Today it was back to feeding the critters but it's so nice out I don't mind. This is probably our last dose of spring-like weather and all the places I like on Facebook are posting the weather forecast and telling everyone to get outside this weekend before we all have to retreat back into our air-conditioned sanctuaries. I used to have Northerners ask what Floridians do during the summer and I was like, "What do you do in the winter?" You stay inside where you can control the weather! Well, we also have the option of going to the beach or the pool so maybe we win that one.
The butterflies agreed that it was a nice day, too. I've got mad amounts of Gulf Frits outside. I think I forgot to mention I saw one of them at Selby yesterday. They're just so expected, I take them for granted. Today they were alternating basking on stuff and flying in crazy circles around each other. One of them looked like it might challenge the Zebra Longwing for rights to the passion vine, but the Zebra won that battle.
I was picking Cudweed for the American Ladies and a Spicebush was nectaring on the Tassel Flower again. But this one looked like a female. I told her she better have laid me some eggs. And FYI, yes, I really do talk out loud to plants and butterflies. I have no shame left. I was even doing it at Selby.
But there was no need to yell because I found three Spicebush eggs! Woo hoo! They tend to lay on the underside of the leaves so look underneath, folks.
There were two Zebra Longwings in the butterfly garden. I think one was male because he made it pretty clear he was just there for the Jatropha. But the other one was obviously female because she kept laying eggs on my tiny P. lutea!
I have a slightly larger P. lutea growing up the obelisk but it has a caterpillar on it and some eggs so I thought that would stop her, but no! She got that one, too! And to give you a perspective, that obelisk is about four feet tall. You know how fast just one caterpillar could eat that plant?
Here's the Zebra Longwing cat that apparently is not a deterrent.
So I'm still pulling Tropical Milkweed seedlings out of the butterfly garden and the lawn. The tallest was about three inches high but I still found a little cat on it. Good thing I did or he would have starved to death. I moved him to the Giant Milkweed where he now has a huge friend to munch along with.
I couldn't manage to get a pic of the Monk Skipper that I liked so here's one just to prove it was there.
I had to go inside to drop off my plants, and then make a second trip out to get Senna for the Orange-Barred Sulphurs. Since I knew eggs had been laid recently, I looked for caterpillars. And where do we look folks? Buds.
Then, Mama Orange-Barred comes flying by. I was trying to get a halfway decent photo when she popped right in front of me and I hit the button as fast as I could. This is a dumb luck photo, folks.
So I was picking food to bring in, trying to avoid anything with eggs on it which is harder than it sounds. I pulled some older leaves but I could see where they had been eaten. And they must have been eaten by a fairly large caterpillar judging from the amount eaten. I said, "I feel like there's a big one in here that I'm missing." And no sooner than the words were out of my mouth than I looked up and found him!
I came back inside and was sorting everyone and found a bonus Sulphur on the leaves! Bonus caterpillars are the best. It's like, I'm not even trying and I can still find them!
I checked my Palamades today and boy has he gotten big. But I cold barely manage to open the lid on the container because he must have stinkhorned. I didn't see it, but I sure did smell it and they're as bad as their Spicebush cousins. You would think caterpillars that ate a plant that smells so good wouldn't smell as awful as they do. I wonder if they can smell it and does it bother them?
