She waved at me, at least. I waved back. I didn't even think we had any more kids left except the one across the street and he's a boy. I don't know my neighbors at all.

Well, in good and bad news, my first Red Admiral came out. And I swear this was the fastest emergence ever. According to my photos, I think he made a chrysalis on the 15th and he came out on the 21st. Most butterflies take at least 10 days; what was up with this one? I didn't even realize he came out until I was going to bed that night and leaned down to check if the chrysalis was getting darker and there was a butterfly in there! The bad news is, I didn't get a good photo of him because he was ready to fly and if I'd have opened that cage there would have been a butterfly loose in the house. That's actually happened before, and while Dad finds it hilarious, he's not the one who has to catch them! And we have vaulted ceilings in part of the house! Here's the one decent picture I've got of it in the cage. Hopefully, my second Red Admiral will be more cooperative. I'm keeping a closer eye on him, too.



I found two more Pipevine eggs and two more caterpillars on the vine this morning. I hope the cats didn't eat anything! I was yelling at them so neighbor girl was probably like, "I better wave at the crazy lady so she doesn't yell at me." I know I still have some eggs that aren't hatched but considering the number I do have, I would have expected more cats by this point. Not that I've counted them yet. Anyway, I took this photo because there's a couple of things going on in it. Those black smudges near the bottom, and the two on the right side, are where my babies molted! This is a good step in becoming a successful butterfly. You can also see two caterpillars - one much larger than the other. But they also seem to hang out together like Polydamas do which Mom thinks is adorable. The cat on bottom is probably a couple days old and the one on top is at least a week. Oh, and there's an empty egg (that yellow thing) above the caterpillars.



After I waved to neighbor girl I turned around and found an Orange-Barred Sulphur cat on the senna! He's a big one, too! I would have showed it to her but her bus showed up.



Other than that, I went to pick one Spicebush leaf and ended up pulling a whole stem off so that's a waste of good caterpillar food. In good news, I forgot how good Spicebush smells. Much better than pipevine - eww! If I have to take some Spicebushies to the museum that will make my boss totally happy because they're like her second-favorite caterpillar (after the Pipevine ST). Also, a Monarch has come around and laid eggs on the tiny bits of new growth I have. The cycle begins again...

Just returned from Texas, only got a couple of fair BF pics, a Painted Lady and an unknown. Both were in wildflowers along the side of the road between Houston and Fort Worth.





I took the aforementioned identifier screen, I scored as a Luna Moth.

Nice photos J.

J, the second photo is some kind of Satyr butterfly. Maybe the TX folks can specify which one? I generally only see the Carolina Satyr here and it doesn't have nearly as many spots as yours does. Both photos are very nice! Love the flowers, too!

Thanks Ann and Melanie. I was amazed myself by the fields of wildflowers, acres and acres of them. Time permitting I'll post about them in the wildflowers forum and in the database. Here's a 'sneak' preview -

I can't wait J!

Jay that second butterfly is a Carolina satyr

All right, thankyou. I'll so designate it in my photo album of named BF.

J, the satyr is most likely a Little Wood Satyr. And the white dot on the upper wing of the lady suggests to me it looks more like an American Lady. I took the quiz, too. Long-tailed Skipper!

jmorth said:Just returned from Texas, only got a couple of fair BF pics, a Painted Lady and an unknown. Both were in wildflowers along the side of the road between Houston and Fort Worth.





I took the aforementioned identifier screen, I scored as a Luna Moth.

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! Go hug a veteran (ask first if you don't know them). But at least thank one. And thanks to you if you are one! I just thanked my parents who are both Vietnam Vets. They met in the Air Force in Washington D.C. Dad got sent to Vietnam, Mom ended up in England. They got married when Dad got back from Vietnam, then Dad got sent to MacDill AFB in Tampa, Mom followed him and that's why I live here! That, and it's awesome.

Hey, the banner today is a Zebra Longwing! That was super cool to see when I woke up!

The museum was busy as usual today and lots of weird things going on. One bad thing was that I almost passed out in front of a guest. And I was sitting on a bench and drinking water at the time! But it is very hot outside today and the humidity is up there. I mean, the butterflies were already flying when I left at 8:30 this morning! That's crazy! I went to the air-conditioned lab and stayed there until I left. There was lots to clean so I had plenty of stuff to do. One of these days I'll learn I'm disabled, but until then, I guess I'll continue to push myself.

This is the view from the lab and the first thing I do each Sunday - release the butterflies! Okay, I totally ate my Panera breakfast sandwich first but I didn't need low blood sugar on top of all my other problems. There were two Monarchs to be released, but as you can see, it was mostly Zebra Longwings today. And after they come out, guess who gets to clean all those little boxes? Me!



And the tanks take up the rest of the wall. Each species gets it's own tank although some have multiple tanks. Like, there are three Monarch tanks because there are so many of them. Guests aren't allowed in the lab; they just look in the window. Sometimes it gets weird because I feel like I'm the one in the cage and they're looking at me! So I try to look busy whenever there are people around. I usually am busy, but sometimes I got to sit down and take a break, you know?



And we have Zebra Longwing chrysalises on the lab table. There was another one to the left of this one but it had already emerged. I pinned this one up in one of the little boxes so he can come out and not fly around the lab and annoy my bosses. We have nets for that kind of thing, though.



And the Zebra Longwings were in love today. Seriously, at one point I counted five couples mating which is the most I've ever seen at one time. And the other males still wouldn't leave them alone!



All the butterflies are loving the orange Cosmos in the flight cage. I just looked at the photo closely and realized there's another Zebra Longwing flying through the bottom of my picture! We have so many in there, it's nuts!



There was one Gulf Frit in the flight cage until I went out and caught five more. That was kind of the reason I was tired and overheated and about to pass out. Catching butterflies is hard work - people just don't realize!



I found an Orange-Barred Sulphur outside and I was wondering why his pattern looked weird until I realized he was molting!



Here's a Monarch just for kicks.



And here's what gives caterpillars a bad name - web worms! I don't know what kind of moths these are but I thought it looked cool so I took a picture.



And for fun, here's a little update photo on my Pipevine Swallowtails. A lot of them molted in the last two days.



In other caterpillar news, I lost a couple Spicebushies, but I had a few hatch. I counted seven caterpillars and I still have a few eggs to hatch so hoepfully they'll all become happy adult butterflies.

Now for some weird news, I'm about to post a cool bird sighting on the bird thread. So check it out if you're into birds!

Thanks for the neat informative pics Melanie!

You're most welcome, Ann! And everyone else! I love those thumbs ups!

This is the Ulysses Butterfly from tropical Queensland. Large and spectacular. I never managed to get one to open its wings while settled. In gardens where they are, you see sky blue blinking. Sorry about the pictures but one can only manage so much running after butterflies.

Oh boy! Do I ever know what you mean Glen. Running around chasing butterflies will give one a workout very quickly.
those butterflies are spectacular!!!!!!

Glen, I'm like right now! That is so cool! And it is definitely getting to be too hot here to chase butterflies as I learned the hard way on Sunday. That doesn't mean I'll stop trying, but maybe I'll just save it for the butterflies we don't raise in the lab.

Oh geez! I just looked it up. How awesome!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...

Talk about flying jewels! We may have hummers that we refer to as flying jewels but Australia has butterflies that are flying jewels.