I know! I was just walking along & went Whoa! Now I'm scared to walk out there for fear of what baby cats I might step on inadvertently.

Okay, I'm here to post my day's adventures before I call it a night. All that gardening yesterday was hard work and then I made a trip to Lowe's today so I'm beat. Not to mention caring and feeding the caterpillars!

So early this morning before I went to bed, I noticed my Checkered Whites were finally getting ready to emerge! I had two that were showing their Checkers through the chrysalis. One of them had come loose - remember they suck at silking - so I got some pretty good pics of it. It's always a good idea to put some sticks in the container for them to emerge and dry their wings on. That way, if they fall, they can climb back up the stick. You can use bamboo poles, skewers for kabobs, or whatever you prefer. Sticks from outside may harbor small bugs or bacteria and viruses, so I prefer something I know is clean. Plus, all I get are oak sticks and they're usually covered in lichen and moss.



They were both out when I woke up so I went outside to release them. This was about 12:30 pm. Not an early riser today! I noticed the Great Southern White was still out there so I took some photos of it first. Remember, a defining feature of the GSW is the turquoise antenna clubs.



Then, it was Checkered White release time. One of them was acting wild and as predicted, it flew straight away. The other circled around and landed on the bougainvillea. And then it stayed there for a long time. It was plenty warm enough, but I guess it just liked the spot.



Another one of those Brown-Shaded Gray moths was on the front of the house. I was surprised it was in so much sun. They're a little bigger than you might think. I put my finger next to it so you could get a feel for the size. They have a really intricate pattern. I've seen so many, I really need to go lookup the caterpillar and see what they eat. I like to know what attracts them. Unfortunately, there's way less research into moths than butterflies so sometimes it's hard to find these things out.



While I'm thinking about BAMONA and moths, they came through for me with the last two. That all-white moth I saw was an Elm Spanworm Moth. And the underwing I saw was the Similar Underwing. Similar to what, I wonder? I've seen the Ilia Underwing several times so it was nice to see a new species.

I saw a Zebra Longwing which was not surprising, but what it was doing was. It was sitting on the Pentas, but it wasn't eating them. Instead, it had a large glob of pollen on its proboscis. Remember they secrete an enzyme that liquefies the pollen so they can drink it. I think that might have been what it was doing. I watched as the proboscis unfurled and furled just a little ways - not the whole way out. I watched it for a minute or so before it flew off. I wonder if they can only process so much at a time?



In exciting news, three of my Pipevine Swallowtails emerged! They were all male. You can tell because they have the super shiny shimmery blue on the lower wings. Why do so many butterflies have blue on the lower wings? Because they're imitating this foul-tasting fellow. I think he might be shinier than Mom's Ford Escape in the background.



Some of you with close eyesight might notice the veins running through the butterfly and the yelowish-green substance running through it. That's hemolymph. It's like a simple form of blood. Mammals are a little more evolved than insects, you know. So in these pictures, you can really see where it's pumping out into the wings to inflate them and harden them up!



This Duskywing was posing so nicely I couldn't not take it's picture!



I was so tired when I got home, but the Zebra Longwings needed to be cleaned and fed. Luckily, only one was molting so they were pretty easy to move. Oh, and I think I spotted two Gulf Frits that sneaked in there. I knew I had at least one. So how many do I have? About this many. FYI, a group of caterpillars is called an army, but I like to refer to them as a "teeming mass".



I popped the Spicebush eggs off most of their leaves because once they hatch, it would be very hard to find tiny caterpillars on dozens of leaves and I do have to clean the tank. I kept a few leaves in there for when they hatch. Oh, one of the eggs was definitely a dud because there was nothing in it and it collapsed when I tried to pop it off. Still not sure about the other one. But everyone else looked good. Here they all are.

Melanie, how do you manage to take the eggs off the leaf ? How do you handle them?
I have always left them on the leaf, but it dries up and curls, so i put the leaf on a wet paper towel until the hatch.

Josephine, I just used my thumbnail to pop them off. They're not attached that tightly, so you can remove them. I really only recommend that for spherical eggs because the other shapes tend to squish. It takes a delicate touch, but it can be done. For non-spherical eggs, I've been known to take a pair of scissors and just cut around the little section with the leaf on it.

Well, I think I will just continue with putting the leaf on a wet paper towel with the eggs on it until they hatch.

Lots of munching going on in the Parsley Patch. A little on the fennel as well. If you look at the last photo in full size, it's cute the way the caterpillar is holding the fennel frond.

Not only is it cute, Charlotte, but it's a good demonstration of caterpillar anatomy. We all know insects only have six legs, and this is true for caterpillars, as well. The three sets of legs in front that he's using to hold the food are his true legs. And that's what they generally use them for - to hold the food they're eating. The rest of the legs are called prolegs and are not true legs but are used to hold on to things. It's a trick question I like to use on kids. How many legs does the caterpillar have? I'm a little devious like that. But I figure they can use it on their teacher, friend, parents, etc. and make themselves look smart.

Thanks for teaching me another butterfly 'fun fact', Melanie. I love learning new things!

Thanks for such a good picture to help demonstrate. I haven't been able to teach them to do tricks, yet, so I can't always get a picture that matches what I want to explain.

Thanks for the acorn, Jim!

Well, I think I broke myself. Like, Melanie is broken. Like the old gray mare, I ain't what I used to be. I didn't get up until noon and even then, I still planned on doing a little something today. But I ate a muffin and went right back to sleep until dinner time. I did manage to release some butterflies, though.

More Checkered Whites. I had one that was fine, one that was a little messed up, and one I had to put down. Here's the one that's a little messed up. I just noticed in the pic even one of its antenna is bent. It could fly, though, and that's what important. So it at least got a chance.



The one I had to put down.



This evening, I had another one emerge. It was fine. Took a few pictures, then flew to my windshield, then flew away.



Today is a little hazy, but I know I released a Pipevine ST. Male again. It flew right off, but to be fair, it had been waiting for me to wake up to let it out.

Was watering the plants and noticed I got egg bombed by the Zebra Longwing again. You don't even have to hunt for these eggs; they make it pretty obvious.



I came back inside and realized I forgot to pick some Passion Vine for the cats. So back out I went. I found a Gulf Frit chrysalis while I was cutting food. This one is pretty dark which means it's either diseased or about to come out. Since it's really only the wing sections that are dark and it didn't smell odd, I think it's just ready to emerge. If they're diseased, the whole chrysalis tends to be dark and will often have a bad smell. I brought this one in and added it to the chrysalis container.

Melanie ,, I would of given you a couple of them if I had really thought about all you have taught here ,,

seen a few BF's . but all it has done here is rain and stayed cool ,

and Melanie ,, Do the maintenience you have to do for that machine of you ,, I could use a few new parts myself

Thanks, Jim! A Flexeril and a good night's sleep are in order! I ordered new pillows that arrived, today, too! They're the type for people with allergies because dust mites are one of my main triggers. Definitely don't need to sleep with a face full of allergens all night long!

This year I am trying the if you plant it they will come thing. It worked last year with milkweed, which I had in abundance. And last Summer I had more Monarchs in all stages except chrysalis (never saw one) than the prior 5 years combined! I saw lotsa eggs, watched one hatch and saw all 5 instars. And many adults and lotsa mating rituals. This year I will have nearly 100 MW plants.

New this year: 3 types of fennel, parsley, dill and rue. Will also have passion vine of size - 5 plants that I started from seed Feb. 15 - all have recently pooped out of the ground. Hence name MayPop.
I also have a Spice Bush but never seen anything on it.

And for good measure, I planted 2 Paw Paw last Summer.

And for the future, just planted a small dutchman's pipe - the hardy one here A. tomentosa on an arbor.

Sounds like a good plan, David. FYI, A. tomentosa is commonly called Wooly Pipevine. It's the only one I grow now. Dutchman's Pipevine usually refers to the tropical species. I don't grow it because the Pipevine Swallowtails can't live on it, although the Polydamas Swallowtails can. When you live in a subtropical zone, you get some weird crossover, but I try to make my yard friendly for everyone.

Back with pictures soon. I need a shower in the worst way. Ugh.

Okay, today's gardening adventures. FYI, since this is the thread I've always hung out the most in (even before I was moderator), you guys tend to get the full story of my day. Just remember that when we get to the funny parts.

I woke up this morning and everyone wanted to be let out! First up is my super awesome Tersa Sphinx Moth. Check out those green eyes!




I had two Gulf Frits. One was the chrysalis I found yesterday so I was right that it was dark because it was ready to come out. That one zoomed away. The other one emerged while I was brushing my teeth. Seriously, I wake up with one Gulf Frit, come back out of the bathroom and have two. But at least this one could pose with me!



Remember, Gulf Frits are in the Brushfoot family. So you can see the four legs on my finger. But insects have six legs! The other two are those things to the left of the eye, under the proboscis, that sort of look like a nose. Those are actually its other two legs! Shorter, but still useful as they use them like brushes (hence, the name) to clean their eyes, proboscis, etc. Neat!



I think I had three Checkered Whites, but two of them flew off pretty fast. The other one had a slightly bent wing, but it ended up flying around just fine.



There was a Cassius Blue just sitting on the porterweed so of course I took a picture.



Sorry about the lens flare in this photo (call me J.J. Abrams), but I wanted to show the hemolymph in the wings of this Pipevine Swallowtail I released. See that greenish-yellow stuff up top? Not antifreeze, hemolymph. (Antifreeze is the same color, right? I think Dad taught me that a long time ago. I don't know cars.)



Okay, I figured out I needed to turn around to get a better picture. So this is a female Pipevine Swallowtail. Notice she does not have the blue scaling on the lower wings like the male did. I can't remember how many of these I released today. I know I had to put one down and there's one staring at me right now, but it has to wait until morning.



Once I freed all the hostages, I ate some breakfast and went to visit my favorite preserve. Remember, all things are legally protected in a preserve. That's why it's called a preserve. It is against the law to remove anything from it.

So I'm walking around looking at all the Redbay and Swampbay trees thinking how it's so much harder to find caterpillars in the wild because they have so much to choose from, unlike my little garden. And then, I saw this.



And inside was a Spicebush Swallowtail! Now, even though he's little, I know he's not a Palamedes. Only the Spicebush folds over the leaves like that to make a nest. The larger Palamedes will sometimes silk a leaf so much it rolls up a little, but that's about it. By the way, it would be illegal to remove this guy from the preserve.



So I went in the back entrance because I find you can get to the interesting stuff without having to walk as far as if I used the front. This was a good thing because the road that runs along the back is rarely used. Very little traffic. And this is a good thing because I was standing around looking at some Pawpaws when I felt a twinge on my thigh. "Please let that be a muscle cramp", I thought. Then, it happened on my other leg. And up where my hip meets my butt. Yes, I had an ant in my pants. And you better believe I turned my back to the road, unzipped, and got that thing out of there! It was a really big ant, too! Thank God it wasn't a fire ant! I looked down and saw some of the ants on the ground, but it's not like I stepped on an ant pile. I did get a picture of one of the offenders - until it started climbing up my camera lens!



As I mentioned, I just took a shower and I inspected my bites and all I can see are little pink marks. They don't hurt or itch. Okay, so back to what I was looking at (for). Pawpaws! I didn't see any Zebra Swallowtails today, but I didn't stay long after getting bit. As you can see, Florida's native Pawpaws have smaller fruits, but the grow in a similar cluster style as the big ones.



Something ate this one, but not a caterpillar. The skin is way too tough for them to get through.



Back home, I pulled in the driveway and this Cloudless Sulphur was playing the "I'm just a leaf" game.



Down by the road, I found two more Checkered White cats.



And an egg I guess I missed on the Spicebush.



Speaking of the Spicebushes, about half of them hatched and they're wandering all over the container instead of eating the leaves I put in there.



Each of these is a different Gulf Frit cat on my P. 'Lavender Lady'.




And that's why back in February when Dad asked about trimming my Passion Vine I gave him an adamant, "No!" The caterpillars would be along soon enough, I told him. I was right. (That happens a lot, me being right.)

Speaking of Gulf Frits, I saw a few checking out the new Pentas I bought a few months ago. You know the ones with the darker pink centers? I wasn't sure if they'd like them, so I'm glad they do.

There is still a lot to do here
I saw a Couple of Red Admirals today and a Pearl Crescent flittering around and around , and up , and upside down , and in circles , and around ,,


Milkweed (Syrica)

Melanie

That last post above is just awesome.

You have paw paw fruit now? Wow. Here you do not see em til September.

Thanks, David! Our Pawpaws are obviously different than the well known variety, Asimina triloba. As a kid, we always visited West Virginia in the summer when school was out. So I never was up there during Pawpaw season but I knew about them and that my Pawpaw (that means "Grandpa" in West Virginian) Ray loved them. In 2014, I went up to Louisa, KY for a genealogy conference and then we went over to WV to visit Grandma. It was around the last week of September and the Pawpaws were ripe so I had to honor my West Virginian heritage by trying one. I thought they were pretty good but I think it's weird that the ripe ones are the ones that look bruised. My aunt had to teach me not to pick the green ones.

It's funny that so much of the East Coast doesn't realize we have small Pawpaw species down here in Florida that are just shrubs. But then my dad met a man a few days ago who had Pawpaw bushes in his yard, and he had never heard there was the tree kind that grows up north!

Love the posts, Melanie!
I googled "brush-footed butterfly" and this page has a good photo of the front legs. Interesting!

https://www.cals.ncsu.edu/cour...

All of you have been making such great posts with a lot of gorgeous photos!

Well, Dad's about to start cooking dinner so it seems like a good time to post. We're having grouper tonight! Yum!

Dad was out there painting the trailer some more today. He told me he saw lots of Pipevines flying around and I said, "I wonder why?" I released two more this morning. Oh, and the one from last night I ended up releasing around 9 pm because she was flying around the container so hard.

Okay, so one of them was a female.



And one of them was male. See the difference? Blue shimmer very obvious on males. Especially if the sunlight hits them.



Then, I slept all day because that's what people with chronic fatigue do. I also tried out my new pillows and I enjoyed them very much. I bought the Jumbo size because they were the same price as the Standard. So that's two more inches of pillow for the same price! I did have trouble falling asleep. I came out to take a Zyrtec at 1:30 am and Mom was making tea because she was all stuffed up, and her throat hurt, etc. And I was like, "That doesn't explain the Pop Tarts."

So back to the butterflies. I went outside to change the hummingbird feeder nectar. For those who don't follow the bird thread, I got a hummingbird feeder and put it in the butterfly garden. I figured it would make the hummingbirds more comfortable and they'd also be close to some of the plants they already like to eat. Because I'm thoughtful like that. Anyway, there were tons of Frits, per usual, but I saw a female Spicebush flying around. And what got me really excited is that she was eating from two of my new plants!

I literally planted two Salvia 'Saucy Red' plants yesterday. I knew the hummingbirds would be all about that, but it's nice to see the butterflies enjoy it, too.



The other one I planted last week, although I bought it several weeks ago. It's called Bush Pentas or Panama Rose. Panama Rose (Rondeletia leucophylla) Look, my picture is the main thumbnail! You see, I was at the USF Botanical Gardens a few months ago and I saw this Giant Swallowtail all up in this plant. And when a butterfly likes something that much, I have to know what it is. The Plant ID forum gave me an answer; I saw the plant for sale at a local nursery and bought it and the rest is history. That's the same Spicebush Swallowtail as in the previous picture checking it out.



I'm kind of hoping my Pipevine babies fly away and go lay eggs on someone else's Pipevine. Mine is still recovering. But look how big the leaves are getting! I didn't know Wooly Pipevine got that big! FYI, this is the third year for that plant. That's the kind of leaves I need. Super sized for hungry caterpillars!



I keep meaning to say this but I keep forgetting. To the folks who raise butterflies - check your host plants. A lot. Especially if you find something on them. Because you will always miss some. And also, like I said before, the butterflies will come back and lay more eggs. Since my Spicebush cats hatched inside, I knew they would be hatching outside. And sure enough, I missed at least one little guy.



When I was putting him in the tank, I saw a spider in there! And I screamed! And grabbed a tissue and disposed of it. My parents asked if I was okay and I told them what happened. Mom sounded very concerned. I told Dad I had acted as judge, jury, and executioner and that all the caterpillars appeared to be fine. There's another lesson. Check your host plants carefully before you bring them in as food!

Well, the female Spicebush Swallowtail outside decided to nectar on some regular pentas. I imagine they're producing more nectar than my new plants which are probably having a bit of transplant shock. So here's some more pretty pictures.

Picking up the Pawpaws, puttin' them in my pocket, way down yonder in the Pawpaw patch!



That's a real song, by the way. Learned a lot of old folk tunes in school, but had to Google that one. That's why it's good to have a Grandma around, too. And Dad made the cutting board they're sitting on.