Wow!! Christine, that is quite a collection

Except that's a Monarch, not a Viceroy. Looks like a male.

I guess I should do some "show and tell", too! I've been adulting really hard, lately. Yes, we've made "adulting" a verb. I went to the dentist today for my regular checkup and got two fillings while I was there. One cavity, one where I grind my teeth, even though I've been wearing my night guard! I'm also cleaning out the closet and selling stuff on eBay. I can't help but sit there and hit the "refresh" button over and over. My cousins on Facebook were telling me about apps that will tell you when there's a change on your eBay status and I was like, "You would deny me the joy of pushing the button over and over?" I like pushing buttons.

So this weekend the weather was gorgeous but I mostly stayed inside. I did have to go somewhere - can't remember where now - and on the way out Mom said there were two Tiger Swallowtails outside. So I grabbed my camera, and sure enough, there they were. I was thinking how, in the future, if a lepidopterist analyzed my photos, they might think Tiger Swallowtails were super common here based on the number of photos I have of them. But if you look at the date and time stamp, you'll see I just really like taking pictures of Tiger Swallowtails.

On Pentas!




On Salvia 'Saucy Red'



On Porterweed



On Plumbago



But those weren't the only butterflies flying around. This Monk Skipper seemed to have trouble getting its proboscis into the flower. It made me laugh. It's on Salvia 'Amistad'.



Being more successful on the Salvia 'Mystic Spires' was this Long-Tailed Skipper. I have so many of them around right now.



They're on the Porterweed, too.



Everyone's on the porterweed. Dad was trimming it back on the side because I have it planted by the walkway into our house. He said he kept getting buzzed by everyone. I told him to be happy the hummingbird didn't come by! I used to have one that challenged me every morning when I left for work. I don't know why I'd try talking sense into it, but I'd say, "I don't want your porterweed, I just want to get in my car!"

Gulf Fritillary on Porterweed



Since it was cooler outside, some of the butterflies that don't usually bask, were basking. Like this Cassius Blue! I can't even remember the last time I saw the topside of a Cassius Blue.



This little Skipper was nectaring on the porterweed and then sitting on it.



And to my surprise, there was a Gulf Fritillary over on the Pentas in the shade. I thought it would be too cool over there.

Oh goody, thanks Melanie! I've been seeing so many Viceroys, I didn't even notice it was a Monarch.

Yesterday I made a vow not to take anymore butterfly photos, having documented everything that's flown through this summer.
And, of course, that's when a Zebra just happened along. I had to break that vow.
Know these are common in Florida, but here...not so much, so this was a treat.

Nice pic!

Couple of moths > Yellow Collared Scape Moth

Webworm Moth -

I love the Zebra Longwings, but they are rare around here too.
Sooo lovely

GrammaChar said:Yesterday I made a vow not to take anymore butterfly photos, having documented everything that's flown through this summer.
And, of course, that's when a Zebra just happened along. I had to break that vow.
Know these are common in Florida, but here...not so much, so this was a treat.

Char, Please, please don't stop taking butterfly pictures, we NEED to see them up here!

mellielong said:
Since it was cooler outside, some of the butterflies that don't usually bask, were basking. Like this Cassius Blue! I can't even remember the last time I saw the topside of a Cassius Blue.



I've never seen this gorgeous BF before Mellie, it's so striking with those metallic blue spots. Thanks for sharing its photo!! Since I'm always curious to know more and really try to understand the details about the insects I cross paths with, I was compelled to look up more info on this beauty. Here's a link that gives more detail on host plants for you lucky and blessed Floridians if anybody wants to learn a bit more
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in829

Mellie-I used to sell on eBay, picking for antiques and collectibles: glassware, antique buttons(I have a huge collection myself), unusual collectibles and the like. I believe they now want SS numbers or something? Since the economy dropped it's not nearly as profitable so I stopped selling. I'm interested to hear how you're doing with it. If you can treemail any comments/ info about how it's working these days etc I'd appreciate it.
Hmmm I think this winter, I'll post some pics of my antique Victorian buttons that feature insects and other wildlife- seriously- the Victorians loved details.

Char, who makes a vow to stop taking butterfly pictures? That's crazy talk!

Cheryl, Cassius Blues are super common here because their host plant is plumbago. Everyone plants plumbago around here because it's pretty and it's hard to kill. I've seen Cassius Blues outside a parking lot downtown! I've got my own colony since we've had plumbagos since we built the house. My parents like blue. The native plumbago actually has white flowers!

I hadn't sold on eBay in a while, either. They didn't ask for my SSN. I'm not crazy about their fees and the fact that they force you to use Paypal, but I'm dealing. For vintage stuff, you should check out Etsy. I know it's usually thought of as handmade stuff, but you can sell vintage things on there, too. I've got a bunch of depression glass listed on there right now.

Speaking of Victorian...Selby Gardens has a special exhibit going on right now called "The Secret Garden". They've turned the greenhouse into a Victorian style conservatory, and they've pulled out some of the rare botanical prints from their library! It ends the day before Thanksgiving so I'm going to have to get down there and take some pictures. I love the Victorian era.

Mellie---- you've gotta take some nice pictures if you make it to that Selby exhibit. Pleeeeeese. There's an upscale and somewhat overpriced garden center near Longwood Gardens about an hour from me and towards Philly called Terrain. They have a small cafe that is inside of a old Victorian iron? and glass Greenhouse. the floor used to be gravel but I see they've paved it since I was there. Very nice. My daughter and I were there about 7 or 8 years ago and had mushroom risotto and lavender tea ummm


and here's a few of my Victorian era prints. They're really afforable and they're hand colored and from a French ....well.... here's just a link from Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

....and an example of a print from eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guerin...

Some prints from the 1830's:

Love those old botanical prints! I'd been wanting to go down to Selby, anyway because I never seem to go there this time of year and I wanted to see what would be blooming. Mom and I went back in September but it was still so hot we wilted and didn't stay as long as we usually do. But with the humidity down and the lower temps, it's so nice now. Still tons of pollinators, but they don't seem to want to hold still while I take pictures.

OK, I got excited this morning - the men who prune our trees came and they showed me this really big caterpillar they had found. The French call it a 'sphinx du laurier rose' - I think it's some kind of moth but I'm sure you'll all put me right!




One of the guys is going to take it home and look after it until it becomes a sphinx moth/butterfly, as a project for his little girl.

Sure Mika-- I just typed in your French description into Google images. In English it's an Oleander Sphinx



What a lush shades of green!! Oooooo Ahhhhhh
Kudos to the workers for not immediately killing it and even rearing it to help their child learn. I wish more Americans behaved that way

Thank you, Cheryl - how cool is that critter! I've never seen such an enormous caterpillar, and the adult moth is fantastic - looks as though it's wearing combat camouflage... Apparently when it's frightened the caterpillar tucks its head underneath itself so it looks as though it has huge blue eyes.

We have loads of oleander here so from now on I'll be looking for them! That said, I fly back to England tomorrow - though we return here in 3 weeks.

Amazing Cat and Moth, really beautiful. I had never seen it before.

I thought those leaves looked like Oleander! People grow it all over here, but all I ever find are the caterpillars that turn into moths that are wasp mimics. Still cool, but I want that one!

I was about to post last night and the website wouldn't connect. The rest of the internet seemed fine. By the time it came back up, I was already laying down with head nestled in pillow. So it was too late. But here are some pictures of Sulphur caterpillars I collected on the three Senna ligustrina plants that are out front in my new garden.

This one is an Orange-Barred Sulphur.



This is a Cloudless Sulphur.



This one is too small to tell. And there's an ant there, too.



This time of year, the caterpillars like to eat the buds and the flowers and it causes them to be more yellow. Or in the case of the Cloudless Sulphur, they turn yellow instead of green. So I'm not sure which one this guy is, yet. I need his pattern to emerge a little more before I can tell.



For comparison purposes - Cloudless on top, Orange-Barred on bottom.



Yesterday, I released another Black Swallowtail and it was a boy.



And there were several Long-Tailed Skippers around. But this one, sans tails, was posing so nicely I had to take a picture.



This afternoon, I had yet another Black Swallowtail emerge, but this one was a female. It's getting a little late for them to be flying around.

Mellie I ADORE that cerulean colring of the skippers fur...!!! and wish with had the type of Sulphur cats you have there...

Mika and Mellie and anybody else, The Oleander Sphinx doesn't live here in North America Here's a link with more info about it, and hey---- it even migrates!!
http://www.inaturalist.org/tax...
AND for a really great photo that highlights the magnificent velvety emerald fuzz on this moth click on this photo as large as it can go(I have a 23" monitor and WOW!):
https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...

Oh--- and thank you very much for the acorn Mika! Safe journey

Thanks, Cheryl! I always have to take pictures when the Long-Tailed Skippers start basking. We have a similar species called the Dorantes Skipper, that looks largely the same except it doesn't have the blue coloring. When I was at MOSI, I remember a visitor coming in and asking if we had any Long-Tailed Skippers in the exhibit. We did, and I thought it was cool that they wanted to see that species. As opposed to all the Monarch requests we get.

I love Sphinx Moths, but I will be happy with the ones I have and admire the others from afar! The caterpillar reminds me a bit of the Tersa Sphinx Moths. We have a green Sphinx Moth here, too. It's the Pluto Sphinx Moth. I've only seen one adult and one caterpillar.

The Caterpillar Lab (a worthy non-profit up in New England) produced some awesome bumper stickers and you can get them for a small donation. I bought all three because I'm crazy like that. So if you need a bumper sticker that says, "I Brake for Woolly Bears", click here: https://the-caterpillar-lab.my... Oh, they just released their calendar so check that out, too!