Well, Mom felt the need to wake me this afternoon to tell me that she and Dad were going to Home Depot. Not sure why she couldn't have left a note. I got out of bed and asked her that and Dad was like, "I would have told her not to wake you up." They let my brother stay asleep, for some reason. But Dad felt bad she woke me up so I was like, "Buy me some more cheesecloth from Home Depot". I need it for the caterpillars (I put it on the top of the critter keepers so the little ones can't crawl out.) It's also good to attach a chrysalis to. So I got woke up but at least I'm getting something out of the inconvenience. Seriously, I have chronic fatigue; let me sleep!
But I really needed to get up because my butterflies had emerged. They were actually out when I got up to go to the bathroom just before 6:00 am but there was no way I was getting up then or releasing butterflies that early. They were pretty ready to fly so I didn't get great pictures, but I did get some. Here's the Red Admiral. It took him a minute or two to figure out how to fly up and out of the cage. I pushed him along with my finger to help.
I knew the Cloudless Sulphur would bust out of there in no time so I took the picture while it was still in the cage. Sure enough, I opened that thing and it went flying straight up into one of the oak trees. I would have needed a telescopic lens to see it. You can see what I mean about the cheesecloth here. Not just for painting! It's always kind of fun to explain to the Home Depot folks why I'm buying it. I usually have to ask where it is because they keep moving it and hiding it from me.
When I found that Orange-Barred Sulphur cat last week, I totally thought he'd be a chrysalis in a day or two because he was so big. Now it's like six days later and he's still a caterpillar. He does seem to be eating less so maybe he's thinking about becoming a chrysalis?
Here's a little skipper that was hanging around out front while I was releasing the hostages.
My Passiflora suberosa still has no leaves on it but I keep finding the occasional caterpillar that has survived by eating stems. I moved this guy over to the Passiflora "Lavender Lady".
This Gulf Frit was a smart one and just went straight to laying eggs on the "Lavender Lady". It's pretty chewed-up but there are still lots of leaves on it.
And this Gulf Frit was just enjoying some porterweed. Yummy!
The Zebra Longwings still prefer the Jatropha, though.
Since the Red Admiral tank was now empty, I decided it was time to move the Pipevine Swallowtails into better accommodations. I thought about it yesterday, but too many of them were molting. I still have some molting, but not as many today. Here's the current leaf they're on, along with one of the leaves they've eaten that I cleaned out and threw away. I have to say, they're pretty good caterpillars as far as not wasting food. You can see they eat everything but the veins of the leaf.
And here's a lovely shot of my hand. You guys see lots of pictures of my hands, you know? Oh, and that's a Pipevine ST cat on it. You can tell them from Polydamas because their front tubercles are WAY longer. Some Pipevine cats also take on a reddish color but I hear that can be a regional thing. Mine have been a little reddish right before they molt but once they molt they go back to being dark brown.
In other news, I lost some of my tiniest Spicebush cats. But the ones that are alive seem to be thriving. I have a couple that are starting to be big enough where you can see the detail on them and not just brown-and white cats. They're also building little homes in the leaves (they make little flaps they fold over) and I gleefully tear them open to check on them and do my caterpillar census. It probably makes for mad caterpillars but they just silk it back together once I'm gone. I figure they can use the exercise anyway, right? Oh, and in sightings around the house, Mom claims to have seen the Giant Swallowtail. She can actually identify that one so I tend to believe her. I need to go check her lemon tree for eggs; my rue certainly didn't have any on it.
