Nice!

You did better than I've done on the Swallowtail picture. I've chased and lain in wait with the camera more days than I can tell you. All I get are blurs.

Jessie- couple reports
Cornus florida- must be for bees and birds, it flowers early spring and I don't think there are any butterflies around then?
Salvia guarantica-black and blue - hardy in warm parts of my yard, actually makes tubers and rhizomes , should be fully hardy for you, sprawly form, also can't say I see much butterfly action there, maybe hummingbirds and bees?

Jack, I can tell it's a Giant Swallowtail so I say it's a good picture!

Well, I've been hooked on butterfly projects now.....

First one I've seen of these.

Eastern question mark butterfly, I was researching on them

....... turns out they don't lay eggs on any host plants.... quite the opposite.

When they eggs do hatch they must find them themselves.

Can some one please tell e why God made the do that?
I CANT see a biological benefit of this, and if it WAS wiser, why don't other species do it?








Also, I've been hunting for the host plants of these beauties....what an adventure it has become...


Lastly....

Over the winter I decided to grow lemons from seed.

Turns out, a swallowtail species, EVEN in Michigan, uses it.

well find out if they try it out, how ironic hahaha!

and lastly, I have yet to find a single monarch. Viceroys, but not a single monarch. I checked a patch of probably 70 milkweed. Nothing, not good, not good at all...

@mellielong
That's what I thought too, but having never seen a Giant ST in my yard 1st hand, I wasn't sure. Now, I really, really wish I could have gotten a stationary picture. Usually get a few pics of the Black ST yearly... I guess I should be thankful for what I got. I will note in my journal / map a Giant ST sighting.

Brenden, there are other species that make their caterpillars work to find food. Some lay eggs in the leaf litter and the caterpillar must crawl up the plant to the leaves. I imagine it keeps them safer and more hidden from certain predators. Also, they do eat their egg as a first meal so they have some energy to go find more food. I want to say Hairstreaks use this method, but I'm pretty sure it's more than just that. Are you trying to find Spicebush or Sassafras or both?

Hooray, Jack! New sighting in your yard!

Sally I thought Cornus Dogwood was a host forspring azure ,, Alternative ..plant ,,

I can't believe the photo wasn't a big blur! Great job Jack! Catching a butterfly on the wing is a big deal. Jim did it the other day & now you. I wonder who will succeed next?

mellielong said:Brenden, there are other species that make their caterpillars work to find food. Some lay eggs in the leaf litter and the caterpillar must crawl up the plant to the leaves. I imagine it keeps them safer and more hidden from certain predators. Also, they do eat their egg as a first meal so they have some energy to go find more food. I want to say Hairstreaks use this method, but I'm pretty sure it's more than just that. Are you trying to find Spicebush or Sassafras or both?

Hooray, Jack! New sighting in your yard!

Both, I got seeds of both, but it's too late to start. I'm going to capture captures Giant swallowtail, and we if she will touch the lemon tree this weekend, probably give it 4 hours or so, she'll be taken care of too don't worry 😊😊

Ann A tip for that is use your flash anyway , it freezes the shot .. I , at times . get two of three clear pictures that way .. not always though ...

jimard8 said: Ann A tip for that is use your flash anyway , it freezes the shot .. I , at times . get two of three clear pictures that way .. not always though ...

Interesting. Will try it!

flaflwrgrl said:

Interesting. Will try it!

I have a proffessional photographer in the family , two in past times .. Where I learned that ..

Today I saw a Fritillary , a duskywing . the Pearl cescent and Cabbage white,, and a Mustard white , a silver spotted Skipper

Still trying Asters and indigo and a few more , to get some reproducing and staying . saw a Red Admiral also .

The Frit landed on me flying in crazy circles and I was not going chasing them in the sun at 94 degrees ,, will try again later

Even Mom could ID the Giant ST in Jack's photo!

Still raining here. It's cooler, but it's still humid and soggy. We're supposed to go back to our "normal" rain chances of 30% or so but then it's going to get hotter.

In sad news, all but one of my Polydamas died and none of them seemed to grow while I was feeding them. This is the second year they've had problems. I will put this on my list of things to ask Jaret Daniels about. In good news, my friend at MOSI got some Frangipani Hawk Moth caterpillars. I will have to go check them out soon!

nativeplantlover said:

I keep all the new growth at the bottom of the main vines stripped up until about the first 3 feet so there's no chance of them rooting.

Rooting is not the problem. The problem is they can grow long distances underground and then pop up. I know a guy who it grew completely under his house and popped up ~ 100 feet away. Another guy had it grow under his garage and pop up thru a crack. Once you have it, you will basically always have it.

The only way I found to knock it back - not kill it - was close to 100 % glyphosate. 2 applications.

Best of luck

nativeplantlover said:My garden looks a lot wilder than most people's tastes but I really don't care too much.

My apologies, as Jim said, this site agrees, and even says Cornus florida dogwood buds are the primary food for spring azure larvae - good to know
http://www.naba.org/chapters/n...

We're all learning here, Sally! I didn't know that either, but I don't get Azures here. I have enough trouble remembering the host plants of the butterflies I do get! That's good info to file away. I don't know why, but Dogwoods are really protected in FL. If you ever look in your plant catalogs, notice they don't ship Dogwoods to Florida. I need to Google this...

bhart90 said:
Both, I got seeds of both, but it's too late to start. I'm going to capture captures Giant swallowtail, and we if she will touch the lemon tree this weekend, probably give it 4 hours or so, she'll be taken care of too don't worry 😊😊

Bhart90- I have never ever seen a Giant Swallowtail here in Pennsylvania, only in Florida. You are so lucky! I think some years one thing dominates and others not at all. Currently I am deluged with Monarchs, I'll post separately. My friend only 30 miles away had so many last year-- while I had only a few. This year she has none. Maybe just natural fluctuations, and not indicative of overall dismal situations as in your field right now. Many of us in the North are also noticing how late all the butterflies are this year arriving.

Google says...it's to prevent Dogwood anthracnose, a disease effecting Dogwoods. I know we have lots of laws about citrus for the same reasons. When Dad has transported wood (for woodturning) across the state line, he always has to stop at the agriculture station to get inspected. They don't care because the wood is dead, dried, and cut. But you want to be safe about these things. I know a lot of campgrounds won't allow people to bring in firewood; they only let them use what's in the area already.