Viewing post #1297361 by mellielong

Okay, I have to go to bed soon because I have my eco-cruise in the morning. Have to eat a good breakfast and be there at 8:30. The ship sails at 9:00. It's a three hour tour that departs from Tin City, originally a fisherman village, but now it's got quirky shops and restaurants. So I'll have lunch when I get back and then maybe some shopping. The lady who took my reservation said to wear "beach wear" because we do stop to do some shelling. So I'm wearing shorts in public tomorrow! Everyone is going to see how white I really am. But hey, I was mostly naked in the spa the other day and the woman rubbing my feet and legs didn't recoil in horror, so I must be all right.

So let me share my biggest news of the day! I went to the Naples Botanical Gardens this morning. Unfortunately, part of it was closed off for maintenance, and that part happened to be the Florida Garden and the Wildflower Meadow. But I still had fun in the other parts. They have a butterfly house which isn't nearly as good as MOSI's. There was a young lady there who I believe is in college and we got to talking about how to tell the difference between a Palamedes Swallowtail and a Spicebush Swallowtail. So I explained the difference and showed her on the Palamedes Swallowtail caterpillars they had.

Oh wait, but that's not the fun part. The first butterfly I saw was actually on the outside and it was a Mangrove Skipper! We do have these in Tampa, apparently, but I'm never near the mangroves. They grow in the water, FYI. You may remember last year at Selby I saw two Mangrove Skippers and got super excited. Here's the one I saw today.



But wait, there's more! I walked by the mangroves and said, "Well, that explains the Mangrove Skippers." And I said it out loud because I've stopped caring. I looked at the various leaves when I spotted something familiar. A leaf shelter!



I opened it to see if there was a caterpillar surprise inside, and there was! This is a Mangrove Skipper caterpillar. Isn't it cute? When they get bigger, they turn white. Bizarre, right? I like their strawberry jelly form. FYI, mangrove leaves don't bend so well and I accidentally broke his home. I made sure he got back on a leaf, though. He'll have to build a new shelter, but I figure he needs the exercise. He's looking a little chubby.