Mark, that's a Gulf Fritillary.

Margaret, it's raining here too which made going to MOSI today not much fun. I hate picking host plants while trying to balance my umbrella. I took lots of photos, but right now I need a nap so everyone just build the anticipation for a while and I'll post later.

How exciting Robin!!

Pretty Gulf Fritillary pics, Mark.

Now to sit back and wait in anticipation.

Groups of Monarch migrating through still in groups of three to five ,
Lousy camera day for me , did not get the Buckeye and a few , only here are some at distance


Couple of the Monarch


orange Sulphur , almost a photo


silver spotted skipper


another skipper , I will have to look up ,,

One of two at sunset
Male Monarch ,) strange the last pair of the day at sunset always seems to be a male and a female .

Not much today, too hot to linger outside.
Cabbage White on boneset


SSS on Blue Lobelia

Beautiful, Jim and J!

All right, I took a nap and ate my dinner. Now, we're watching college football.

So today was a washout. Literally, it rained most of the morning and I never did see the sun. Picking caterpillar food while carrying a bucket is no fun. I'd wear a poncho but those things get warm. So mostly I took caterpillar and chrysalis photos. Let's enjoy!

We had two Canna Skippers but one had pupated and one was in its sling. They are a large Skipper. They also roll the leaves so if you ever see your Canna leaves rolled, it might be a caterpillar! The one that built his sling decided the newspaper we use to line the tanks was just as good as leaves, so that's why he's there.



We have a few Monarch caterpillars.



And I found a big ol' Spicebush! Just imagine you're a predator and you look in a leaf and see that staring back at you! Would you be afraid? I wouldn't because I think they're adorable! Plus, I have a big human brain.



We have Luna Moths! I've never raised these guys. We had some eggs donated earlier this year by one of our volunteers and my bosses keep breeding the adults. They keep the adult moths in a pop-up they're calling the "Mothel". Get it? It's a moth brothel.



We're also trying to breed Painted Ladies. This is one of our pop-up cages. As you can see, we're providing oranges for food and some kind of Plantago species for a host plant.



I wasn't sure if I was even going to go in the flight cage with all the rain, but I had to release two Long-Tailed Skippers. Plus, I promised you guys a Malachite picture.



We also had some Zebra Longwings.



One of the silly Skippers I released had already knocked his tails off.



Back in the lab, it's Sulphur mania! These are Cloudless Sulphurs.



And some Sleepy Orange cats found their way into the tank. Those sneaky little cats!



Pinned quite a few chrysalises. This is a Cloudless Sulphur; sometimes their chrysalises are pink!



The Painted Ladies appreciated me giving them fresh orange slices.



Back home, I was picking food for the Phaeon Crescents and found a few large (relatively speaking) ones.



A few of the adults were flying once it stopped raining.



And I spotted this cool moth. Waiting for BAMONA to give me an ID.

BAMONA says my moth is an Assembly Moth. It did not appear to be assembling anything nor were several of them assembled together. http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

mellielong said:BAMONA says my moth is an Assembly Moth. It did not appear to be assembling anything nor were several of them assembled together. http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

You still had a pretty good day Melanie even though the rain put a damper on the situation.

Melanie , WOW !!!

I was testing myself to see if I could make an identification of that moth; it's pattern is so pretty. I found a site of moth photographers and they have a picture of the Samea ecclesialis. I prefer the natural photos with flowers but this group does have a lot of images of moths.

http://mothphotographersgroup....

Just imagine what it would have been like if it hadn't been raining. But yeah, I had a good day. Our part-timer thanked me for the work I did (I leave a detailed report on our Facebook group page) and said she would try to take some pictures of the Crescent caterpillars with her new digital microscope. I gotta get me one of those!

Greene, that moth photo site is pretty awesome. I'm like you, though; I prefer the natural photos but I understand the need for the "plate" photos for scientific research. Then again, it's also important to research what the insects are doing in their natural habitat.

I was just in my room checking on the critters and the army of Crescent caterpillars are waging war on the Frogfruit. I have them in two containers - one has all caterpillars and the other has eggs with newly hatched cats. The newly hatched cats have eaten so much I had to take some leaves from the other container and put them in with the little guys. I didn't want them disturbing the leaves with the eggs on them. Caterpillars usually leave eggs alone, but I just want to be safe.

A moth , I might id eventually . Try not to judge to harshly about it being in the bathing area thinking it could read the shampoo bottle ,, outside it is now ,
Wings are different than most cabbage loopers I see but near it seems to be

Sphinx of ? species

I like the wings on that moth, Jim! And I am no longer surprised by any of the insects I mysteriously find in my bathroom. I actually do a spider check before I get in the shower. Once I take off my glasses, I wouldn't see a Tarantula!

oh I was suppose to say , Melanie I am always watching for spiders , I lived once at a new apartment complex in Texas , when the fields were torn out , Black Widow were everywhere , We have Brown widow , and eastern tarantua .(tarantula) , I am not fond of them ,at least indoors anyway , outside I expect to see a few occasionally

Webworm Moth are always here or nearly are , they look more like a beetle than a moth ,
link http://www.butterfliesandmoths...
been ages since I have seen any large moths , small ones are everywhere

This is usually what happens when I try Moths ,about the best I can usually do is this
Tetracis maybe?

Great photos, Melanie--must be such an interesting place to work.

Well, I'm just a volunteer, but it is a fun place. I used to go to MOSI when I was a kid. My elementary school isn't far away. I also remember going with the Girl Scouts. What's really neat is seeing how much it's grown over the years. I can tell you, there was no butterfly exhibit when I was a kid! So I also enjoy telling the guests how much it has changed and how much more exciting it is. There was no IMAX dome theater, no zip lines or ropes course, no special kids section.

Of course, it's also nice to meet like-minded people who are also interested in what I'm doing. And people who want to get into gardening for butterflies. I had a young lady in her 20's or so this spring and she kind of went off on a whole speech about butterflies and insects. And she apologized saying, "I'm kind of a geek." And I told her it was a science museum. We're all geeks! We love geeks! The geek shall inherit the earth! Or something like that. And I definitely get to meet a wide variety of people. We're such a tourist state that I meet folks from all over the country and all over the world! It's definitely a cool place to hang out.

In honor of Labor Day, my boss posted a new blog about her "best job ever". That's what people always tell her she has so she breaks it down and get a little real about what we do there at MOSI. If you want to read more about it, click this: http://lepcurious.blogspot.com...

Melanie the link is entertaining ,

Greene , Nice moth link

I am still playing 1,001 Monarch One went flying away , one was on the wrong side of the flowers , Then one came flying in from far away , and two were doing the flight fight dance or whatever about 12 ft up over my head ,
there are cabbage White and little tiny Blue fluttering around still
We had our 7th day in a row of 90 degree record temperatures yesterday , well , the butterflies like it
oh , and I saw the wing open , this one is a Female
writing in the male Monarch observation from everyone might be , When numbers increase rapidly , the natural control is still there , y Buffalo theory , When preservation was first attempted , the first decade had record number of male Bison , this has happened with many species , The last five painted Desert Giant tortoise , were all male (species Extinct ) myself watched that happen ,
Serious , yes , but critical ? is question ?

A couple of Monarch shots