I went out early to get some Starbucks and that Monarch caterpillar was still on the same leaf. He was doing that thing caterpillars do where they just attach their prolegs and not their whole body so it looks like their upper half isn't hanging on and they're kind of bent in half. Some species do this more than others. Some it's natural, some it's a bad sign. Monarchs are kind of a mixed bag. I touched him and he slowly brought his upper body up to the leaf so I think that's just how he was resting. It's cold out too, so that's probably not helping. I still think he's parasatized because he just isn't growing. The only other time I've seen that happen was with that Spicebush I had last summer and that had to be genetic because I collected it as an egg.
In the meantime, I have a Monarch chrysalis on the back of the Giant Milkweed that has turned dark. I thought it might come out yesterday but it was still in there this morning. I hope it stays in there, but I just know he's coming out. Tonight it's supposed to go down near freezing and I know they can survive, but I still worry. I'm actually going to cover up some of my plants this afternoon. Most of them are fine since I try to grow native but I'm pushing the zone with my Giant Milkweed and my Butterfly Pea. And since they're host plants, I can't risk losing them. I did save seeds off the Butterfly Pea, just in case. Part of that was I thought the gals at MOSI might like some. They must not be too hard to germinate because I've gotten volunteers springing up nearby. Not too many, but enough to know they can germinate and grow. Oh, and I guess I'll have to cover those pentas I got on clearance at Lowe's! See, this is why I usually wait until after our frost date to buy them! Well, I don't know that it's going to frost. I missed the weather last night. If we get enough cloud cover or if the wind picks up, the chance of frost goes down. But what I've always found odd about Florida is that the coldest days are also the ones where there isn't a cloud in the sky. I used to hate that when I was a kid. I'd look out the window and it would seem like a perfect day until you opened the door.
By the way Beverly, I was just reading the thread Greene started over in the Site Talk forum about how many new members we have and I did not realize you were that new. Sometimes people take a while to wander over to specific threads or their gardening interests change and so I don't always assume a new person on the thread is new to the site. So a late welcome to you! And I am very happy to have more international users on the site. Show me those gorgeous butterflies! Heck, I get happy when we get more people west of the Mississippi! Too much east coast activity on here.
I like to mix it up. I'm not much of a traveler, personally, so I like taking little virtual trips into everyone else's pictures. And I hope you guys like doing the same!
And if there are any lurkers or new members out there that haven't joined the conversation, feel free to stop in and just say hi. You don't have to have a picture of anything - it's February for crying out loud! Even I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel!
There I am, disrespecting the Skippers again.
And don't ever feel like you have a stupid question or like we'll get mad if people ask the same question again and again. I hear the same questions every Sunday at MOSI and I haven't yelled at anyone yet! Now, if they try to touch my butterflies, that's when the yelling starts. But know that we were all new to this at one time, too so at one point we were the ones asking the questions. And doing dumb things. And accidentally killing caterpillars.
But if we can help you from making those mistakes, just chime in. And you don't have to raise butterflies to have questions. Lots of people just want them in their yard but don't go all out and bring them into their house. But hey, I'm allergic to anything with fur and while I like my fish, they're not quite as interesting as butterflies.