Just kidding, folks. I saw other things, too. In fact, we get to go "Caterpillar Hunting With Melanie" again!
But first, let's look at my passion vines that got egg-bombed. I saw two Zebra Longwings today and couldn't get a picture of either one. Now, both Zebras and Gulf Frits lay on the Passion Vine. Except, only the Gulf Frits will use my cultivar, 'Lavender Lady'. I watched a Zebra fly all over it and apparently, there's something "wrong" with it. If I put a caterpillar on it, they eat it, but they don't lay eggs on it. Okay, so this is the native P. lutea.
Both Frit and Zebra eggs start out yellow, but Frit eggs will change to a dull orange color. Also, Zebras tend to lay in clusters where Frits lay singly. Okay, this is one of my P. suberosa and I had to blow up the picture because when I looked at it on my computer, I saw there was a caterpillar all the way to the left along with all those eggs!
Okay, besides Frits, I have a lot of Duskywings.
One Duskywing had a wing that didn't dry correctly. It was still flying around all right, though.
So I had to go to Lowe's for the third time in a week. You know those Pentas I bought on the clearance rack for $1 each? Well, as Dad and I were loading them, I saw the cashier rang five of them correctly, but charged me full price for the other five.
So I go back inside to the returns desk to have them do an adjustment. I should have known she was doing it wrong from how long it took. But it wasn't until I got home and really read the receipt that I saw she changed the price of five to 99 cents and the other five to $1.98. Still wrong! So I stop in the other day and try to get it adjusted but I didn't bring the plants with me so she couldn't adjust it.
She said the manager doesn't want Lowe's getting a "flea market like atmosphere where people haggle over the price of the plants." Okay... Well, I had to go to the credit union today which was nearby so I loaded those Pentas in the trunk, took the receipt in again and explained the situation. Finally, I got five for 98 cents each and the other five for $1, as they should have been.
It's okay because I was waiting for Walgreens to fill a prescription so I went around taking photos for the plant database. I am rich in acorns!
While I was wandering, I saw a Monarch. And then it found the milkweed and began laying eggs. Oh, that reminds me. We were talking a while ago about whether the Tropical Milkweed has only red and yellow flowers, or the solid orange/yellow flowers. The ones Lowe's were selling were listed as Tropical Milkweed and had the yellow flowers. So I think you have to judge the native, A. tuberosa by the leaves.
Okay, so I pull in and Frits are flying everywhere, but there's someone else. An American Painted Lady!
I'm wandering around and my brother decides to start mowing.
But I was chasing a Checkered White in the neighbor's yard, anyway.
Found a Dainty Sulphur, too.
My brother was under strict orders not to mow down by the road, but he's been in a mood so I went down there to defend it. And to go caterpillar hunting! Now, my Checkered White cats are big enough to see without squinting so I theorized there should be more outside that would be just as large, if not larger. I began checking their host, Virginia Peppergrass.
Remember, the eggs are laid under the blooms where the seedpods are so you have to look here.
I found a caterpillar, but this is the same as that moth caterpillar I brought in with my last batch.
Now, there's my little spotted friend! This is a Checkered White caterpillar. FYI, a lot of the White caterpillars look very similar. Let's keep looking!
I found four in all, but I guess I forgot to photograph one. Back inside, two of my three Checkered White eggs are caterpillars. I guess the third was a bust. And that moth caterpillar that hitchhiked in made a cool mesh-like cocoon. You can see one of my cats (bottom) and the cocoon (top) in this pic.
BAMONA can't identify those moths that keep hanging out on the screen. Today, I scared up a few on the other side of the yard when I was watering. Oops!
And the Tussock Moths are still building cocoons all over the place.
I plan on working in the garden tomorrow planting some of the things I bought at Lowe's and haven't planted yet. Check out this Hibiscus I found! It's called 'Fort Myers Lemon'. I think it's mandatory to have a Hibiscus if you live in this area, but I get bored with the same old red ones. This one was like
Also, Hibiscus are in the Malvaceae (Mallow) family and there are butterflies that use that family as host plants. I've seen evidence of chewing on my Abutilon (Flowering Maple) which is in the same family, but I've never caught anyone in the act.
And this is the corner of our lot where I saw the hummingbird this morning! That's a Brugmansia and Purple Firespike. The hummingbird was on the latter. When I start complaining about how hot it is pretty soon, remind me I can grow these plants because of where I live.
