Ok, I forgot I took some pictures this morning and then I just took a few more. So here's the educational part of your day.
Again, I attempt to answer the question, "Melanie, how do you find all those caterpillars?". Well, the key is knowing your host plants, and then knowing your caterpillar behavior. For example, I keep referring to my Spicebushes building "little homes". And they do! They fold over the leaf to make a little flap and they live in it when they're not eating. So if you see this on a leaf of one of their host plants, open it up and take a look! It may be empty, but look around because as the caterpillar grows they have to build progressively larger homes and eventually they usually just pull a whole leaf together in a big fold. Some spiders do this behavior, too so be careful! I've never had a spider harm me, but they freak me out and I yell. Here's a picture of the Sassafras leaf I put in the cage today and the caterpillar inside when I unfold the flap.
Also, my Orange-Barred Sulphur will probably be coming out tomorrow as I can see his colors. And this one will be a "he" because he has the typical orange bar (hence, the name) across his top wings. Females have the orange on their very lower wings and also a smattering of grey-black dots. One of the few butterflies where you can tell gender difference.
Sorry these are blurry, but my Polydamas are still pretty tiny. And the lighting in my room sucks. Now, Polydamas like to "snuggle" as Mom says, but there always seems to be one brave one in the bunch. Brave or stupid; I haven't decided. So here's a picture of the group snuggling, and then one of the brave one where you can see the shadow of the group on the other side of the leaf.
If I manage to get up at a decent time tomorrow, you might get a good picture of that Orange-Barred Sulphur. But I'm not willing to bet on it. When those guys are ready to fly, they just take off. Vroom!
