Man, Charlotte's going to be stiff competition for the photo contest! But that doesn't stop me from trying! First up, let's talk Gulf Fritillaries. There are soooo many. Soooo many!
It starts like this...
Sometimes, another male comes along and tries to break up the action. He didn't succeed, though.
Okay, these are most likely Zebra Longwing cats, but let's pretend for a moment. Same principle, same host plant. They hatch, they eat.
And they eat. And get bigger.
Then, I was lucky enough to find one in its J position, getting ready to pupate.
I decided I'd bring him inside since I wouldn't need to feed him.
You can see where he attaches by silk to the stem. Also, when they're close to pupating, the head gets that white, puffy look to it. You can also see how he's changing down the back. He ended up pupating about four hours after these pics.
And here's the chrysalis made by the caterpillar I took in.
I had Gulf Frits literally all over the yard, but I really liked the pictures I took of them on the Duranta. Maybe it's because this butterfly is kind of faded, but the pictures remind me of watercolor paintings. It was also still fairly early so maybe the lighting contributed.
You can see this Frit is darker and more vibrant. It's probably younger.
I was outside from about 7 am to 11 am so there wasn't a lot of variety, but I did have a few other things going on. First, I had to release my second Red Admiral which emerged last night. First, it stayed on the stucco in the entryway, but then it came out and sunned itself on the front of the house.
My moth friends were out. I'm pretty sure BAMONA has identified this moth before as the Brown-Shaded Gray but this one looked larger than the other ones I've seen.
And as Christine pointed out, this is probably a Fir Tussock Moth. I will submit it to BAMONA that way and see what happens.
Duskywings
