jmorth said:Yes, Golden Dewdrop; over wintered in basement under fluorescent lights for 4 or 5 years.

It's a total knockout!! I didn't know this could be done with such obvious success. My basement smells musty if I don't run the de-humidifier 24/7. How do you adjust for humidity w/o that issue? I'm lost

Most butterfly host plant information , has to do with where you are , seasons ,weather , what ever effects the Butterfly . often effects the type of plant they use ,
Like with me and asters for pearl crescent , sometimes , other times they are all in number and tall yellow prairie clover ,, it gets confusing if you try to much .

Ok, so I thought how blessed I was to have Monarch cats, but as they say, be careful what you wish for. I felt it was more responsible to bring them inside. Read up what I could: keep humidity low, food fresh, area cleaned up of frass. But this has turned into a major undertaking. As I collect cats, I see adults laying eggs, and eggs and eggs. Truthfully- I caught myself saying "oh no, not more Going back to work next Monday, I'll have my teenaged adopted grand kids, all very sweet, interested, and responsible helpers and it wouldn't work w/o them! Here's pics as of today we counted 68 cats and 16 chrysalises. Please if anyone has helpful hints other than those mentioned lay it on PLEASE.




Syriaca



Bedroom dresser is a jungle

How we quickly but gently as possible collect a few at a time after a bottle of milkweed branches has been made ready


Swamp Milkweed stays lush and healthy the longest.

Approx 10 days until hatching I understand??

jmorth said:Orange Sulphur - Alba form

Skipper -

Silver Spotted Skipper -

Swallowtail -

Best I could do; BF flew all around the back yard twice, but never alighted...

Whoa such vibrant amazing hues! Technicolor. The intensity of the colors makes me think of the way antique prints were made with lead in the ink. Almost larger than life. I have nature prints from 1830's and they haven't faded.

Mellie,
Sorry to hear about your Polydamus cats Do you have any of your own theories as to why it happened before you visit that specialist?

[quote="mellielong"] Oh, and I saw an Abbott's Sphinx Moth at Grandma's in WV. They're super freaky and look like they should be a Halloween decoration.

Here's the Abbott's Sphinx Moth from April 2011 (many cameras ago):



Oh I want some!! It looks like an alien fighter jet made of the paper that wasps make with a little lobster tail. I'm off to google this thing.

Cheryl, you have those Monarchs in some kind of enclosure, right? Yes, it takes about ten days until they emerge. You may want to leave some caterpillars on the plants outside to discourage females from laying more eggs. Otherwise, you're going to get into a milkweed arms race with the caterpillars.

At first I thought the problem with the Polydamas was that I'm only growing Wooly Pipevine and none of the Tropical Pipevines. But they were having the same problem out at MOSI where they grow the tropical. My current theory is that they've caught the natural BT bacteria. But I'm feeding the Pipevine Swallowtails the exact same plant and they're doing great. It's odd.

@nativeplantlover
regarding the golden dew drop: purchased in early May 2012 as a 'standard'

[

It's appeal to night fliers was soon noted -

We decided to over-winter it in the basement where there's a cluster of eight 4 ft. fluorescent tubes used to overwinter and propagate coleus and some other tender plants on a large table. The humidity down there isn't bad and the temperature remains about 60 - 65° in winter. Space under those lights is limited and the dew drop's size necessitated it to be regulated to the floor next to the table. Not ideal, lot of leaf loss but it survived, and has survived the last 4 winters thusly.


2-3-15 It's not the only large plant over-wintered down there.

It's usually re-potted, pruned and moved back outside in May.

I would love to have a Golden Dewdrop but wouldn't have the faintest idea where to get one here in Michigan.

mellielong said:Cheryl, you have those Monarchs in some kind of enclosure, right? Yes, it takes about ten days until they emerge. You may want to leave some caterpillars on the plants outside to discourage females from laying more eggs. Otherwise, you're going to get into a milkweed arms race with the caterpillars.

At first I thought the problem with the Polydamas was that I'm only growing Wooly Pipevine and none of the Tropical Pipevines. But they were having the same problem out at MOSI where they grow the tropical. My current theory is that they've caught the natural BT bacteria. But I'm feeding the Pipevine Swallowtails the exact same plant and they're doing great. It's odd.

Oh Mellie Thank you for your wisdom and humor- "arms race" you penned it perfectly. No enclosure- I was planing on making one with screening, but miraculously they have all stayed put unlike BSTs that travel away to hide their chrysalises. The kids help me keep a head count. Should I go buy some mesh laundry bags maybe?
There are still about 2 dozen outside, mainly because I wouldn't be able to keep up. Only one tiny one died- it was hanging by its own thread I think-- it was tangled on its own antennae and it didn't see it until it was to late. I don't want to make too any mistakes that would cause more harm than good!

ref your PD- Who knows what causes things like this for certain until we do more research to get solid answers. Good Luck with your expert person!
and Thank You for being our moderator!

nativeplantlover said:Ok, so I thought how blessed I was to have Monarch cats, but as they say, be careful what you wish for. I felt it was more responsible to bring them inside. Read up what I could: keep humidity low, food fresh, area cleaned up of frass. But this has turned into a major undertaking. As I collect cats, I see adults laying eggs, and eggs and eggs. Truthfully- I caught myself saying "oh no, not more Going back to work next Monday, I'll have my teenaged adopted grand kids, all very sweet, interested, and responsible helpers and it wouldn't work w/o them! Here's pics as of today we counted 68 cats and 16 chrysalises. Please if anyone has helpful hints other than those mentioned lay it on PLEASE.




Syriaca



Bedroom dresser is a jungle

How we quickly but gently as possible collect a few at a time after a bottle of milkweed branches has been made ready


Swamp Milkweed stays lush and healthy the longest.

Approx 10 days until hatching I understand??

Your cup errrrrrrr milkweed runneth over with cats! Seriously Cheryl, I think you're close to re-populating the entire decimated monarch population. Wowser you've got a bunch & then some. Fantastic!
I would gladly take some cats or chrysalises off your hands as my milkweed sits full, luscious & lonely but I don't think there's any way to send them safely especially since we've now returned to highs in the low 90's.

a couple Common Buckeye shots on the blue fortune blooms and crabgrass
it really did not like me getting too close , it let me know by flying off every time I did

Beautiful shots.

Something not so spectacular today ,,

This enlarges nicely , They are really bright standing out on Aster leaves , one of the Grass moths probably ,


It's one of these ,Noctuidae ,Owlet Moths, Miller Moths Not in my regional checklist either
i do not know but it looks like a White earworm moth , About 1i/4 inches long rear closed wings near same as length

how about , Dogbane Tiger-moth

http://www.pwconserve.org/wild...

, is the closest match I could find on my local photo list

Yes , that is the Critter krobra

I will add this to the regional list

I found a bloom in the garden today , thought it was a small Beardstongue ,, It was a Dogbane bloom , I still have no idea where it came from , Explains that ,

Well, it is a pretty common weed throughout the midwest...
That certainly is a pretty neat moth, neither seen or heard of by me before.

It is really striking with the yellow edging. Very pretty. Great ID Kurt!

UFB

Butterfly face



This is the best I got folks

Ann #3 is a good motion shot , I see your getting there

jmorth that info says that moth is everywhere

Slow season this year for most here ,