Melanie for the copy-paste.
and Thank You, Elaine, for the frog identification.

This is the Butterfly Forum, so I'm in the right place....
A question mark was sunning and sipping this morning.





And I found two unidentified caterpillars:
The first was on Gregg's Mist Flower



The second was hanging on a salvia

I am doing the Happy Dance!!!
This is a first ever sighting for me: a Goatweed Leafwing. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Melanie).
According to Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas, "Adults seldom visit flowers, preferring to sip rich liquids from tree sap, rotting fruit, and dung".
Obviously this one likes watermelon!

Woo hoo! First sightings are always a great feeling! Dinner's almost ready so let me just say this...the first caterpillar looks like a moth, but let me check my book(s). The one in the J position looks like a Gulf Frit for the world. Is there passion vine within 100 feet or so? They can travel quite a ways in their wandering phase.

Pictures after I eat. Mom is calling!

Yes, I have a native passionvine (Passiflora affinis). Not a showy plant, but a butterfly host non the less. So a Gulf Frit is a definite possibility.

We have a similar vine here in east Tx, GrammaChar. I think ours is Passiflora lutea. The leaf pattern is interesting, I think. I need to check and see who it hosts...

Christine, I grow P. lutea, as well. That is, when I can keep leaves on it. The Zebra Longwings and the Gulf Frits fight over who's going to lay eggs first.

Okay, picture time! My Tersa Sphinx Moth emerged and was ready for some pictures this morning.



In sad news, I lost my last Orange Barred Sulphur cat. I think it got infected with BT because it was having digestive problems and leaking, too.

In happier news, my Giant ST cats are growing. One just finished molting, but I took the pic earlier today when he was still sitting on the side of the tank.



There were a lot of Zebra Longwings out this morning. They're one of the earlier butterflies to start flying in the morning.



I still have plenty of Gulf Frits - both cats and adults. And a couple that were flirting. Well, the male was. The female was trying to hide in the grass.



When I came home, a female Pipevine ST had emerged! She posed for just a few seconds before she realized she could fly.



This Long-Tailed Skipper has seen better days, but I like that it was using my new Pentas. The pink ones with the darker center are new this year.



I went over to the hose to water some of my potted plants and saw this cat on the stucco. No idea who it is.



A male Spicebush flew by me like three times but was being a tease. That's okay because the Giant ST came over and posed.

Thanks for the info about P. lutea. I think I will pull and "Ann" and cry about not having any zebra longwings! I want some here! Whaaaaaaaaa!!

I was about to say I thought you got them in Texas, but I see you're in North East Texas so maybe they don't get up that far. They don't even reach North Florida, I think. At least, not on a regular basis. When we had two bad winters in a row, I went a whole year without seeing one. The Longwings tend to be tropic butterflies. So they stay where it's tropical - or in my case, subtropical.

A Polyphemus moth was on our tire so we moved it to the rose bush.

Beautiful moth and fabulous photo!!!

Looks like a male with those feathery antenna. If it was a female, I'd put her in a paper bag and see if she'd lay eggs!

Wow that is a beautiful moth.

I had the pleasure of raising them at MOSI before. And getting up on the stepladder to scrape the eggs off the patio screen. My bosses are really short, so I figured the above average height person ought to do it.

Fabulous photos Ronnie!!!! I love those feathered antennae & the feathery bodies. Gorgeous moth all the way around!

Zebra Longwing

Wow, that's all I can say. Wow.

Very Pretty Ann