Well history is what is , played little league baseball
well almost . rode bikes , did shale cliff climbing ,
decades later Blubber Body I am , memories , memories , Wasn't that a Hope named Bob or suppose to be ,

Usually I do this chronologically, but I think I'm just going to group by species today. First off, I have released a LOT of Phaon Crescents. One day it was 11, the next 15, then 8. I didn't even count today; I just turned the Critter Keeper over and shook them all out.



The Swallowtails are starting to disappear, but I've still seen a few like this male Spicebush.



There are Long-Tailed Skippers everywhere.



Even without tails!



Laying eggs next to our shed!



Back to nectaring!



The Gulf Fritillaries are still laying eggs. That's the same one on the Corkystem and the Yellow Passion Vine.




A Cassius Blue was laying eggs on the plumbago. In this first picture, I think that's an egg just below and to the left.



White Peacock



Barred Sulphur (yellow form and alba form!)



Cloudless Sulphur



Okay, dinner is almost ready so I'm going to leave this here. Next, I'll do a post with all the Skippers I've seen!

Boy, what a vast variety Melanie. I just love the pretty little Phaon Crescents.

Melanie has a full stomach so it's Skipper time! I'm not going to even try to name them, but I will group the pictures so as not to mix species. I'll have to submit them to BAMONA to be sure, but I have some ideas on a few of them. One skipper I saw today but didn't get a picture of was a Tropical Checkered Skipper.

Okay, here's skipper number one!



This one has a distinct reddish-brown color.



Skippers have such big brown eyes. They're like puppies. I just want to hug them.



Maybe a Twin Spot Skipper?



Here's the one with the spotted pattern again.



And maybe the same one again?



The elongated shape of this one makes me think of a couple of species it could be.



This one just wanted the penta nectar!



And I forgot to add the Buckeye caterpillars to my last post, so here they are!

Okay, so I have to confess that I made a big mistake. I was cleaning the caterpillars yesterday and when I went to put the Cloudless Sulphurs back, I only saw one. The smaller one was missing! I searched through the trash thinking I must have thrown him away accidentally, but I couldn't find him. He wasn't on the floor, either. And he was big enough that I could clearly see him.

Just a few minutes ago, I was checking the caterpillars and I heard munching. It was the loud Io Moth cats. I checked out the remaining Sulphur and he was in the bottom of the container so I took off the lid for a better look. And he's dead! He was laying in a pool of liquid - dead! I'm super bummed and now I have no Sulphurs.

Awwwww Melanie, I'm so sorry. But you know, accidents do happen. You raise so many successfully that the odds are bound to get you once in a blue moon.

Are these BF eggs?

Jack, I feel like those are moth eggs. What tree are they on?

And are those dark spots or is that where they hatched out already?

Is the plant some kind of Clematis?

Melanie, sorry about your Sulphur cats, but like Ann said, accidents happen and you do such a great job raising so many.

It is Sweet Autumn Clematis.
Regarding the dark spots, I don't know, I'll try to remember to take a loupe or magnifier out tomorrow.

Greene, good call on the Clematis! I don't why I think everything is a tree. Maybe because moths lay on a lot of trees?

Jack, you know my answer to every question. Bring it inside and see what it turns into!

Thanks to everyone for sympathies on my Sulphur cat. I hate when they get so big you think they're safe and then they're not.

Why am I still awake? Going to bed now...see you in the afternoon!

flaflwrgrl said:Awwwww Melanie, I'm so sorry. But you know, accidents do happen. You raise so many successfully that the odds are bound to get you once in a blue moon.

yes.

Any way you slice it Melanie, you do WAY better than the 1-2% survival rate of the wild.

Oh absolutely!

While watching the weather, my mind just went to fear for the Monarchs down in Mexico. Could also affect them in Texas. The very thought makes me want to cry!
http://www.theguardian.com/wor...

While watching the weather, my mind just went to fear for the Monarchs down in Mexico. Could also affect them in Texas. The very thought makes me want to cry!
http://www.theguardian.com/wor...

I had been playing with my new camera & took some test photos & then could not load them onto my computer. My memory card had not arrived yet (& doesn't come with the camera) so the photos were in the cameras internal memory. There is a USB to connect the camera to the computer. I have never used a USB to load photos to my computer before as my Sony pocket camera had a memory card & I always loaded them from that. So I hooked the USB from the camera to the computer & nothing happened. Zilch. I will add that the manual doesn't come with either. There was a disc but it does not have the manual on it. So anyway, I couldn't figure out why the photos weren't loading to my computer. Scratching head. Next day the memory card arrived. Put it in & took some more test photos. Took it out, put in the card reader & no loading to computer. ??????? Went online & found manual. Read the 101 pages. OK! I learn one has to turn the camera on after it is hooked up to the computer and a new twist. One has to "format" the memory card. Gee, that's something I never had to do with the Sony - it's always been stick the memory card in & you're in business. K, so the manual fails to tell one HOW to format the card. So I go playing around with the cameras menu/settings to se if I can figure this out. Ah ha! Found something. Format memory card - yes or cancel. Yes, of course. Formatted. Take the card out & put in reader & zero, zip, zilch, nada. Days went being busy & no time to deal with it. Take a few more photos. Take the card out & stick it in the card reader & TA DA! photos!!!! BUT only the last few I took. Why????? Playback on camera does not show the previous test photos either but it did before. Where did they go? OK, let's format this card again. Dumb move. Now the last few I took aren't there. Finally my slow, un-techie brain figures it out. Every time the card is formatted it wipes the card clean as well as the internal memory apparently & you lose everything that was on it. I test my theory because the manual doesn't tell you these things, assuming you already *knew* this. Viola'! Success!

Darn it! I had a neat fuzzy wuzzy on there as well as 2 different, small butterflies I have never seen before & they got wiped out.
Live & learn.
Now I know.
Start over with test photos when I get time.