Good morning, everyone! I slept through most of yesterday afternoon, evening, and night. So I'm up bright and early (for me). I took some pictures already, but for now I'm just going to post yesterday's excitement at MOSI. It was a cloudy day, and it drizzled on me for about 10-15 minutes so my shirt was wet with rain and sweat. Lovely combination. It seemed to entice the butterflies as I had Eastern Black Swallowtails that kept landing on my shirt. I was wearing red, which is an attractant. But still, the Swallowtails hardly ever land on people.
Anyway, we have two tanks of Spicebush cats in the lab! Someone must have found more eggs - and maybe cats. Here's a green one and an orange one. The orange one means he's about ready to make his chrysalis. Well, first he gut purged and then he was wandering around for a long time, but I'm sure he's in his sling this morning. FYI, we have informational signs in front of the lab and one of the pictures happens to be a green and an orange Spicebush cat. This little boy I had been talking to (who was very smart) didn't think they looked real. So I brought them out and showed them to him. He was impressed!
I released about two dozen Atalas over the course of the day! I also collected a bunch of eggs off the coontie so the Atalas shall continue!
Giant Swallowtail. I get asked a lot why butterflies are missing parts of their wings or tails. Do people not understand the brutality of nature? I try to answer them with the less-jaded part of my brain and basically tell them, "It's a hard knock life." FYI, I'm a lot nicer to the kids and more blunt with the adults.
I did manage to catch a small anole (lizard) in the flight cage and evict him. We've got two in the lab, though. The war never ends. This Long-Tailed Skipper is also missing a few pieces, but look at that color! Would have been even more impressive if the sun had been out.
Zebra Longwing, you are cleared for takeoff!
Malachites usually like the disgusting, rotting fruit, but I also caught one on the passion vine!
The Malachites are also reproducing. We had two mating pairs in there yesterday! I told my boss to be sure to check for eggs today.
Eastern Black Swallowtail. A lot of people declared this their favorite butterfly yesterday. I told them to plant an herb garden.
This male Orange-Barred Sulphur emerged for me.
This is me in the garden stalking a Spicebush. I ended up catching one later, but not this one. I really hate it when people watch me netting butterflies because I get really nervous. There was one couple that was walking by, and to be fair, I was near the main entrance so they couldn't avoid me. I think the wife said, "Ooh, look - she's going to catch that butterfly!" And I yelled back, "Don't watch me! I have performance anxiety!" And the husband cracked up at that. He got it.
FYI, I didn't catch the butterfly - a Giant ST with nearly a whole wing missing! A male Pipevine ST flew by and they both flew away. I chased, but still couldn't catch that Giant ST. Even with missing wings, they're still faster than me. Although, that's not saying much.
While stalking, I also saw this White Peacock. I caught one later in the day, too. Their numbers have really increased lately. It's weird, but I like it!
I was out in the garden to pick pipevine and I eventually made it. I thought this group of just-molted Polydamas were too cute so I took a picture.
The Polydamas have decided to emerge! I released two at my house this week and this one at MOSI. About time those lazy butterflies came out. They can't just hang out on the chrysalis wall forever.
Someone caught a Palamedes again! Have I mentioned how much I like them? Here's your lesson for the day. To tell the Palamedes from the Black ST, look for the yellow lines that run parallel to the body on the underside of the wing. Also, the body itself is striped, whereas the Black ST is spotted. And also, I think the yellow on the Palamedes has more of an air-brushed look to it than the Black ST. Also, it lacks the two black spots inside the red/orange cell at the bottom of the wing like the Black ST has. So there's a few ways to tell. Also, I think the Palamedes are way bigger on average.
I tried getting a picture of the Sleepy Orange and everyone else kept butting in on the lantana. So here's a Sleepy Orange with a Zebra Longwing and an Atala.
That's all for pictures. I've had quite a few adults asking when butterfly mating season is, or more specifically, when Monarch mating season is. And I'm like, "Anytime." Seriously, butterflies are more interested in mating than food. That's what I always tell people who worry about keeping a butterfly overnight in their house. It will not starve to death, and it likely is more interested in a mate. Also, when you live in a subtropical zone, things slow down, but they never stop. We really only have a few weeks in late January and early February where the butterfly activity gets really slow. And even then, you'll still see Monarchs and Cloudless Sulphurs. Don't know why those two species are special, but they're the ones I see in the winter (what little winter we have).
