Well, I fed and cleaned the caterpillars and ended up going outside where it does not appear that it rained. I checked the radar and it looks like it went slightly north of us. Anyway, I have some pictures to share.
My Tersa Sphinx Moth started turning colors last night which made me think he was going to pupate. He also looks like he's got the sweats. I know the changing color is normal but I can't remember if the sweating thing is. They don't gut purge (thank God) so maybe the sweats are a way to get rid of excess liquid? If you recall, many months ago I found a Pluto Sphinx Moth (first one ever). He turned gray and started sweating but he died.
But in good news, my Tersa is making a cocoon of sorts. You see, Sphinx Moths like to burrow in the soil under the plant. Lots of the larger moths do this, including those Hickory Horned Devils (Regal Moths) we raised at the museum. Well, dirt can get a little...dirty, so you can also put mulch or leaf litter in there. In this case, he's just using the leaves I put in there yesterday that he didn't eat. I tore them away to take the picture and clean it up a bit because there was soggy frass in there and that can't be healthy. In more good news, he's currently reconstructing his nest. It's funny because every now and then the leaves all raise up and it looks like I'm hiding some leaf monster in there. I've also got the lid off in hopes the A/C will dry him out a bit. I hadn't thought much about it, but this guy really didn't use his silk much until he was ready to pupate. Granted, I didn't handle him too much. He might have silked my hand if I had played with him more. Let's all hope he pupates because their pupa are super cool and I want to show you.
I started the big Black ST on organic parsley from Publix so we'll see how he does. He went right into it.
I also added three of the larger Black STs in there. The one on the end of this Rue stick went in. Basically, if they reached a certain threshold of orange, they went in.
I'm keeping the little guys on Rue for the time being until the parsley proves safe. I've never had problems with the organic parsley before, but you never know. Remember folks, the stuff they use to kill caterpillars (BT spray) is an organic pesticide because it is a naturally occurring bacteria that kills caterpillars! So don't accept that organic=safe for your caterpillars. Make sure your host plants are extra safe. I highly recommend growing from seed and buying from small nurseries who can actually answer your questions with competence. Or buying from butterfly farms that also sell plants. Okay, I forgot what picture I was leading in to.
While I was picking the Rue, I found another caterpillar! I also have a lot of spiders which I'm trying to relocate. Nothing against spiders - just not on my host plants!
Now, I often get asked about damaged butterflies and can they still fly and such. So I was walking back to the house when I saw a Gulf Frit flying over what looked to be a leaf on the lawn. And I yelled, "What are you doing Frit?" Yes, I really do say these things out loud. My neighbors probably wonder why I don't talk to them but I talk to plants, but whatever. Anyway, the Frit flies away and I see this on the ground! Apparently, I had a female Frit on the ground and the male Frit was trying to "hit it" as the kids say. (He went on to chase a better looking female over by the passion vine, in typical male fashion.)
As you can see, this butterfly is tore up! I've only seen one that was ever this bad and that was a Spicebush. I got real close to her to see if I could and she flew off and landed on my roof! So she could fly, although not as fast as the typical Gulf Frit. Still, you gotta be impressed. This girl's a survivor.
In sad news, the last of the three green Spicebush cats I had died. Something was just not right with that batch. I've been having trouble with the Spicebushes since last year. Next time, I'm going to experiment and feed them Red Bay to see what happens. Maybe break them into two groups - feed one food from here at the house, and the other Red Bay from...well, I plead the Fifth. Also, those four Spicebush eggs I had never hatched.
But in happier news, my brown one molted into green! And he seems to be growing at a decent rate and eating an appropriate amount for his size. Unfortunately, he stinkhorned me while I was trying to take his picture. Next time I need my sinuses cleared, I'm going to skip the Zyrtec and just poke a Spicebush cat.
Now, since Meredith showed me hers, I'm going to show her mine!
