Hey folks, I heard today was "Hate Florida Day" because we're the only ones above 60 degrees. Sucks to be you, I guess? Anyway, I took a few shots on Tuesday and today so let's go!

This Zebra Longwing looks a little rough but it was still floating around just fine.



I counted five Long-Tailed Skippers flying around the porterweed. They tend to lose their tails a lot.



This Gulf Frit looks like it had a bite taken out of it, too! I'm going to have to teach my yard that I am the top of the food chain around here. Today, I went on a wasp killing spree. But I really need to go after the Cuban tree frogs. That tends to get a little messier, though.



Today I saw a Cloudless Sulphur and I only managed to get one pic before it flew away. So try to enjoy my bad picture.



This Long-Tailed Skipper also lost its tails. In the first picture, it's resting on a bromeliad. In the second, that's the tassel flower that I'm always making fun of because Select Seeds sells it in its catalog. As you can see, it's a small flower. The Phaeon Crescents and the skippers seem to like it, but to me it's just a weed. It never gets too out of hand, though. Not like the Spanish Needles whom I have a love/hate relationship with.



I was actually outside to get more food for the Polydamas. And I found more eggs which is ridiculous because this is November! I'm not seeing any other Swallowtails! And Polydamas are tropical; they're generally the last to emerge in the spring. It sort of makes me wonder what kind of winter we're going to have or can butterflies even predict that? Anyway, it was enjoying the plumbago. But...I had several bunches of pipevine in my hand and this must have been a female because she kept flying around and checking it out! I tried to hold really still to see if she'd lay eggs, but I can't hold still for that long. Oh, and there are definitely two Polydamas in the area - eggs, duh - but also I saw one in my neighbor's yard and then turned my head to see one in my yard.



In bad news, I was walking out of my orchid house and tripped on a pot and fell on the ground. I landed on my side and scraped my hand a little. My shoulder was hurting so I took some Advil but I think my pride hurt worse than anything. Luckily, no one saw me. I think I need to get some safer shoes to walk around the yard in.

I am glad you weren't hurt badly Melanie, I have taken a fall or two because of rushing too much, and it can be scary.

Thanks, Josephine. I normally look down at where I'm going but I was looking at the butterfly garden (naturally) and just didn't see the pot. Going to move those things, pronto!

I moved my Polydamas cats into the big critter keeper today so they should be happy. Except one that had gut purged had made his silk pad and I didn't realize it and pulled him off. It's okay, though. He made a new pad and now a sling in the new tank. I may have to tape him up on the side to keep the other cats from bugging him, though. Polydamas are just too friendly sometimes.

Yes, Good Thing you were not hurt! Great Photos!

Sorry guys, but I'm going to have to rant a little bit. Today on Facebook, Monarch Watch posted about a school in California raising Monarchs. This was all well and good. Then, another teacher from Pasadena posted a picture from her school of kids tagging Monarchs they had raised at the school. Here's the picture:



Now, hopefully I don't need to explain why I was very disturbed by this, but there's some newbies and lurkers out there so here I go anyway. I can't find on Monarch Watch's website where they show you how to hold a butterfly while you tag it, but I'm going to say this is not the way to do it. After I'd been raising butterflies for a year or two, I went to the Brooker Creek Preserve's Educational Center to participate in a Monarch tagging (which is funny since ours don't migrate). They only had three Monarchs and we had two kids in the group so we let them tag the first two. My mother volunteered me for the third (she has a habit of doing things like that) but none of the other adults looked like they were chomping at the bit so I said okay. The instructor showed us how to hold the butterfly by using our index finger and middle finger to make a "scissor" shape. If you hold your fingers in a position parallel to the body you can hold all four of its wings steady so they don't damage themselves trying to escape. The butterfly in this picture is being held with two hands! Also, you can see the body is blurry which suggests it was moving, probably trying to escape. Also, does anyone think the wings still look a little wet in this picture? I just don't think they normally bend that much when they're dry. But then again, I don't go around touching the butterflies or letting others do it! Okay, rant over. But seriously, let me know if I'm overreacting or if you think this isn't a good way to hold a Monarch.

I have never done tagging or seen it done, but that doesn't look right.

The lady who posted that picture said the wings had completely dried and that the butterfly was "properly handled" - whatever that means. I just don't think grabbing it with both hands is necessary if you know what you're doing.

In happier news, I released a Polydamas this morning. I'm not entirely sure why they're not overwintering like usual. I keep them in my house but that's never confused them before. It's honestly a little weird. And Polydamas are more tropical so they're usually the last ones to emerge in the spring. I took pictures but I haven't uploaded them yet. Maybe when I feel like getting off the couch. My dad and brother went hunting last week and all they brought back was a cold that they have now passed on to me. I already told my boss I won't be making it to MOSI tomorrow. It hurts to talk and I just feel all-around awful.

Hope you are better soon.

Thanks, Jack. I'm taking Mucinex DM and it's helping. Chloraseptic spray seems to be helping, too. But I still can't talk very much. So instead I'll post pictures!

Here's the Polydamas I set free this morning. It actually opened its wings for a few seconds so I can show you what they look like on the top. You can see why they are also called the Gold Rim Swallowtail. I like Polydamas better. It's more scientific and I can call them "Polly" for short. Heck, my neighbors probably wonder why I'm yelling at someone named Polly all the time. We have a Polly on our street but we live on the opposite ends of the street. Polly is also into wildflowers and grows a lot of natives but she doesn't keep them as neat as we do and some of the other neighbors talk smack about her. So I stick up for her. Hers is the only other yard with a noticeable Zebra Longwing presence so she must be doing something right. In other neighbor news, my next-door neighbor, Jim, is in an epic fight with his Orchid Tree (Bauhinia spp.). I'm sitting here watching the Gators and I can see out the sliding glass door. There's not much wind today but every now and then his Orchid Tree starts shaking violently. They're invasive so I'm hoping he's removing the darn thing and not just cutting it back. It was planted by the previous owner whose son worked for a nursery. Anyway, I promised you guys pictures...



And there were some Long-Tailed Skippers on the porterweed, as usual. I think I've had more of them this year because the butterfly pea that's their host plant never froze back to the ground last winter. I'm pushing it with the butterfly pea as it is good to Zone 10 and I'm Zone 9b, but Mom usually throws blankets on it and it comes back. But last year it never went away so the skippers had something to lay their eggs on all year. That's my theory, anyway.



My new camera just arrived so I'm going to have to figure out how to use it. So maybe expect better pictures soon? At least it's the same brand so all the controls should be similar.

Well, my new camera arrived but they forgot to ship the memory card! But I emailed Amazon and it should be here tomorrow so that's nice of them. But I took the camera out today thinking that cameras have some internal memory and I should be able to get a few shots, right? NO! I was wrong! And it wouldn't be such a big deal if it was just the normal skippers I was taking pictures of. But I saw a Tiger Swallowtail today - no joking! I was like. "It's November - what are you doing here?" And now I don't have any pictures. Super bummed. I also released a Cloudless Sulphur that came out yesterday evening. It flew off so there were no pictures of that. I mean, it just zoomed off for the trees like it was on fire. It was about to rain though, and then it did. And our power went out for about half an hour. It's supposed to cool down a lot for us so I guess I'll have time to wait on that memory card and learn how to use the camera. I already had to change the zoom setting. Also, I have to figure out how to make it stop beeping when it focuses. I think I might be scaring the butterflies.

Hey everyone, I posted a thread about an article on Monarchs in the NY Times: The thread "NY Times Monarch Article" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

And speaking of Monarchs, I found two very cold caterpillars on my tropical milkweed this afternoon. I moved them over to the Giant milkweed which Mom has covered tonight to protect it from the cold.

Very cool. I am now wondering if the 'grub worms' I thought my hen was so happy to munch on were some sort of caterpillar...big fat green things, I forget their markings, mostly she was finding them at the foot of a Ribes sanguineum. Is there a web site that shows what plants host what? I know next to nothing about what butterflies/moths even live in my neighborhood. Yet another gardening thing to learn I guess.

Deb, I just googled your plant's name and the words "host plant". I found that it does indeed host the Zephyr Anglewing, Tailed Copper, and Cloudy Copper. As you live in the exact extreme opposite part of the country as me, I had to do a little research. Now, Coppers are small butterflies so the caterpillars would hardly be worth eating, if you can find them. Your Zephyr Anglewing is a lot like our Eastern Comma (for all the East Coast folks on here) and it doesn't appear to be green, nor would it be that big. Still big enough to eat, though. Could have been some kind of moth caterpillar. Next time, take a picture so we can all guess at it. Or you can always use the new Bug ID forum and then tell us what it is!

Thanks, I will snap a photo if/when I find any more, although we just had a pretty long cold snap so not sure when I'll be digging in the dirt again. Meanwhile, here's some sort of moth (likely something very common but I am totally clueless). Any idea who this guy might be?

Deb, you might try posting in the Insect ID forum, too. Moths are not my specialty and you happen to live on the complete opposite corner of the country so I'm not real familiar with the species you get out there. It's a pretty moth, though and does look similar to ones I've seen here. Must be in the same family.

Melanie is really sick. I went to the doctor yesterday and I have bronchitis and sinusitis. I also now have Augmentin to help fight it! Seriously, I coughed so hard I broke a lot of blood vessels in my face and now it looks like I have a rash. So no museum for me last weekend or tomorrow. The last thing I need is to spread my sickness to everyone in time for the holidays. Sharing is not always caring, folks!

In the meantime, it's been cool here and today it's really windy and looks like it could rain at any moment. I'm still figuring out my new camera so let's assume everything is operator error for a while. I did take a few photos to keep you guys going through the cold. Hope none of you are buried up to your necks in snow!

Here's a Long-Tailed Skipper who has once again lost its tails. Better than losing its life, though.



Here's one of two Monarch cats I placed on the Giant Milkweed.



I showed Mom this Long-Tailed Skipper cat yesterday but took this picture today so he's probably mad I won't leave him alone. He's probably like, "Stop tearing open my home!"

Melanie, sorry you are not well, I hope your feeling better real soon.

Wow you are very knowledgeable on butterflies and caterpillars!
I am iin South Central PA and I've seen more Monarchs this year thsn I have seen in many years! I did start a lot of milkweed seeds this season.....

Lori, if you are talking to me, then thanks! We're lucky to have a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum and the website as a whole. I'm so glad to hear some good news about Monarchs in your area! It seems like a lot of people on this thread saw fewer butterflies this year. I'll just say we had a strange year in Florida (and still are). Some species did way better than usual while others didn't seem to be as numerous as they usually are. Might just be the normal ups and downs that different species experience. I've been raising caterpillars for a little over seven years now so I'm getting a pretty good idea of the patterns. Plus, I volunteer every Sunday at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa. The museum has a crew of volunteers, but the butterfly volunteers are a separate group because you have to have such specialized knowledge. I'm always joking with the guests that I never actually go inside the museum (which is actually pretty true). I just stay outside in the butterfly exhibit - or in the lab. I've been lucky to raise species at the museum that I don't get at my house (mostly because I don't have the host plant) so that's been a real help when it comes to learning about butterflies. We're supposed to be getting rain here and then cooler temps for the holiday so I probably won't have much in the way of photos until Friday. I told my boss at the museum I would stop by so she can have a couple of days off to enjoy Thanksgiving and not have to worry about the caterpillars and butterflies.

Here's some Polydamas love for you guys. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Melanie!!