Cecelia, I think those Monarchs are up to no good!

I bought some plants today but to keep myself from typing it all over again, let me just point you guys to the post I made over in the Florida gardening thread: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Bring on the caterpillars! Oh, and when I was shopping I did find some caterpillars on the milkweed for sale. I was leaning over and said, "Baby Monarchs!" I talk kind of loud and the owner heard me and went, "Yay!" Here's a blurry picture of the tiny guys. Of course, I didn't buy milkweed because they only had the tropical variety and you know I'm going native this year.



This morning we had some rain come through and it's been getting cooler all day and kind of windy. But I did see one of my faithful Duskywings out this morning when the sun was still shining.

FYI, if you didn't notice, one of the administrator's admitted she forgot to change today's banner. So we get a Buckeye caterpillar for two days in a row. Booyah! Cecelia's second picture is a Buckeye but I'm going to guess she gets the Tropical Buckeye and not the Common Buckeye we see in the U.S. There's also a Mangrove Buckeye in Florida, but I haven't been hanging out in the mangroves lately so that's one I haven't seen. I just Googled "Argentina Buckeye butterfly" and apparently they get both the Tropical and Mangrove Buckeyes. So Cecelia, were you hanging out near any mangroves? Also, I think it's cool that it's such a small world we can share butterflies even though we are so far apart.

mellielong said:FYI, if you didn't notice, one of the administrator's admitted she forgot to change today's banner. So we get a Buckeye caterpillar for two days in a row. Booyah! Cecelia's second picture is a Buckeye but I'm going to guess she gets the Tropical Buckeye and not the Common Buckeye we see in the U.S. There's also a Mangrove Buckeye in Florida, but I haven't been hanging out in the mangroves lately so that's one I haven't seen. I just Googled "Argentina Buckeye butterfly" and apparently they get both the Tropical and Mangrove Buckeyes. So Cecelia, were you hanging out near any mangroves? Also, I think it's cool that it's such a small world we can share butterflies even though we are so far apart.

Hi Melanie ! We don't have Mangroves here. And I don't know which is their host plant, but I usually see those butterflies in my garden.

I guess I'll have to start a new thread tomorrow, but it's good timing since I'll be at the museum and will have some nice pictures. I'll have to cajole the butterflies into being my cover shot! But in the meantime, I purchased three more Sweetbay Magnolias today. One for myself, and I'm donating two to the museum. They're the host plant for the Tiger Swallowtail, FYI. Dad and I delivered them even though it's been pouring rain the whole day. While I was there I ran into the lab to see if anyone needed released and there was one Zebra Longwing so I let it go. I did see quite a few Great Southern Whites when I ran into the flight cage so hopefully I'll have more diversity in my pictures tomorrow. For now, I'm going to let my feet dry out and sip my tea!

I think it's so wonderful of you to donate 2 trees to the museum!

Well, I want the caterpillars, too! And I don't mind sharing them with the museum. They've given me so much more than they know. I loved volunteering there back when I worked. But since I became disabled and can't work, it's pretty much the biggest thing I have going for me. And you don't realize how important it feels to contribute to society until you're not able to do so. Going there definitely helps my sense of self-worth. And that's way more than the price of two trees!

IOW it's a win-win.

flaflwrgrl said:I think it's so wonderful of you to donate 2 trees to the museum!

Okay everyone, let's jump into March - and hopefully warmer weather and more butterflies - here: The thread "March 2015 Butterflies, Moths & Larva" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum