Will do. They haven't gotten back to me about my caterpillars, yet. But it's a regional thing so maybe Texas will be quicker. I know the guys that do West Virginia come back pretty fast when I submit the ones I see at Grandma's. I bet they're so excited to get a submission from little ol' Lincoln County. Population: 20,000. For the whole county! And Grandma has internet now! And I bought a travel router to help boost the signal. I will be running around a lot so I might get scarce next week.

Melanie Hope not as scarce as I have been with a photo here
Probably because Skip--pering idea took hold , he , he ?

Well anyway ,, I got one

Well, Grandma has internet access this year so that will be a big help. That means I don't have to drive 12 miles to the McDonald's for Wi-Fi. Not even kidding about that, folks. Grandma lives in the middle of nowhere. Makes for good wildlife viewing, though.

WooHoo

Discovered a hornworm cat on one of my Datura yesterday. By today he completely clobbered one of the largest leaves. Just went out and he is moving to fresh material.

Not that familiar with them so I am unsure of which instar. S/he is ~ 1 1/8 inch long. Last year on one of my Datura I had a HUGE one. Watched it for several days and then poof - gone.

Also last year, I had one on a tomato which I donated to it. It was parasitized. I tried to care for it but learned there is nothing that can be done. I secured two more and each was also parasitized. For them, as soon as I found the maggots popping out, I put the little guys out of their misery.

I love Hummingbird moths and have seen them a couple of times so far this year.

Two years ago one night near dark I was sitting on my deck and got buzzed by both a Hummingbird AND a Hummingbird Moth.

If it's on Datura, it's probably the Tobacco Hornworm - the same kind you saw on your tomato. They're all in the same family.

Just to be technical, it's wasps that parasatize the caterpillar and make those little tufts. The larva that come out do look like maggots, but they're wasp larva. There are also flies that parasatize caterpillars.

Speaking of, my only Saddleback Caterpillar that wasn't parasatized emerged as a moth today! I didn't get any pictures because it had already figured out how to fly and got agitated when I started walking with the container. It flew right off - hopefully to make more caterpillars!

The pets are traveling with me so I went ahead and put all my chrysalises in one container. I only have Black Swallowtails, so they can be released in WV just fine. I forgot to mention that I found some Dorantes Skipper caterpillars when Dad and I were clearing the front. Since I ripped out their host plant, I took them in. There were four, but one died. I'm going to take the other three and put them outside on some Desmodium that's growing by the road. That's what I found them on.

So I've got Black ST cats coming with me. I have organic parsley, and I can always feed them Queen Anne's Lace up there. My Tiger ST egg still hasn't hatched but it still looks nice and green so I'm a little stumped. My Unicorn caterpillars (who look much more like the book image now that they're a little bigger) are coming with me along with my slug moth. They both eat Black Cherry and I know there's plenty of that in WV. I'm taking some empty containers in hopes I can find some Tiger STs and Spicebush STs!

I am seeing SOOOOOO many dragonflies this summer. Everyday. And not just one occasionally, but several and all over the yard.

Also have seen many swallowtails which is new for me.

Not many Monarchs yet, but a few. Saturday my wife saw 3 in a matter of minutes.

I don't usually see Monarchs in WV, but Dad said he can't remember them when he was growing up, either. There's milkweed around but lots of mountains, too. Probably easier to stay in the flat lands. I usually see lots of Tiger Swallowtails so I'm looking forward to that. There's actually an Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail that was declared it's own species (or subspecies?) a few years back. But all the pictures I ever submit to BAMONA from WV come back as Eastern Tiger Swallowtails. I'd like to see the difference at some point.

Come to think of it, the Monarch is the WV state butterfly, but I think it's a popularity contest. Lots of states around there have it as their state butterfly. Oh hey, here's a list I found. Read the bottom because some states have butterflies as their official state insect: http://www.netstate.com/states...

The Monarch is also the state insect of Texas so I guess many people love it, but then we knew that.

Hi everyone! I've been away for a while, busy gardening and such. I hope it's okay to jump in... These photos are from my house (Stockbridge, GA) and a trip to Gibbs Gardens (Ball Ground, GA) last weekend. Enjoy! (Hopefully I got the names right.)

Dark form Tiger Swallowtail


Fiery Skipper


Juvenal's Duskywing


Spicebush Swallowtail


Spring Azure or Summer Azure?


I've been seeing a lot of Tiger Swallowtails and Common Buckeyes on my echinacea lately. I got a pretty nice video, but can't seem to extract a decent looking photo from it...

Hi Jessie, welcome back!! Thank you for sharing you butterflies!

Hey Jessie! Loved the photos, thanks for sharing!

Anyone is welcome to join in anytime! Newbies, lurkers, whoever! And you don't need to have a photo. This is also the place to discuss butterflies, moths, and larva so you can ask a question or comment on someone else's photo.

For example, I'm wondering how you can tell the Spring Azure from the Summer Azure. I've only seen them in WV. I do have a book of West Virginia butterflies that I pack with me every time I go. There are just too many I'm not used to seeing!

I got the caterpillars all packed and ready to go. Now, I just have to finish getting my stuff together!

Yesterday, I pulled in and there was a Cloudless Sulphur flying around the Sennas in the new front butterfly garden. Wildflower garden? I'm going to have to think of a name. Anyway, I tried to get a photo but my camera was having trouble focusing. I had to clean the sand out of it and put a new screen protector on it today. So this is the one lousy picture I got of the butterfly.



Well, I guess you can kind of see it on the right upper branch here.



When she flew off, I walked over thinking I could take pictures of the eggs. But I didn't really see any. And I think that's because the plant was already occupied! They're tiny, but there are two cats in this photo. I circled them for you guys.



This one you should be able to see just beyond my fingernail.



So I was getting the caterpillars ready for traveling and I was happy to see my slug moth decided to make a cocoon! I had to tear part of it to take it out of the one container and move it to the container with all my chrysalises. Or as I like to call it - the Pupation Chamber. Dad thought it sounded very sci-fi. You can see the green is the caterpillar rolled up and the brown silk stuff is the cocoon.



I relocated the Dorantes Skippers back to some Desmodium outside. I realized I hadn't taken their picture so here's one that just molted. You can see the skin behind it.



And while I was outside I saw an empty Gulf Fritillary chrysalis next to an empty wasp nest. The chrysalis looks like the butterfly emerged just fine, by the way. I find a lot of empty ones, but I hardly ever find them with the butterfly still in them. Gulf Frits seem to have a liking for stucco.



And I cleaned out the Black Swallowtail tank so I expect someone will gut purge soon. But here are the guys that will be traveling with me. You can see two chrysalises on the cheesecloth, too.

A little fun at 730 this morning. My first ever zebra longwings. It was on closed in patio , I chased it around for a picture, gave up and opened the doors so it could get out. Very exciting.

Also, these are the cats., I showed the other day, 4 were out when I went out at 730, caught 1 more coming out, and one more emerged about an hour later. I will release all 6 later. Check out that 'water tank' on the one coming out, ready to fill those wings.

mellielong said:
For example, I'm wondering how you can tell the Spring Azure from the Summer Azure.

Good question! I had a list of butterflies spotted in my county, which I refer to when trying to ID. Summer Azure wasn't on my list, but it does look VERY similar. Now I'm not sure, since their range definitely covers my area. Anyone else care to weigh in on Summer Azure vs. Spring Azure?

I know when I've had BAMONA ID the Azures it was easy for me to guess. In May, I guessed Spring, and in September, I guessed Summer. But since it will be July, if I saw one, I'd be a little stumped. I usually see the more common Eastern-Tailed Blues in WV. In FL, I only see Cassius and Ceraunus Blues and I know how to tell them apart. The hardest part was learning how to spell Ceraunus without looking it up every time!

Pam, great photos! Looks like things are exciting up in Gator Country! Glad you saw the Zebra Longwing. I have so much fun watching them fly around like they don't have a care in the world. And I love your "water tank" description of the Monarch's abdomen! Too true!

If I want to ask BAMONA for an ID, how would I do that? Submit a sighting?

Zebra Swallowtail has been around for days. Teasing me! Teasing, teasing, teasing. "Catch me if you can ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" I don't feel so bad about my lousy photos of it after I saw even Kurt the wonder photographer had a hard time getting a perfect photo of his. LOL! Mine adores the agastache & butterfly bush but is completely ga-ga for the milkweed nectar.






Anyone for a flashback to the 1960's?

Jessie6162 said:If I want to ask BAMONA for an ID, how would I do that? Submit a sighting?

Yes.

Yup, just create a BAMONA account if you haven't done so yet. Then, click on "Submit a Sighting" and fill out the form per instructions.

Hoping to see some Zebra Swallowtails on all the Pawpaws in WV!

BAMONA just got back to me and Christine was right that my caterpillars are Unicorn caterpillars. And I was right about the other one being Nason's Slug Moth! Okay, back to packing!