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Jul 1, 2015 5:53 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
We came from here: The thread "June 2015 Butterflies, Moths & Larva" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

Well, I released a male Black ST that emerged last night before I went to Starbucks. I kept him in the bathroom where it was dark all night. You know, except when I had to visit about 2:30 this morning and then he was all flapping around. I had another chrysalis in there that looked like it was about to emerge but I guess the darkness kept it from coming out. Which is good because it was out when I got back from Starbucks and it's a female. I've never caught any butterflies mating in my containers before, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. And I prefer to give them a chance to meet someone they're not related to out there in the world. Anyway, here's a male Black ST I released yesterday. So far the male to female ratio seems pretty even.

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Meanwhile, it's been the usual suspects around here, mostly fighting over the porterweed. We've got Long-Tailed Skippers.

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Zebra Longwings, who also fight over the Firebush.

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We had a surprise White Peacock visitor!

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Duskywings alternate between Porterweed and Spanish Needles.

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And I have more Gulf Frits than I can shake a stick at.

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In other sightings, there was a Polydamas that flew in for about half a second while I was taking the Gulf Frit picture. Also, I was getting in the car, looked up, and saw a Red-Spotted Purple laying eggs high up in the Black Cherry. I'll never get to see or pet the caterpillars, but I feel good knowing I provided them with a host plant and habitat.
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Jul 1, 2015 6:57 AM CST
Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!
Heirlooms Native Plants and Wildflowers Organic Gardener Hummingbirder Bee Lover Herbs
Butterflies Dragonflies Birds Cat Lover Dog Lover Garden Photography
I'm here.

I'm pretty sure I found out what those little caterpillars are.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

This one and it's an armyworm :
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May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

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Jul 1, 2015 7:02 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
I was thinking armyworm. Not a favorite caterpillar to see, but I suppose they serve their purpose in nature like everything else. The birds gotta feed their young, right?

One of the organizations I'm friends with on Facebook likes to do "What is it Wednesday" and they put up a picture of a Black ST caterpillar. You know I rocked that answer. I also educated herb growers to leave the little guys alone and posted some pictures of the adult male and female butterflies so people can see how fabulous they become. You gotta educate the people, folks. It's becoming more and more clear to me that most people have very little education or experience when it comes to nature and the environment. Kind of scary when you think that most of those people can vote!
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Jul 1, 2015 9:28 AM CST
Name: Linda Williams
Medina Co., TX (Zone 8a)
Organic Gardener Bookworm Enjoys or suffers hot summers Charter ATP Member Salvias Herbs
Bluebonnets Native Plants and Wildflowers Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Forum moderator Purslane Hummingbirder
I agree
Scary!
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. E. B.White
Integrity can never be taken. It can only be given, and I wasn't going to give it up to these people. Gary Mowad
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Jul 1, 2015 11:17 AM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
Seems my Duskywing is not a Duskywing A moth Why do moths fly in the Daytime ? Basking in the Sun , ? Anyway

this ; http://www.butterfliesandmoths... Glare

To easy to destroy ,, mans nature , An insect had better be rare , if I am going to starve and let it have the food !
My statement there , the two extremes that have happened , and do . Grumbling
wildflowers ; seems sometimes ,life deals us moths , even when we thought for butterflies ! Hilarious!

millielong Your Florida Butterfly world is in full color, showing nature's glory Thumbs up Sighing! nodding
Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jul 1, 2015 1:43 PM CST
Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!
Heirlooms Native Plants and Wildflowers Organic Gardener Hummingbirder Bee Lover Herbs
Butterflies Dragonflies Birds Cat Lover Dog Lover Garden Photography
So true Jimard, so true!!

So true Mellielong, so true!!

I agree I agree

Here's an interesting moth. nodding A Wavy-lined Emerald (Synchlora aerate). The caterpillar camouflages itself with flower parts. Hilarious! I've found it on the Black-eyed Susan before. But, the BES is always busy with various interesting characters.

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May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

Last edited by wildflowers Jul 1, 2015 1:50 PM Icon for preview
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Jul 1, 2015 1:53 PM CST
Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!
Heirlooms Native Plants and Wildflowers Organic Gardener Hummingbirder Bee Lover Herbs
Butterflies Dragonflies Birds Cat Lover Dog Lover Garden Photography
Here's some old pictues with a little bit better look.


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May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

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Jul 1, 2015 3:18 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
Christine, I can just hear it saying, "Move along, nothing to see here!" Rolling on the floor laughing
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Jul 1, 2015 3:32 PM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
Wildflowers , I saw that looking for mine yesterday ,, don't remember though ,
names ,, my goodness ,, me ,, Confused

millielong ,, always when they hide , nodding Blinking

This and a hummingbird a while ago today
Pearl Crescent
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In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jul 1, 2015 4:30 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
So one thing I like a lot besides butterflies is movies. Hence, I check out the IMDB a lot. I was just reading the news and it says Nat Geo Wild is going to have a weekly series called "Destination Wild" starting July 12. The Sept. 13 episode (I marked my calendar as a reminder) is about butterflies! And it's narrated by Meryl Streep! Here's the official synopsis:

“Disney Nature: Wings of Life”
Premieres Sunday, September 13 at 8 p.m. EST
Meryl Streep narrated this 90-minute special about winged creatures. “Wings of Life” gives an intimate and unprecedented look at butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, bats and flowers. A third of the world’s food supply depends on them, and they are increasingly threatened.

If you want to read the whole article and see what the other episodes are about, check it out here: http://www.thewrap.com/nationa...

I'll try to remember to remind everyone to watch it as we near the date. And be sure to let us know if you see any cool butterfly nature shows on TV!
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Jul 2, 2015 7:06 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
So I'm friends with the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail on Facebook and today they did a little history lesson on Marjory Stoneman Douglass who wrote "The Everglades: River of Grass." There's also a note about how she founded the Friends of the Everglades to protest a proposed jet port in the middle of the Everglades. It said proponents of the project called her "a damn butterfly chaser". And I thought, "I hope someone, someday, calls me the same thing."

And so I chase the butterflies. Which I hear is better than "chasing the dragon" as well as a lot of other things! Yesterday, I released this female Black ST. Hey, you can see my front door!

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Then, I saw the tiniest Cassius Blue I've ever seen in my life. And they're tiny to begin with! I think this one may have been fairly new because the color is still so fresh. Plus, it stayed still long enough for me to take several photos which isn't like them at all. Compare the picture with my hand to see how tiny these guys are.

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That was yesterday. Now, this morning I got out there early since I thought it wouldn't be as hot. It isn't, but I was still sweating because it's hot. My Tiger STs have molted again. They still look like bird poop, but bigger bird poop. Also, they have these cool blue spots on them.

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And two of the three Io Moths have molted into their green form! That's the same one in both pictures, FYI. And I'll have you know I risked life and limb (and a possible allergic reaction) to photograph this guy. They should let me have a show on the Nat Geo channel!

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I think my orange one wants to be part of the green club. You can see how distinctive those structures are on the caterpillar. That's why even when I first found them, all small and orange, I still thought they looked like the Io Moth I had once raised.

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I had a Cloudless Sulphur do a fly by yesterday and it made me happy to see them. Their numbers have been down and I haven't had any cats in a while. Then, I started thinking how it's about time to start seeing the Sleepy Orange butterflies. They had some at MOSI a few weeks ago, but I hadn't seen any - until this morning! I scared it up while walking across the lawn. Don't let the name fool you - these guys are as fast as any Sulphur. They get their name because someone thought the pattern looked like a sleepy eye. Confused

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And this Zebra Longwing was catching some rays on the False Indigo, which is where I found all those Io Moths to begin with. As a final FYI, I still haven't found any more Tiger ST cats so it looks like I've just got the two.

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Jul 2, 2015 7:24 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
I just looked at my Spicebush chrysalis and I can see some of the wing pattern. Maybe tomorrow it will come out? Makes me wonder how Meredith's is doing...
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Jul 2, 2015 11:28 AM CST
Name: Linda Williams
Medina Co., TX (Zone 8a)
Organic Gardener Bookworm Enjoys or suffers hot summers Charter ATP Member Salvias Herbs
Bluebonnets Native Plants and Wildflowers Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Forum moderator Purslane Hummingbirder
Well, I guess I'm a damn butterfly chaser, also a tree hugger, a crazy old cat lady, etc. Sometimes people think they're being insulting, when they're actually honoring a person with a great compliment! Rolling on the floor laughing
I released 2 more Giant Swallowtails today...I think there's about 7 more of those chrysalises left!
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority. E. B.White
Integrity can never be taken. It can only be given, and I wasn't going to give it up to these people. Gary Mowad
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Jul 2, 2015 1:56 PM CST
central Illinois
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Photo Contest Winner: 2017
For the last several days, neighborhood kids have been coming over asking permission to go into the backyard to see all the Red Admirals on the Pur Coneflowers, there must be dozens (literally) out there.
They were joined this afternoon by a Monarch.
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Nothing that's been done can ever be changed.
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Jul 2, 2015 2:02 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
Glad to hear kids are still interested in that sort of thing. Got to get 'em interested early!
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Jul 2, 2015 4:23 PM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
I am an old kid millielong , miss a lot learn a lot , Rolling on the floor laughing
I got these today , not the best of photo's , the Question mark I took holding the camera way over my head and guessing ,, nodding
The little 1/2 inch fellow or gal , I have no idea , besides enlarged it is missing an antennae or anther , several of these here , ' Confused Hilarious! Hilarious!
The Fritillary zooms here and away every few days their here
Thumb of 2015-07-02/jimard8/afda33 This I have no idea what they are , little ,,
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In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jul 2, 2015 5:16 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
Jim, I'm inclined to think that first one might be a moth of some kind. I just love those Commas and Question Marks. Such an unusual blend of colors on them. Wish we had more of them down here! And more types of Fritillaries! But then I'd have to learn how to identify them all and there are a lot of them that look very similar.
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Jul 2, 2015 8:59 PM CST
Name: Meredith
Atlanta (Zone 8a)
Butterflies Region: Georgia Hummingbirder Seed Starter
Hi Melanie my spicebush chrysalis looked I think the same. I'll have to check again tomorrow. I'm running out of cats! Two more gulf frits going to chrysalis, which will be 9 in chrysalis. 3 gulf frit cats left and 1 black swallowtail cat. More cats needed.
I love butterfly gardening & am active in NABA. Please visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/group... & website nabageorgia.weebly.com.
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Jul 3, 2015 7:07 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Melanie
Lutz, Florida (Zone 9b)
Butterflies Enjoys or suffers hot summers Hummingbirder Birds Bee Lover Bookworm
Region: Florida Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Bromeliad Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Salvias
Just saw this on Facebook and had to share. Click the thumbnail to see the butterfly. It's from Chinesgut Conservation Center which is about an hour north of me. The caption reads, "That is one killer gulf frittilary! Not really, a hawk left its snake snack behind and a butterfly moved in to suck up some moisture."


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Jul 3, 2015 7:25 AM CST
Name: Christine
North East Texas (Zone 7b)
Shine Your Light!
Heirlooms Native Plants and Wildflowers Organic Gardener Hummingbirder Bee Lover Herbs
Butterflies Dragonflies Birds Cat Lover Dog Lover Garden Photography
That's pretty funny! Hilarious!
May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb

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