So, for those who don't hang out in the "Sad Thread" over in the Sandbox, I suffer from depression. And it's kind of bad right now and I'm going to see my psychiatrist June 1 where I'll probably be making (another) medication change. So if I don't post a lot, it's because I'm super bummed. Also, the thread has been super quiet lately which is also bumming me out. You don't have to have pictures or anything, but if you could just say hi or give a thumbs up (even you lurkers because I know you're there), I would appreciate it.
My laptop is sitting in Houston, waiting to be delivered by FedEx to Dell on Tuesday. I'm trying not to hog Mom's new laptop so that's another reason I haven't been on here as much. She's at church right now so I'm trying to get all my internet-ing in for the day.
I just went outside to collect food and it's still a little early and a bit cloudy for the butterflies. It actually isn't scorching hot and there's a bit of a breeze. I think it's supposed to rain later; it rained yesterday afternoon. But I did see a few Gulf Frits fluttering about because that's what they do. And like I tell everyone, they're the most commonly encountered butterfly in this area. The first one was sitting on my Salvia 'Black and Blue' but I spooked it and it flew over to the Passion vine. The second one is on Mexican Flame Vine. It's on a flower that has gone to seed. It had its wings facing the sun so I think it was just basking.
Not a lot of Gulf Frit caterpillars right now but I think they should be in their chrysalises. Those can be tough to find, though. I did clean a bunch of the old ones off the air conditioning units, stucco wall, etc. last week.
I think I forgot to mention that my Giant ST egg hatched. I'm too lazy to read my previous posts. Anyway, I keep checking the Rue thinking the female would come back. No luck with that. So today I'm looking over the Rue thinking, "You would at least think I'd be egg-bombed by a Black Swallowtail by now." And no sooner had I thought it than I saw a tiny Black ST cat! FYI, you can tell them from the Giant ST because the Black ST caterpillars are much darker. But if you're not sure, just keep feeding them Rue and you won't kill anyone. It's weird though, because I only found the one and I have eight Rue plants. Now, Giant ST females are generally more judicious with their egg-laying and actually seem to take into account number of caterpillars vs. size of plant. But Black STs will just egg-bomb the heck out of you, forcing you to go buy organic parsley from Publix because they ate all your plants. So finding one was super strange. And I looked real hard! I'll keep checking, though. For now, the Giant ST cat and the new Black ST cat get to be Rue-mates (see what I did there?) in the container. If I don't find a whole lot more in the next few weeks, I'll probably keep them together since they eat the same thing.
