Very nice!!! Im really working now on getting some. I just have never seen one of those around here.

I had a morning treat, 4 little beauties, within about 20 minutes. I was stunned. First time I actually caught THE moment.
I mean, I always wonder how the heck the wings fit in there, but to see it, and the perfect folds, and then to watch the dots grow with the wings. Well...I found it very special. Im getting some pictures of other flying things, amazing whats out there when you just look.

gardenglory said:
I had a morning treat, 4 little beauties, within about 20 minutes. I was stunned. First time I actually caught THE moment.
I mean, I always wonder how the heck the wings fit in there, but to see it, and the perfect folds, and then to watch the dots grow with the wings. Well...I found it very special. Im getting some pictures of other flying things, amazing whats out there when you just look.

So true, Gardenglory!

Beautiful pictures of the Zebra Longwing, Ann.

Thank you Christine.

Hey you guys, I've been meaning to ask which side of the leaf do the monarchs lay their eggs on? The upper or under? What color are the eggs?

under for me....white, then turn darker, so they might be white or they might be almost green, well thats what Ive found

Generally, they lay on the underside but sometimes you'll find them on top. Or in the flower clusters and buds. I think they're cream-colored when first laid and they do turn grayish once the caterpillar forms.

Thanks Pam & Melanie. Good to know about in the flower clusters & buds.
Mine are blooming but I haven't even seen any Monarchs yet.
Come on Monarchs! Here we go, they're just waiting for you.

I have a new species of swallowtail butterfly in my yard - the Teasing, Taunting, Aggravating Swallowtail. This morning as I sat typing at my computer I caught fluttering outside the window beside me. There, fluttering very slowly, and landing occasionally about 3ft away from me was my local Giant Swallowtail. The window is dirty and has a screen so no chance of a picture from in here. There is a little self-sown citrus plant right out there and I guess she might have laid an egg on it. Of course, as soon as I stealthily crept out there with my camera she flew away at warp speed.

They DO love to tease!

Heads up - a member is offering Asclepias sullivantii seeds. Check out this thread: The thread "Asclepius sullivantii seeds" in Seeds forum

Melanie I ask . I plead .. I beg ,,
I have one ,, only one small one ,
Syrica
tuberosa ,
Swamp ,incarnata ,
cynachum ,

obsession

You're welcome, Jim! I knew we had users on this thread who would be interested and live in the area where that Milkweed is native. I'm watching that thread now, so I'll try to let everybody know when the user collects and offers the seed later this year.

More sad news from Melanie's garden. First, my Polydamas didn't pupate. But what really freaked me out was when I checked my Saddleback Caterpillars this morning and the biggest one was parasatized with Braconid Wasps! I've never had a caterpillar parasatized by them in my garden. I've only ever seen one caterpillar in the wild with Braconid Wasp cocoons. In that case, and today, I put them out of their misery. You see, the caterpillar is going to die because the wasp larva are eating it from the inside. I stepped on it because I wanted to kill the caterpillar (their food source) and squish as many wasp cocoons as I could. I don't like the idea that I have those parasites in my area. They better stay away from my caterpillars! At least I killed these before they could emerge.



In happier news, another Tersa Sphinx Moth emerged. Notice they have a little olive green on their head.



I set it on the Jatropha and it started vibrating its wings. They do that to warm up, although I thought it was plenty warm outside.



I had another guest ready to leave today. There was also a female Pipevine ST in the pupation chamber.



The Zebra Longwings were already out and about.



And there were Gulf Fritillaries, too.



I was out there to feed the Black Swallowtail cats. This is the larger batch. See how big they've gotten! I actually think these are growing faster than normal. I think my Rue must be more nutritious than usual.

I am really thankful for you Melanie , this thread , and all who share here ,
The Butterfly action here is dead , One large Butterfly since that Monarch is all I have seen , Even the Cabbage whites are few in number ..
Lots of little Moth and little grass type wings though ,

Not so good about your Polydamas . Fails happen in nature also , all things in theway they are ,
Love the Photo's . you know except for one Black swallowtail real early this season , I have not seen any in two seasons , Would not of thought that possible ,,

Sorry about your Saddleback, but the Tersa is beautiful!!!

I let my parsley flower hoping that I would attract a butterfly to lay eggs, I check this morning and I found about 6 caterpillars about 1/2 inch long. Can anyone ID the caterpillar and is there anything I can do to help them along?

thanks

Anole

John, usually it would be a Black Swallowtail, but this one looks different, maybe Melanie knows,

I'm curious too. It looks "bumpy".

Looks like a Black ST to me. Just one of the earlier instars before they get all stripey. As for protecting them...well, birds really like to eat them so there's that. If you want to bring it inside to raise, that would be one way. If you leave them in the garden, you kind of just have to hope for the best. They have some natural defenses, but only 1-2% of all eggs make it to an adult butterfly.

Melanie, just curious but do you worry about keeping caterpillars warm when you bring them indoors to raise? Surely the a/c environment is nearly 20deg. colder than what they have outside.

I am toying with the idea of bringing in the one leaf with one egg that the Giant Taunting, Teasing Swallowtail laid yesterday. (yes I found it!) I have a little net critter keeper too.

We keep the house set to 76 or 77 degrees and they've never had a problem before. I figure it probably feels better than 96. Plus, the heat and humidity outside contribute to mold and fungus so I figure they're cleaner in a cooler environment, too. If you get it a lot colder, they will slow down eating and growing. My boss at MOSI uses that as a tactic when she runs low on food. She'll crank the AC all the way up and get it good and cold in there in the hopes it will slow them down for a day or two until she can find more host plants.