Sounds like your your place Melanie is like the one in Galveston, quite open, reverently speaking . The ones I've been to in St Louis and Houston are pretty much enclosed though the one in St Louis has an outside flower patch for the locals.

I really need to take some pictures of the exhibit so you guys can see what I'm talking about. Think a screened in patio inside a much larger screened in patio. And then the lab and classroom are attached, too. Our butterfly exhibit isn't very large at all, but I think that makes for a more intimate viewing experience. And really, you can still see tons of butterflies in the outside gardens and Historic Tree Grove. Or even our Backwoods section where we have trails. I think I collect more caterpillars from the outside gardens than the flight exhibit but part of that is because we can't fit too many plants in the flight cage. Even our "trees" are tiny. I will endeavor to remember to take some pics next Sunday so you can see what it all looks like.

I managed to snap this beauty right before a bee touched it and it flew away too far for me to chase it.

Intriging!

Patti, that is super gorgeous! Is it some kind of Birdwing? We've got a hard freeze going on where I live so I'm hoping the butterflies come through it okay. We're supposed to warm up again fast, but I still worry.

Patti, that is really beautiful, I wish we had those beauties around here.

That is a pretty butterfly.

Beautiful butterfly, Patti !!!!!

Sunlover said:I managed to snap this beauty right before a bee touched it and it flew away too far for me to chase it.

Whoa!!!!!! How gorgeous!!!! There's an eye full to be sure! Thanks for sharing that with us.

I have some milkweed blooming; but haven't seen one butterfly. I do hope the neighbor's "landscapers" haven't been spraying. I already had "words" with them last year about spraying too close to my plants.

Elfie, we had TruGreen for a few years but they were only supposed to do the lawn and stay out of the flower beds. Then, they came once and within a day all of my Polydamas Swallowtail caterpillars died. We fired them then. (Okay, Mom did. She really likes the butterflies.) Fortunately, Dad had retired by that point so he could take over lawn duty once again. It was tough when he was still working. I don't know how other people hire folks to do their gardening chores. I'm so protective of everything I would be out there micro-managing until they quit!

Thanks all! She certainly was gorgeous. It is called a Black Jezebel (Delias nigrina). I was surprised to see it at my elevation since it tends to be found at lower altitudes.

As some of you must remember, I said I had not seen caterpillars on my asclepias though I had seen many monarchs laying her eggs.
Well. I began to observe it closer and I saw an ant carrying an egg. Ants are the problem.
I decided to try something. I cut two branches of asclepia with some butterfly eggs and I put them in a vase with water. After a few days I found this.



I'll take the caterpillars to the plant in two or three days.

Hooray for caterpillar rescue!

Patti, I was reading about your butterfly and it's in the same family as the Cloudless Sulphur and some of the White butterflies we have here in North America. Except I think you got the better end of the deal! I thought they were much bigger based on your picture but maybe that's because they're so showy. It's bad enough I have plant envy; now I have butterfly envy, too! That is just super pretty. Major kudos to you!

The butterflies survived the freeze! Well, at least one. I was just outside and saw this Tropical Checkered Skipper on what few Spanish Needles I have left. Most of them got toasted, but everything else is fine with just some minimal damage. And since the Spanish Needles are black, I found another green thing which turned out to be a Corky-Stemmed Passion Vine. That makes three volunteers and I'll need it for my super hungry caterpillars. Okay, here's the skipper I saw today. It could be a regular Checkered Skipper, but it has a bit of that bluish tint to it that makes me thing it's the Tropical Checkered Skipper. Still, I'm going to submit it to BAMONA and see what they think. And don't ask me how, but I got some really good photos of this guy! I'm patting myself on the back.



I'm also going to send a shout out to @treehugger. Come join us and share your pics here if you'd like!

ceci said:As some of you must remember, I said I had not seen caterpillars on my asclepias though I had seen many monarchs laying her eggs.
Well. I began to observe it closer and I saw an ant carrying an egg. Ants are the problem.
I decided to try something. I cut two branches of asclepia with some butterfly eggs and I put them in a vase with water. After a few days I found this.



I'll take the caterpillars to the plant in two or three days.

Cecelia!!!!!!

Melanie, those are great photos of that Skipper. Wow!

flaflwrgrl said: Melanie, those are great photos of that Skipper. Wow!

Patti, that is one gorgeous butterfly !

Just a few photos from yesterday. I didn't stay at the museum long because I'm terribly sleep deprived. I probably shouldn't have been driving and I don't even know how I'm awake right now. Also, I think we lost a lot of butterflies during the night it got below freezing. I could only find these three species in the flight cage, although sometimes the butterflies hide themselves really well.

Here's a couple of Julias. I liked the one with its head stuck in the geranium.



Our ever-present Zebra Longwings. I hope they do as well in the wild. Cold temps can really knock them back.



Apparently, another Giant ST emerged.



I'm beginning to think the Kumquat tree is the new popular hangout spot for the butterflies. Or that it has magical butterfly-attracting properties. Obviously, we have it in there as a host for the Giant ST. But the Julias have been hanging out on it all year. There were two more Julias on the tree that I couldn't fit in the picture. But you get a Julia and a Zebra Longwing so enjoy!

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