Sorry Elaine & Melanie, seems I was writing while you were posting...

Melanie, I missed the other one emerging, so went around looking at the other ones and found this guy.
I'm not a very good photographer, but he Looks like he's a bit stunned wondering what in the world I am....

Well, if you had just gone through metamorphosis, you'd probably be a little stunned, too!

Yes, that caterpillar is a Variegated Fritillary and they do eat violets. Other Fritillaries use violets as a host plant, too. It would be great if you could let them grow. You'd get more butterflies in return!

Speaking of butterflies, I had a Pipevine Swallowtail emerge yesterday. I tried to tell it that it was a bad day for butterflies, but you can't teach them. I also had a Spicebush Swallowtail emerge! I let them both go while we were between rain bands. They both flew away, but the female Pipevine did let me get a couple pictures first.



A lot of butterflies were out loading up on nectar while they could. I had another Spicebush fly by me. This Zebra Longwing was out, too. I'm pretty sure they think they're invincible.



This Duskywing was hitting up the Spanish Needles. In case you're wondering why I didn't take a photo of the top of it, it's because that plant is about eye level on me. So five feet tall? Yes, they will get that tall, especially when fighting through other plants to reach the sun.



And here's a look at the refugee Black Swallowtail cats when I was cleaning this morning.

Hi Christine,

I feel certain Melanie's right.... Here's what the chrysalis's look like I'm finding...
I thought my yard was getting invaded by a new little armored bug

I remember when you posted that cute one, Donna! Looks like there's more where that came from.

I don't know about Maryland Donna but my local northern Va butterfly list , only has Variegated , Great Spangled and Meadow Fritillary in it.

Kurt, I've seen those three you listed at Grandma's in WV, too. I only get the Variegated and Gulf Fritillary here, and I've only seen a Variegated once in the wild and that was on my infamous "death hike" in a preserve in Riverview (south of Tampa). I love the Great Spangled Fritillaries. Awesome name, too. Hmm..you don't have Diana Fritillaries in your book? They're in my WV book. I've never seen one, but I've always wanted to.

Donna, first of all, I always like people who think I'm right. Secondly, a lot of chrysalises look super weird so don't worry that you didn't recognize it as such. Most people don't know what they look like. Heck, it's super hard to find most of them because they camouflage themselves so well. I usually only find empty ones. So big kudos just for finding them!

Whew! I'm gone for not quite 2 days & you guys have been snapping photos & chatting up a storm! Oh, I was in a storm so that's why I'm behind. Loss of sleep last night didn't help any. Power outage, storm sounds. Even coffee didn't help today.
Oh, so you guys don't have to ask..... no damage here. Wasn't as bad as they predicted & tracked slightly farther away from us than forecast -- every 10 miles further helps. Twigs & small branches littering everywhere but that's it. Only 2.5" of rain max. received here.

Jack is the king of late summer/fall butterflies! Every year at this time his yard is gobsmacked with a veritable plethora of winged beauties! I love those photos J!

You all have posted some stellar pics & I've enjoyed looking at them.

I now have no clue how many monarch cats I have. I haven't counted them in days. Every time I go out to get food for them I seem to find 1 or 2 or more & I bring it/them in & add them to the crew. I know there are over 30 but beyond that ????? I've been jest a tad busy lately you know.
Drumroll please......................
I have my first J!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There's another one up there on the paper towel that I'm hoping goes into it's J as well. It looks like it might -- big enough.
Sorry, I don't even have time to take a photo & post it. Various unexpected events this evening shot my planned itinerary all to heck & back so I'm running behind again already.

You guys are getting great photo's of butterflies... They flutter around so fast, has to be hard to get those really great shots...

Kurt, They are all nice looking butterflies, and this will sound dumb, but I hadn't realized that there were so many different
similar butterflies...

Christine & Melanie, Thank yous for identifying these guys... So glad Christine recognized the chrysalis right off. I'll
be sure to watch out for them, and start liking the wild violets better, now that I realize they actually have a purpose
besides making me mad...

Melanie, If the Variegated Fritillary come back next year, be glad to send you some... Of Course I could send you a box of
wild violets now so you could have food there established waiting for them... hehe

No Diana Fritillaries Melanie.. but I did look them up , they are pretty.

Can anyone tell me how long the J thing lasts until they start making their chrysalis? After they have made their chrysalis then I want to put them in a separate container of chrysalises only. Do I cut the paper towel they are attached to in a small square & then tape that square to the paper towel in the chrysalis container?
Ack! Help!

Wow, this forum really fills up fast! We're on a new one already! I took a break for a little while and it's impossible to comment or thumbs up on all I've missed day by day. I did go back to where I left off though. Outstanding photos, comments, and information exchange. You folks are the best of ATP!(prideful smirk) So.. Happy Belated B-Day to Mellie, sorry you're still feeling sick. to Donna! Glad all you Florida friends are doing ok! Updates on my Monarchs, but ....ta dah! My 1st Red Spotted Purple
the other day:

Cheryl how gorgeous! I love the red spotted purples! They & Zebra swallowtails are my favorites.

flaflwrgrl said:Cheryl how gorgeous! I love the red spotted purples! They & Zebra swallowtails are my favorites.

Believe it or not this is the first I've ever seen! It loves rotted apples, as do the Question marks

<---There's 21 little guys and gals in this pile. I found them this evening w/o looking too hard-::ugh:: I love them but they are a bit of work, kinda like children.
<--- last big one not pupated. This was part of a second grouping of around 15 that I found when half-grown about 10 days ago. He likes to eat stems and pods too.
<--We had two casualties. Didn't make it out of the chrysalis. I wonder why?
We gave it a decent Christian burial
<---Lastly one of the darker colored cats I was afraid was diseased and put on a plant in a separated area seemed to spunk up and get lighter. Maybe it was just eating in a more shadowy area until then. I read the cats have a better chance of escaping predation if situated in partial shade.
<--The biggest chrysalis of any so far!

Shy_gardner said:Thanks Christine, I been finding the wild looking chrysalis all over the yard this year, and Melanie identified them for me...

Seems something has found all my disliked wild violets a splendid feast....

Variegated Frit fer sure. I found one the other day - a first for me. I have tons and tons of violets so surprised this was the first I found. I have seen the adults here, but only a few times.

One month later, here's the third butterfly I managed to take a photo of.



Wikipedia says it's English name is Red Admiral.

OH that Red Spotted Purple
The family is looking good there Cheryl

Great Red Admiral, Mark!

This is a pic. Took this morning

Chant with me folks: WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WE'RE NUMBER ONE! And it's official! The newsletter this morning said we were the most active thread with 54 replies this week! First, I had to check to make sure that was correct and then I come here and there were 57. Then, I realized this was the September thread so we didn't even have a full week of posting to count! (The newsletter comes out every week and judges activity per week.)

I keep telling you we're the best forum (and you know you guys are my favorite thread even if I try to love them all).

A row of emojis Ann will love! Speaking of @flaflwgrl she was one of the "noteworthy acorn tips" this week with her post showing off her baby Monarchs! Check it out again, here: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

OMG, now I have to catch up!

Kurt, my Variegated Frits can eat passion vine but what's with the lack of love for wild violets? We have some that grow here. I learned in 6th grade when we visited Nature's Classroom that you can eat them! Yes, I ate a violet. Pretty sure it was V. lanceolata.

Ann, the J thing also takes about 24 hours. Just assume everything takes about a day. Also, it's like the last "super molt" so things are happening in there, even if you can't see them. Your plan to cut around the paper towel and put them in a separate container sounds great. Make sure they have sticks or something to climb onto when they emerge because sometimes they do fall down. Also, we have the same fave butterflies! Zebra ST is my fave followed by the RSP.

Speaking of RSP, Cheryl got pictures! I live right on the border of their zone so they're a real treat for me. And as you can see, they're one of those butterflies that prefers rotting fruit, sap, gross stuff that's dead, animal dung, etc. over actual flowers. So even my magic pentas don't tempt them. My Black Cherry does, because it's a host plant, but it's so freaking tall I never find the caterpillars anymore. I just watch the butterfly circling the top and yell at it to come down, but they never listen. As for your Monarch, sometimes inability to come out of the chrysalis can be an indicator it was infected with OE. So maybe it's better it didn't make it.

Mark, they have Red Admirals in Europe, too!? That little butterfly gets around. And kudos for getting a picture because they are super fast. Also, one of those butterflies that prefers the gross stuff to flowers.

Connie, I'm pretty sure you've got a dark form female Tiger Swallowtail there. Congrats!

I think I got everyone. Now, to caffeine!

Oh my goodness! We ARE quite the special thread aren't we?

Great Red Admiral pic Mark! Those are so beautiful.
Cheryl how sweet with your grand daughter burying the butterflies. Goodness! You still are finding cats??!!! You;re going to end up the monarch rearing queen.

Thanks Melanie for the J info. Late last night I found some super info. on all that. here are the links:
http://www.livemonarch.com/lc6...
This link even shows you how to tell if it's a male or a female while it's in the chrysalis! How cool is that?!
https://monarchchaser.wordpres...

I keep reading how temp. has an effect on length of time for everything with them. The one in the J didn't take 24 hours for sure! It was more like 15 hours. I got up this morning to find it beginning to make it's chrysalis! I got to see the start of it & then had to go grocery shopping. Came home to find it finished. There are 2 more up there that I'm sure are close to going into their J. Then there are some brats that are for sure 4th instar, but I think 5th, who are being major PITA's! I keep yelling at them. They get up there & snoop around the newly made chrysalis and even crawl on it. One of them even crawled all the way on it, lost it's footing & dropped to the ground. I keep yelling, "Get OFF there! You're going to hurt it. It isn't dry yet!!!" I won't repeat the vile names I am calling them. I would move the chrysalis but it's so fresh that it's not a good idea. Besides, there are the other 2 that are starting their J's so I really don't want to mess with the lid right now. I just wish these other rambunctious bullies would settle down & quit disrupting everyone else!

I said before that I couldn't see their silk. That was when they were babies, since they grew I can certainly see their silk. It's ALL OVER the place. Thanks Melanie for the info. about them laying down silk when they walk -- I had no idea.