Never mind, I just looked it up. I need to have A. tomentosa or A. serpentaria for the cats. No problem, I will not plant the Dutchman.

I've got two A. tomentosa plants. They don't grow very fast, and the cats can devour them quickly. I'm thinking of growing some under cover (like on the patio).

Golly! Monarchs all over the yard today. Nectaring preference today is the Butterfly bush. They are totally ignoring enormous flushes of Lantana bloom.

Goooooooooooooooooooo Monarchs!!!

Not too much action around here. Mostly because I'm inside watching college football. I tend to make a point of taking it easy on Saturdays so I can be prepared to volunteer on Sunday. One cool thing happened, though - my Spicebush molted and now he's green! The other one is still in the process of molting. But this guy was first so he got his picture taken. You can see his shed skin behind him. I like them when they're brown, but you have to admit they're super cute when they're green. I guess for a caterpillar, it is easy being green.

Very cute Mellanie

Spicebush cats are just the cutest things!

I think I might take them to the museum for a visit tomorrow. I don't know, though. I don't plan to stay too long because the Bucs are playing at 1pm. Knowing me, I'll be running out the door and forget to take them, anyway. Ever since I had a four year-old tell me he thought the picture we had wasn't a real caterpillar, I've been on a personal crusade to spread the magic of the Spicebush Swallowtail.

Spread the magic, spread the magic, spread the magic.

Finally, there are some caterpillars on my milkweed. It's been a while! I was hoping for monarchs, but I guess queens will do. :)

Nice, Ive!

I would be perfectly happy with Queen caterpillars!

Well, I dragged myself to MOSI today and snapped a few pictures. The Swallowtails are starting to drop in numbers, but me and my friend Dominic found a bunch of Black STs and three Giant ST cats.

I released a bunch of Malachites. We have dozens of caterpillars, too.



Julia



Zebra Longwing



Spicebush ST and Monarch. Looks like a Cloudless Sulphur tried to photobomb me on the left.



Malachite again



Spicebush ST getting photobombed by a Zebra Longwing



Hickory Horned Devil cat craawling up my arm. I didn't have anyone willing to hold this guy except my buddy Dominic. I had a few adults who would touch it but I think I only had one kid touch it. Most kids are wimps these days!



Cloudless Sulphur



Back home I saw this Skipper. I'm going to send it to BAMONA but don't expect an answer anytime soon. The FL BAMONA folks have been super slow getting back to me. They must be backlogged.



There was a Cloudless Sulphur laying eggs and I tried to get photos but couldn't do it. But it's okay because I found a caterpillar. This is probably an Orange-Barred. This time of year the Senna is in bloom and the caterpillars eat the buds and flowers to turn themselves even yellower. The normally green Cloudless Sulphur cats will also turn yellow from eating the flowers. I don't even bother looking at the leaves; I just check the flowers to find the caterpillars.



And I was happy to see a Zebra Longwing because I've only seen one since I got home.

Count me as a wimp. I wouldn't hold that thing either! I *am* surprised kids won't though. Geez, when we were kids ALL the boys would gladly hold something like that.

Melanie, do you have very small wrists or is that cat monstrous?

Like those Malachites (but then again, I'm a rock and mineral collector)...;also, the photobomber...

You guys crack me up. That caterpillar is really that monstrous. He is pretty much full grown; they won't get bigger than that. I must admit, they do feel prickly when they walk. Like, even after I put him back in the tank, I could still feel where he had walked on me. Glen, I thought you guys had lots of big, scary animals in Australia. Those Hickory Horned Devils should be like child's play, right?

Jack, that's cool that you collect rocks and minerals. One of my little trivia facts I throw out is that the Malachites are named after a mineral which is also green. But you already knew that!

Hey did anyone notice the lizard in the lower left corner of the Cloudless Sulphur pic? I totally didn't and I was just showing Mom and she pointed it out. Good eye, Mom!

Some of the mineral -

I love Malachite! It's my favorite color - green!

I think the mineral has a richer color than the butterfly. The butterfly is more of a neon green to me. Not quite as bad as 80's fashion, but close. The mineral is really pretty. Better than jade, I'd say. Much more depth to the color of the malachite.

Better color than jade.