Amanda, make sure you show your bee photos to the bee thread! They'll be so excited! The thread "Bee Friends And Other Garden Guests - Chapter 5" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

And just so you guys don't make fun of me like they do on the bee thread, there are no hard and fast rules about what you can or can't post in the category threads (Butterflies, Bees, and Birds). I just know as moderator since I have to keep tabs on all of you that there are some people that really only follow one or two of the threads. So if you post a bee picture here, I guarantee there are members that won't see it so you won't get fully appreciated! I think most of us in this forum check all three threads at some time or another, but I just like to make sure the right audience sees certain posts. I know it can be a bummer when you don't get a reaction to your post and it's also a bummer that people who don't visit this thread might miss something really cool! So I don't say this to pick on anyone; I just want to make sure your posts get maximum exposure!

I had honey bees swarming the sedum today but as small as they are I didn't bother to try and catch them so much. I'll post the pics tomorrow if I get time.

jmorth said:Couple of caterpillars we saw on a walk through nature (in a wild state park).
< maybe a 'tussick something or the other?<--Milkweed Tussock < no idea<- Smartweed Caterpillar, Acronicta oblinita

They both look neat, colorful yet dangerous.

flaflwrgrl said:Agreed.

This is one of the 4 monarchs I released today

Almost done?

mellielong said:I have been so productive this week, it's eerie.


Yeah Mellie what didn't you get done? Here there and everywhere!! So you're always mentioning MOSI, but what is it exactly? --a butterfly house or research center? What does the acronym stand for? I hope we get tons of pics from Iceland, you lucky duck!
In the meantime, it's still me releasing butterflies. Lately, it's more Black Swallowtails. In fact, I had a male Thursday and a female yesterday and today, so let's compare!

Absolutely stunning! They're so fresh and bright. Ok photo contest time standoff
I've been ignoring my BSTs for the sake of the Monarchs lately but spotted a mess of cats on the Fennel today.

This is the male. Way more yellow. Released before I went to Selby (we'll see those pics in a minute).
This is absolutely stunning



Contrast with the female who has less yellow, more blue. But both have the distinctive black dot inside reddish-orange circle that I call the "bullseye". It is an eyespot, anyway.



Speaking of that spot, the female I released today had the smallest black spot inside the orange that I have ever seen. I had to do a double-take and look at her real close. Never seen one like this before. I saw that right away and did a double take...They look pretty content perched on your hand.

Cheryl, MOSI is the Museum of Science and Industry. www.mosi.org

I've been a volunteer there on and off since 2007. Just in the BioWorks Butterfly exhibit. Those volunteers are a separate group because you have to have such specialized knowledge. I help raise the caterpillars, talk to guests, release the prisoners...er...butterflies. I had to stop for a couple of years when I first got sick and then I took last summer off. I kind of quit earlier this summer because the owner of our hockey team (Tampa Bay Lightning) is trying to move MOSI downtown. People have been trying to revitalize downtown since I was a kid (probably before then, but I don't remember). My boss is going to be looking for another job soon and I just don't feel like going down on a sinking ship. But as long as she's there, I still stop in and visit. And I take my extra caterpillars there when I run out of food or go on vacation. I'd rather them be there in the exhibit than have to put them back outside. I'm probably going to drop off my caterpillars on Tuesday, so I'll try and take pics. We still have Malachites and they have their own small population of the Atalas they released.

I'm also kind of passionate about MOSI because I've been going there since I was in elementary school. The county commission purposely donated that land because it's mostly wetlands and they thought that would be good for a science-based museum. It's also right across the street from USF and is in what they politely call "an under-served neighborhood". (My brother and I were the only ones who paid full price for lunch at our elementary school, to give you an idea). I went there with school (my whole class and the gifted program) and I went there with Girl Scouts. If they move it downtown, I don't know how they would even have the outdoor exhibits. They'll have to raise a lot of money though, so I'll believe they're going to move it when I see the money. Plus, it irks me that now the county commissioners are saying they want the land to be used for something that will generate tax revenue. They talk about a corporate office park or something, but rumors are also flying that USF wants to build a football stadium on the site. Except, like I mentioned, it's mostly wetlands! And here I thought I got away from politics when I stopped working for the county.

Thanks for the cat ID Cheryl.


Today -
< Yellow Collared Scape Moth


Looper Moth < Wings going so fast they're like transparent.


3 of em > 2 > and 1 in flight >


unknown moth on Rudbeckia >

Jack, that's a really great shot of what happens when a butterfly or moth loses the scales on its wings. They go transparent! That one must have seen some rough times and/or is an old timer by moth standards.

jmorth said:Thanks for the cat ID Cheryl. You're very welcome J !

< Wings going so fast they're like transparent.

NGA's very first Ghost Moth Woooooooo


<--- Your Smartweed caterpillar actually eats just about anything under the sun: Apple and other fruit trees, clover, corn, cotton, elms, grasses, pines, oaks, smartweeds, strawberry plants, willows, even cattails!
The brightly colored caterpillar will turn into a Smeared Dagger Moth, not nearly as beautiful:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

Here's why Dagger moths receive their name: Not for the caterpillar like this one that Claudia posted a photo of earlier:


But for the little dark "daggers" that show up on the adult moth's wings

Well, I'll be! Thanks Cheryl.

Mellie, does Tampa area not have concerns about sea level rise? (let alone wetland destruction!) Downtown Annapolis only flooded once in a blue moon, now it's pretty routine. If modest predictions hold true I'll be Chesapeake Bay waterfront property in 20- 30 years...

This guy showed up and was busily eating my Milkweed! ID?

originally posted in Gardening for Bees, Butterflies, and Birds in the Mid-At
but thought I would share it here too

krobra said:two of my cats are now in protective custody
I caught a cardinal near my bishop's weed cats and tried to chase it off but pretty sure it had a cat in it's mouth when it finally did fly away.
when I did get there sure enough one was missing.
so I potted up some bishop's weed , cleaned and patched an old tree frog terrarium I had , added a few sticks and placed the other 2 bishop's weed cats in it.
so they can now safely overwinter outside if need be

if they do overwinter I will also put it in the carport for added protection from any snow

Ha! We've got Kurt raising caterpillars!

Judy, Tampa has major infrastructure problems like many cities. That tropical storm Hermine that just passed through caused a bunch of flooding. Pinellas County (St. Pete) discharged a bunch of sewage into the Gulf to keep it from backing up. Now, there are dead birds on the beach and who knows what else will happen. Red tide? Toxic algae blooms? More dead sea life?

Mika posted some butterfly pics on the bee thread and so you don't miss them, here they are: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Seems our Kurt is a photog and a backyard naturalist as in how many people have "an old tree frog terrarium" just waiting in the wings!

Lovely set up Kurt.

Make sure if those BST cats do overwinter in your garage that no raccoons or other rodent types can get at them. Muddy lost some that way last winter, messes up the critter keeper, too.

I'm cheap and curious I paid $50 bucks for it 8 yrs ago after finding a tree frog in our laundry room.
I have a two story galvanized ferret cage trying to rust out back under some vines too. don't know what to do with it but still too nice to throw away , last time I looked.
in fact that might make a good base for my planned cardinal climber vine next year

I saw zero swallowtails today - first time in a couple of months.

But I did see 4 Monarchs at the same time on a patch of Tithonia which they were enjoying.

Brought in 2 - 5th instar Monarch cats today. Wife bought me a pop up laundry thingy. I figure they may have a better chance in here. Got some florist water picks to hold MW stems. So many Cats are disappearing on me, I finally said screw it. My first attempt - been doing a lot of research. I have 2 chrysalis outside and thinking about bringing them in too.

Silver Spotted Skipper -


Red Admiral -


Night Moth -

Pretty soon almost everyone on the thread will be raising caterpillars!

People always ask me how I got into it and I tell them how I started by planting a lot of native plants since I was tired of all the pretty things in the catalogs dying. Plus, it seemed environmentally friendly to go native, less work for me - a win-win! Then, I saw where my native plant books would mention something being a "host plant" so I started looking into that. I thought, "Hey, that would be fun! I'll plant some plants for the butterflies and they'll fly around my yard and I'll help them in the process!" Then, I got my first Gulf Frits. I wasn't content to leave them outside because I wanted so badly to see what they were doing. One species led to another and I started planting more host plants so I could raise more species. Those Gulf Frits were my gateway drug. A year later I was volunteering at MOSI so I could raise ALL the caterpillars! After all these years, I never get tired of finding them, watching them, releasing them. And it's so much easier without a job. Okay, the gardening part is super hard, but the caterpillar rearing isn't too bad.

Although, I would be happy to have some Tiger Swallowtail cats! I saw this beauty of a female the other day and I was like, "Why won't you lay any eggs?"



We must be moving toward fall because this Cloudless Sulphur actually stopped and let me get a picture! Well, that and everybody loves porterweed.



And I've released two more Black Swallowtails. The first one was ready to fly but this female was still flapping her wings and preparing for flight.

DavidLMO said:I saw zero swallowtails today - first time in a couple of months.

But I did see 4 Monarchs at the same time on a patch of Tithonia which they were enjoying.

Brought in 2 - 5th instar Monarch cats today. Wife bought me a pop up laundry thingy. I figure they may have a better chance in here. Got some florist water picks to hold MW stems. So many Cats are disappearing on me, I finally said screw it. My first attempt - been doing a lot of research. I have 2 chrysalis outside and thinking about bringing them in too.

David, 'protective custody' as Kurt says is a good thing right now for the Monarch migrating generation til their numbers and habitats they depend on are sustainable for the long term.

You planted and they came. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

My hope is that the Monarchs keep coming back til we all get it!

[quote="MariposaMaid"]
This guy showed up and was busily eating my Milkweed! ID?
Go here to see the adult moth: http://www.hiltonpond.org/this... I've donated to this site b/c I like what they're doing!
Here's one I found earlier this summer :


Cute little guy!!---It's a Virginia Tiger Moth cat(Spilosoma virginica) It's common name is "Yellow Woolly Bear" even though this individual is bright orange, they can come in a range of colors from light yellow to almost black. They 'll usually eat just about anything but prefer stuff growing low to the ground, like grasses. We see them crawling all over the place in autumn and I swerve to miss them on the roads The reason we see them crawling all over the place is that mature woolly bears are out searching for safe overwintering sites under bark or inside cavities of rocks or logs. This is one IMPORTANT reason to NOT do a fall "clean up" if you value the insect life taking refuge on your property

krobra said:I'm cheap and curious I paid $50 bucks for it 8 yrs ago after finding a tree frog in our laundry room.
I have a two story galvanized ferret cage trying to rust out back under some vines too. don't know what to do with it but still too nice to throw away , last time I looked.
in fact that might make a good base for my planned cardinal climber vine next year

Cardinal climber vine is great for the Hummingbirds. You may get Golden Tortoise beetles on it too Kurt. You sound like my daughter, she had cages and aquariums all over the basement when they weren't in her room. Re-purposing stuff is a great idea!