Well, I woke up for dinner, but then it was back to sleep. It's been such a perfect day for that. We had thunderstorms this morning, and I saw on the news where a house in Lutz got struck by lightning and caught fire! Didn't recognize where the street was but the name was Zamia which I liked because it's the genus for several cycads, including the native Coontie. Which is a host plant for the Atala Hairstreak. It always comes back to butterflies, somehow...
Well, in big news, I decided to quit volunteering at MOSI. Most of it is due to the move downtown. I know it will take a while, but I felt like I was on a sinking ship and had to jump off. I just can't watch it go down. I'll probably end up getting involved with something else eventually, but it's probably good not to do anything in the summer heat.
I did see my doc last week and she said my glucose numbers were "phenomenal". Don't have to see her until July and she said she expects my A1C number will be much lower. So it looks like you're going to have me around for a while. My therapist was happy to hear I'm making healthy lifestyle changes, too. What's good for the body is generally good for the mind.
But enough about me! So, yesterday I went to the movies and today it rained most of the day, so not a lot of butterfly action. But there's always something going on! When I got back from the movies, I watered in my new plants, and saw this cool moth on the patio screen. It's like the hangout spot for moths. I tried to take a super good photo so maybe BAMONA can ID this one.
I just blew it up on my screen and there's a lot of detail there. I'm assuming the BAMONA guys do that, too.
Okay, so most of my Checkered Whites have pupated, but there are still some caterpillars left. I promised them I would clean out their tank today. I was sitting on the bench in the front entryway and I was sorting Peppergrass into piles - one with a caterpillar or chrysalis, and one with nothing on it. And something caught my eye. Silly Gulf Fritillary pupated on my bench! I tried to peel the silk off and bring him in but he leaked a little.
I hope he's still okay. I didn't realize how fresh he was. He looked dark enough that I thought he'd been there a while.
I would have left him there, but there are too many creatures that roam my front pavers. How he even managed to pupate is a miracle. You know we had a Cuban Frog get in our house the other day? Mom screamed as she was coming in the door. I thought she hurt herself, but it was a frog. Dad "handled" it. Then, I've got wasps building nests up above the entryway, and the anoles are constantly running around. We even have skinks living in the garage. Dad's wood shavings make nice nests, I think.
Oh, speaking of Dad, he had a guy over yesterday to pick up some wood. And the guy brought his wife. She was looking around and said, "This is a butterfly garden, isn't it?" I guess the hordes of Gulf Frits swooping down gave me away. She was checking out the cats on the passion vine, too.
Speaking of cats on the passion vine, I think I mentioned I would probably be bringing in those Zebra Longwing cats. I kind of had to, or at least move them, because a large bunch of them were on a tiny P. lutea that just popped up! They would have starved! Oh, I found another P. lutea in the lawn so I'm going to have to relocate that, too.
I found one Zebra Longwing that was molting! That's his old skin behind him and you can see the old head capsule still stuck to his new head.
More molting going on. The cat on the left has molted. His old skin is between them, and his head capsule is hanging on around the middle of his body. You can see how pale he is. Notice the spikes haven't turned black yet and his new head capsule is much paler than the old one. They'll darken in a few hours. The cat on the right hasn't molted yet, but you can see his head capsule has detached. Remember - never move a molting caterpillar. Well, just don't detach them from whatever they're on. In this case, I broke the stem they were sitting on.
Caterpillars found on the P. lutea. Oh, I also found one on a smaller P. lutea that I think is a Gulf Frit. But these are all Zebra Longwings.
Here's another guy that's in the process of molting. See how the head capsule is sitting really low on his body? That's because it has detached itself and the caterpillar is building a new one underneath. When he molts, he'll wave his head back and forth to dislodge the old one. That's how I can tell a caterpillar is about to molt. Thus, I know not to move them.
Sometimes you find a stupid caterpillar dangling in midair. They'll sometimes swing their way back onto the plant, or they'll let out more silk and lower themselves until they find something to land on. I took mercy on this guy and scooped him up. Had to put my hand in the back so the camera would focus.
Some of the cats I found on my P. suberosa.
Today's "crop".
Rain? Caterpillars don't care. Especially Gulf Frits. Nom, nom, nom...
Okay, I did take pictures of the Checkered Whites. So...back to them. Some of the chrysalises stayed green. Yes, this one broke his silk. I fixed him up. Well, I think I'm the one who broke it, but to be fair, he picked a bad spot on the lid. Also, Whites use the minimal amount of silk required to pupate. It's like they ration the stuff. Or they're lazy. Not like those industrious Monarchs that will silk every surface you give them.
But some chrysalises are the more white to brown color I'm used to seeing from the Great Southern Whites.
I don't know why, but these caterpillars look like they should be made of flannel. For some reason, I think of argyle socks. This is still a Checkered White.
And I found one that made his sling and is ready for pupation! You can see he has a friend that pupated right below him!
I haven't been able to get a picture of the little moths that hitchhiked in with the Whites, but here's one of their pupa. They make little mesh cocoons that I think are really cool.
