thanks so much, Anne! I'm glad to be here. What wonderful photos you all have!

Such a thrill to enjoy my BST cat and to watch him emerge, and so bittersweet to watch him fly away! Hoping he found his mate....

Ann, I think you're purposely trying to torment me! The top looks like a Spicebush but the side looks like a Pipevine. I feel like I could spend all night debating this with myself. Anyone else have an opinion?

to Catmint! I only volunteer at MOSI each Sunday. I'm part of the 47% of freeloaders. I'm on SS disability. I had to stop going to MOSI for about two years after I got sick but I think my medicine combination is better now and I've kind of learned my limits (I have chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia among other ailments). I'm actually going to make a special visit to MOSI on Friday this week because my boss and her partner in crime (okay, her volunteer turned part-time employee) haven't seen me in person in a LONG time. So we figured we should do some catching up and discuss butterfly stuff. Plus, I'm training two new people so I guess they want to make sure I'm not corrupting them. Hee hee! I'm going to have to write down a list of questions I have because it seems every week I'm like, "What's that plant's name again?" Or I just think of some random butterfly question. Been raising butterflies for seven years and I still learn new stuff all the time.

We have a really good team of volunteers in the butterfly garden at MOSI. In fact, the museum has its own set of volunteers, but because raising caterpillars requires a specific set of knowledge, the butterfly garden volunteers are a separate group. We also don't have to wear the uniform of white shirts and khaki pants (or shorts) because we play in the dirt! I'd ruin a white shirt in the first five minutes knowing me. A few weeks ago I was wearing a brand new shirt I ordered from Monarch Watch and I was releasing an Orange-Barred Sulphur who then decided to release its meconium on my shirt. My fault for not holding it over something else. (Oxyclean got it out, FYI.)

Melanie! That butterfly was tormenting ME! It stayed buried so deep in the bloom for soooo long just daring me to try to get a photo of it. I think I have never seen a butterfly stay so still for so long. Then when it moved, it was so fast I could not even capture a mind photo of it much less an actual photo. Drat!

thanks for the welcome, Melanie. Even if it's only part-time it still sounds like a totally awesome place to work! Sort of like my dream job after I retire.

I believe this is the very same butterfly that proved so elusive yesterday. Today I at least got a full shot of the underside of the wings.

That's a pretty one, Ann!

Margaret. I think so too.

Beautiful shot of the pipevine swallowtail, Anne!

Yup, I agree with Cat. That does look like a Pipevine for sure today. I suspected it yesterday but didn't want to commit myself. But there's a certain arc that the orange and blue spots take on the underside of the Pipevine that's different from the other Swallowtails. It's hard to explain unless you've just seen it enough for yourself. I'll post some pictures in a bit but I have to release another Viceroy and go get some food before the rain starts. It's already begun thundering!

Melanie, yes! the orange and blue spots are in kind of a semicircle on the Pipevine -- very different from the other Swallowtails! I agree it was ambiguous in the earlier photos, but clear as a bell in this one!

Well, I went out to get the paper and the mail this afternoon (yeah, I sleep late) and I took one step outside the door and thought, "I should have brought my camera." I took another step, looked to the left, and saw a Gulf Frit. Nothing to see there, folks. Looked to the right, and there was a Spicebush Swallowtail. Darnit! Back into the house to get the camera and luckily it stuck around for a picture.



Look at the glob of pollen on this Zebra Longwing's proboscis!



There were two male Orange-Barred Sulphurs fighting again but I think this might be the one I released the other day because he's noticeably small.



And the Polydamas are still laying eggs. Sigh. Found three clutches today. MOSI is getting a donation of several dozen Polydamas this week.



Now, we were talking about Pipevine Swallowtails and I saw a male today in the garden. I also believe Ann's is a male due to the shimmery blue. I hadn't thought too much about it until I was comparing my photo with hers, but did you notice even the body has the shimmery blue scales? In the photos I'm about to post you can see it one photo but not the other so I think it depends on the lighting reflecting the scales. And I would venture to guess only the males have this feature since the females don't have the shimmery blue even on their lower wings. And Cat said it perfect, there is a distinct semi-circle to the Pipevine ST that isn't found on the others. You see enough and it gets obvious. I'm actually seeing a lot more Pipevine STs this year than in the past which is cool.



Here's one of those Gulf Frits I'm so dismissive of. Seriously, they're the most common butterfly in these parts and I take them for granted.



There were about three Long-Tailed Skippers flying around.



And of course, I found Long-Tailed Skipper eggs and caterpillars! I brought them inside but I'm going to take them to MOSI, too. I have a hard time raising these guys. If I keep them in a critter keeper the food dries out too fast. If I keep them in tupperware there's too much moisture and the caterpillars die. I'd leave them on the butterfly pea but the lizards look a little too cozy over there.



Here's the Viceroy I released. I put it on the bougainvillea by our front window on one of the branches that kind of hangs under our entryway. I figured in case it rains, he'll be safe. This one doesn't seem quite as dark as the ones yesterday.



When I got home from getting food (splurged on Panera tonight) there was a White Peacock but I just wanted to get in out of the weather because I have no desire to be hit by lightning. Plus, I was hungry. Also, I forgot to tell you guys but the other day I was walking toward the butterfly garden and saw something dark that wasn't a butterfly. It was the hummingbird! It was on the firebush and took off when it saw me coming but I hadn't seen any in a few months so it was cool to see one again.

Thanks Melanie & Cat! I learned something today. From now on, I will look for the arc or semi circle on the underside.

We still do not have anywhere near the # of butterflies we had last year. Something very strange too is that last year they went nuts on my blue salvia & the red also. The same plants are blooming & yet the only thing feeding on them are the hummers. Not even any bees. The bees especially loved the blue salvia last year. In fact, I have not seen any honeybees since around April when there were tons of them drinking from the birdbaths & now? Zip, zero, zilch.

Love the photos, Melanie! That's funny what you say about gulf frits being so common where you are. Here they are a big treat! Sad to say the most common butterfly in my yard (aside from the skippers, which I love) are Cabbage Whites.

Ann, I've heard that butterfly sightings are down all over this year. http://growingsmallfarms.ces.n...
I'm definitely noticing it in my yard too.

Cat, we easily take for granted what we see everyday. But I try to remember they are special to other people and take pictures anyway. I told everyone about a man at the museum about 6-8 weeks ago who was out photographing butterflies in the garden and he was all "ooh and ahh" over the Gulf Frit. And he said it was his favorite butterfly. And I said, "Why? They're so common!" And he went on to say how he loved the silvery underwings and how could you not appreciate that? So I guess it's the whole "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" thing. And we shouldn't take things for granted just because we see them all the time. Cabbage Whites are actually pretty rare here which I suppose is a good thing. I'm very anti-invasive species even if they are butterflies. I have one sighting I reported to BAMONA that they said was a Cabbage White but I've never been quite convinced for some reason. Just doesn't look like the ones I've seen in WV, you know?

I am having a different experience this year with butterflies; there are plenty and the diversity is at least about usual, if not a little better. However, we had a much milder and wetter winter than usual and the rest of the country got a "Polar Vortex". So maybe that's part of it. Several species, like the Orange-Barred Sulphur, showed up way earlier than they usually do. So maybe I'm just hoarding all the butterflies down here?

Thanks for that link Cat, very interesting but I wonder what the reasoning would be for here. I am not that far north of Melanie really & our winter was I think wetter than normal but cold?; *parts* of it were colder than normal but the rest was warmer than normal.

Hard to say, Ann! Melanie, maybe you are right about 'hoarding' all the butterflies this year!

I got this little fella in the grass this morning. These guys are the very devil to get --- they never seem to be still for 1 second. I have no clue what it is.



And I've been trying to get one of these FOREVER!




Then there are these cats. I found them on some Desmodium - trefoil (I'm pretty sure that's what it is). The larger one had made a nest on the leaf --- it was folded over loosely & "glued" with it inside.






These cats are obviously eating that plant as I found many chewed leaves & excrement.

Okay Ann, let's go down the list. Looks like you have a Checkered Skipper. Then some kind of Sulphur, but it has a lot of black on it so I'm not 100% sure. You folks north of me get some different kinds of sulphurs. And your caterpillars are Long-Tailed Skippers which do in fact, love desmodium as a host plant. Also known as "Bean Leaf Rollers" for their love of green bean plants and their propensity for making leaf-shelters like you saw. Congrats!

Thanks Melanie! That skipper is really, really small ~~~ about the size of from the tip of your thumb to the first knuckle.

The sulphur is small too, say about 1/2 the size of a clouded sulphur. It has some orange or orange-yellow on it you can see when it's flying but of course, that's on the upper side & on the top set of wings, not the lower set. They are really bright when flitting about. They make up for their size in brightness!

I figured that was some kind of long tailed skipper as just yesterday I put that plant in the ID forum & we thought it was desmodium & then Stone said the lt skippers use it for a host plant. So finding the cats helps cement the ID. Sorry to say though, those are going to get pulled out. I will take the cats & grow them up & I know what to feed them. I had never seen desmodium that large before but we have tons of several smaller varieties all over this place that there's no way I can get rid of it all so the skippers will have plenty of host plants. I certainly don't need the big desmodium with big "beggarlites" getting going all over the place.

You're welcome! Checkered Skippers are pretty small. There's also a Tropical Checkered Skipper that has way more of a bluish color so I ruled that out. I had a recent experience with a Checkered Skipper that I had never seen before that BAMONA said was likely a female White Checkered Skipper. Apparently, they are very hard to tell from a regular Checkered Skipper. Here's a link to the sighting page: http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

I was thinking the Sulphur was bigger but now looking at it in relation to the lantana I have a better idea of the size. Any of you more northern folks got any ideas on this one? I'm pretty sure I know what it's not, but not what it is.

Desmodium can be a bit of a bother. I've had so many of those seeds stuck to my socks! I can still remember picking them off my socks when I was a kid and I'd come back inside from playing. I think there are several species of it, too. MOSI has the really big-leafed type you show, but I've only ever had the smaller variety at my house. It actually grows down by the road and not in my yard so it's never been too much of a problem. Doesn't seem to be very aggressive despite its seeds sticking to anything and everything. My brother tends to get it with the weed whacker unless I tell him not to. But now that I have butterfly pea as an alternative host plant, the Skippers use it instead. Glad to hear you are going to raise the caterpillars - keep us updated!