I don't have beetles on my vines, but do have a lot of aphids.

Charlotte, looks like one of the Tiger Moths, maybe this one: http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

Linda, that's great that you're seeing nurseries selling more native milkweed. That's very important in Texas since you're on the migration route. It's really good to hear that people are making the change to native!

Thanks for the link, Melanie. I believe you nailed the ID. Those moths are kinda pretty; good lizard food!

This is Florida's answer to Texas Nettle Charlotte. I grew up calling it sting weed. Boy & howdy it stings too!

Frog and bird food too. And bat food.

Jim, I spotted your frog in the garden. Or is it a toad?

I have been stung bu the Bull Nettle and it is terrible, but the flowers smell heavenly and the seeds are edible.

wildflowers said:

Jim, I spotted your frog in the garden. Or is it a toad?

More than likely A Red Toad . about a season old ,

All the stinging Nettles are edible or have edible parts ,, Thing is ,, their all rather Hairy to deal with

GrammaChar said:In Texas, we have PLENTY of plants that can poke, burn, or sting.
Texas Bullnettle

• Texas Bullnettle (Cnidoscolus texanus)
• Uploaded by GrammaChar

Buffalo Bur




And one called Noseburn that has tiny thorns like hypodermic needles. And that doesn't include the prickly pear, horse crippler cactus, cholla, agaves, yuccas, etc. All are very useful plants - and all are to be avoided!

OMG - tganks for the guffas. I particularly like this one

horse crippler cactus



What does it look like?

OBTW - we have several of these in Missouri.

Cockle burs and particularly sand burs are horrid. As is the Bull nettle.

Had the misfortune as a kid when playing of running into, getting tripped up and falling into a nettle patch. OMG!

David, I'll have to wander the back pasture today to find a horse crippler cactus for you. They're low-growing and hard to spot (hence the name). Wicked thorns!
Meanwhile, happy to report that the fritillaries are starting to show up. Seeing both variegated and gulf types.

Owie David! Falling into a nettle patch. Yikes!

I love the Variegated Fritillaries their design looks like a stained glass pattern, so pretty, especially just after they eclose.

Oh wow, you are so right Josephine. They do look like stained glass!

I'm behind again! I took yesterday off. I needed it.

Love Variegated Fritillaries but hardly ever see them here. Actually saw one in WV at Grandma's house. BAMONA said it was a very early report. It was around April 15, that year.

Okay, let me get caught up with pictures from yesterday. Sadly, smaller Tersa Sphinx cat died. Bigger Sphinx cat was still in the pupation process. It actually made it's pupa, but I haven't taken a picture of that yet. You can see it shrunk a bit in size by losing all that moisture.



And one of my Pipevine Swallowtail cats got stuck mid-pupation.



I took the rest of my Pipevine cats to MOSI today since I'm really low on Pipevine. It doesn't hurt that it's my boss' favorite butterfly. I set them up in a nice tank all by themselves just to be safe. I didn't want them mixing with the ones in the other tank in case someone was diseased. But everyone looked really healthy. I've never had this much success raising Pipevine STs before.

I did keep everyone who had pupated or was in the process of it. Now, you might wonder why the caterpillars pupate so close to each other (in captivity, anyway). Well, I don't have a scientific study to back it up, but years of experience lead me to call this "Lazy Caterpillar Syndrome". See, they have to lay down a pad of silk to pupate. But what if someone else has already pupated and laid down a bunch of silk? They can just use part of that, thus decreasing the amount of effort they have to put into making their own silk pad. That's my theory, anyway.



Gulf Fritillary was basking in the sun. It was still pretty early when I took these photos.



I need to send this Skipper to BAMONA. It's plain like a Monk Skipper, but seemed way too small to be one of those.

I am test digging a few Milkweed seedlings for Texas Gardener ,, I saw a Sulpher a while ago , No photo still as round and round we fly , Aren't going to sit still for photo op seems that is why ,,

Red Admiral , and Cabbage White still here .

I am glad your all better at photo , because butterflies are wonderful to see , Only it is about as exciting as falling on my face for me to try to photo capture any . Always starts that way , test of patience and all that ,,

I totally forgot that I busted out the microscope for the Checkered Whites. I know they're in there because I see frass. That's always a good indication.

Now, you may remember I had three eggs and one caterpillar. Well, the caterpillar is not a Checkered White, in my opinion. Now that it's larger, I can see it looks like these common green moth caterpillars I get. But I'm leaving him in there because I have no beef with moths. And he's not hurting anything.



As for the eggs, I found two caterpillars so I have at least two. Possibly the third is in there, but they are so small and are the same color as the plant. Seriously, I was at MOSI today and we have some Great Southern Whites that had just hatched. Now, first of all, they are laid in groups so they tend to stay that way. They also start out yellowish-orange so they stand out. Checkered Whites are laid singly, hang out by themselves, and are green. One day, I will go cross-eyed from searching for caterpillars.

This one was the "easiest" to find from the collection of frass and the nibbling on the leaf.



The other one is hanging vertically upside-down from that top flower.

Great photos and info Melanie


Best I could do today

Red admiral top center


A syrica milkweed emerging with seed , from seed

Red Admirals are always hard for me to photograph. They're so fast!

I love that little seedling! Reminds me of all the science projects I used to do. Went to the county science fair and won an "Excellent" award in third grade. I used to grow pinto beans in my projects because Dad (native West Virginian) knew they would grow fast.

Well, it's been kind of a depressing day for me. I woke up and was eating breakfast and Mom left me the "Perspectives" section of the paper at my place like she always does. It's the expanded op-ed section on Sundays. And the main editorial was about moving MOSI downtown. I went to MOSI but it was a bit of a downer when I looked around and thought of all that will be lost if that happens. And my boss just built a new trellis thing last week for all the passion vines they had purchased. So...bummer.

Then, I came home and heard my great-uncle had bypass surgery. He had been scheduled for later in the week but he started feeling pressure in his chest so they took him to surgery at 3:30 am. He made it out of surgery, but he passed away later. I wasn't really close to him, but he's Grandma's younger brother. Dad was taking her back to my aunt's house when he found out so he stayed there a while after they broke the news to her. My uncle lived in Titusville, along with two of his brothers, so at least there's a lot of family over there to help out. And at least Grandma is close enough we can drive her over there for the funeral. Titusville is near where the space shuttles launch and I live in a suburb of Tampa, so across the state.

I did take some pictures at MOSI so let's just all bask in something beautiful for a few minutes, okay?

Monarch



The usual corner hangout where the sun rises.



Great Southern Whites



Zebra Longwings



Julia Longwings



We put fruit out for the Malachites, but sometimes other butterflies use it. I've seen Monarchs before, but today is the first time I can remember seeing Julias on it.

So sorry about your sad day.
Your photos are lovely, as always.
Big hug.

GrammaChar said:David, I'll have to wander the back pasture today to find a horse crippler cactus for you. They're low-growing and hard to spot (hence the name). Wicked thorns!
Meanwhile, happy to report that the fritillaries are starting to show up. Seeing both variegated and gulf types.

Cool. I am gonna help do a count this summer for Regal Frits at a place called Dunn Ranch prairie.

Yikes

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