I finally saw something flitting around out there yesterday but couldn't tell what it was. I'm anxious to see the bfs again.

Saw my first Eastern Tiger today. Good to see a few again after a long hard winter.

For those who don't always check the main forum (I'm guilty), here's a link to a thread I posted that has a link to a neat article about Monarchs. Learn something new about them!

The thread "Monarch Article" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

Have a look at this amazing coloured moth posted by @Xeramtheum on another thread.

Very cool moth!

And my Mom always told me Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear! I'm going to have to show her that moth. How cool!

Well, I didn't go to the museum this week due to mental and physical health problems, but I got some cool pics from around the house for you guys. And I saw my therapist yesterday and my psychiatrist today (didn't mean to schedule them like that, it just happened) and I'm taking lots of Zyrtec and ordered more inhalers from Walgreens so maybe I'll be back to my version of "normal" soon? In the meantime, I wandered around the house at great peril due to the vast amounts of pollen assaulting me. At least I washed my car so it's relatively pollen-free now. It was getting embarrassing to drive that thing around! I read an article that the allergy season is going to be pretty bad up north for you folks who live up that way so be prepared! I haven't had them this bad since I first developed them at age 8!

First up is the ever-present Monarchs. Seriously, these guys never went away this winter. They have also eaten entire stocks of milkweed in my butterfly garden and my side yard. I still have some Giant Milkweed left and a few Tropical Milkweeds. Unfortunately, Mom saw them getting egg-bombed. And when I walked around the house every milkweed I saw that still had a leaf on it had an egg. See this picture? Look at those two white dots on the right side - those are more eggs!



I have twins on this plant! Most Monarchs don't tend to stick so close together like that. Weird.



Mom and I both had to relocate some Monarch cats onto the Giant Milkweed. FYI, despite things I've read, I've never had a problem switching a caterpillar to a different host plant. Not just Monarchs, but Sulphurs, and various Swallowtails, too. So don't be afraid to try it if you're running out of one kind of food.



In other caterpillar news, I have Gulf Fritillaries coming out of the woodwork! Or the passion vine, as the case may be. I grow Corky-Stem Passion Vine (P. suberosa) which is an absolute magnet for Frits and for Zebra Longwings. But like I've said before, it doesn't grow as fast as the other passifloras, although it still grows faster than 90% of most plants. So I had to institute my caterpillar-relocation program. They're like refugees looking for a new country. So Mom and I once again moved everyone we could find over to my Passiflora "Lavender Lady". The Frits usually find this pretty fast but I've never seen a Zebra Longwing on it. Zebras tend to prefer the native passifloras, I've found. Anyway, here's what my Corky-Stem Passion Vine looks like as of yesterday.



And you know there was still a Gulf Frit flying around it looking to lay eggs? And I'm standing there yelling, "There's no more room! Go away!" They never listen to me. So here are the happy refugees on the "Lavender Lady".



And this is why I enjoy the blooms while I can.



Here's the Frit that I was yelling at.



Now, you guys know I've had those Cloudless and Orange-Barred Sulphur chrysalises waiting to come out. One of the Orange-Barreds came out the other day and Mom woke me up to let it go. And it flew out of there and never even stopped for a picture. It was just...ZOOM! So today I had one of each come out but I managed to get a picture of each of them while they were still in the tank before they both jetted out of there. The Orange-Barred flew halfway down the street before I lost sight of it and the Cloudless went across the street to my neighbor's bamboo hedge. Here's the Orange-Barred. I think it's a female because they have those black dots you see in the picture but the males don't. Plus, the orange is at the bottom of their wings while the males have an orange "bar" across the top of their wings (hence, the name, Orange-Barred).



And here's the Cloudless Sulphur. Can't tell male and female on these butterflies (at least, not that I know of).



Now, the main reason I was walking around was to assess my host plants and see if everything was coming back and leafing out for spring. In interesting news, I planted two Spicebush and a Sassafras tree last year around this time, I think. Anyway, they all leafed out except after a few months one of the Spicebushes just kicked it. Lost all its leaves and was just a stick. It was like that through part of the summer, the fall, and all winter. I never pulled it because I'm kind of lazy and it wasn't in the way of anything anyway. But I kept complaining how two of the same plant could be planted within a few feet of each other, get the same conditions, and one up and kicks it! But would you believe I walked by that thing yesterday and it had leaves coming out of it?! I was totally about to trash it. And the sassafras which I also thought was dead is leafing out, too? Just a reminder that things can go dormant for a long time I guess, even in Florida weather. Maybe it was just putting down a good root system?

Also, my Sweetbay Magnolia, host for the Tiger Swallowtail, has a lot of new leaves on it! I was worried it wasn't leafing out fast enough and I wouldn't have any leaves to attract or feed a caterpillar. That's one caterpillar I've never raised to adulthood. I've had three that died on me (two were entirely my fault) and I had some eggs that never hatched for me. But I feel like this is going to be the year, folks!

I hope everything is slowly warming up for you guys. My Grandma in WV had snow the other day?! And even down here in Tampa it got down to 50 degrees! I'm happy it's not melting hot because that will come soon enough, but the weather this year has been downright strange. Just remember your plants may be dormant, not dead, and just leave them be if you can. And learn which plants leaf out later than all the others. For me it's my Bastard Indigo (host plant for the Silver-Spotted Skipper which is rare in these parts) and my Native Wisteria (not the Asian variety). So give everything a fair chance before ripping it out. Also, the Checkered Whites are starting to come out; I just haven't gotten a picture of one yet. Their host plant, Virginia Pepper Grass tends to grow in the medians and along the interstate so when you drive you see hundreds of them which is pretty cool. Hope everyone else has butterflies coming their way soon if you don't already!

Melanie, sorry you have been feeling poorly, glad your now feeling better. Thanks for a great update on what's happening in your neck of the woods. Weather is still not nice here, and I won't have any blooms for quite some time, so when we get some nice weather I will hang out my new butterfly feeder to help them out.

Melanie, I can relate to the pollen blues (or yellow/greens?). Both my hubs & I are having fits with it. We've been up here 3 springs & the past 2 were a piece of cake but not this year! My sinuses are screaming loudly & I can't even count the # of splitting headaches I've had over the last week to week & a half.

Nice photos you shared with us today. thanks!

Thanks for all the thumbs up, acorns (!), hugs, and thanks everyone. I'm glad I can keep everyone going through the cold weather. I went to college in Philadelphia (UPenn) and sometimes I look back and wonder how I ever made it through those winters. After I graduated I lived in Nashville for two and a half years and that wasn't so bad. The seasons always seemed to last about as long as you wanted them to. But Florida is home and I can't imagine being anywhere else. One of these days I'm going to have to travel to South FL so I can see some more of our state's butterflies. I really want to see a Ruddy Daggerwing. And even though we raised Atalas at the museum, I want to see them in the wild.

Speaking of travel, Mom and Dad are going out west in a couple of weeks to see the Grand Canyon, and the Hoover Dam, and the Sequoia trees. Mom has always wanted to see the Grand Canyon for as long as I can remember. I made them promise to take pictures of any butterflies they see so maybe we'll get to see something Western!

Ok folks, I'm back from the museum and looking through the pictures I took when I realized I took a really bizarre picture. I was trying to get a photo of the Polyphemus moth that came out earlier this week (my boss posted a pic on Facebook). So I take a not great photo because it's cloudy and everyone is hanging out up top for the most part and of course the wings are closed so you can't see how cool they are. But I look at it on my laptop (17" monitor - I like big screens!) and I see something odd beside the moth. It's laying eggs on the ceiling screen! Seriously, click on the picture to make it large and you can see it! Now, we've had them before and they've laid eggs on the screen but generally near a plant so what this one is doing, I have no idea. I posted it on Facebook and tagged my MOSI boss and her helper so they can hopefully get up there and scrape them off tomorrow. Polyphemus moths are fun caterpillars, too. I hope we get babies out of this!



In more mundane sightings, I released a Gulf Fritillary and put it on the lavender (which smells really awesome, by the way).



And there were a bunch of Zebra Longwings flying around. They fly really slow so they're kind of fun for the guests. Sometimes they will land on you but generally they try to get out of the way.



This Great Southern White is looking kind of rough!



But that's okay because we have tons of Great Southern White caterpillars about to become chrysalises.



And here's a Monarch in the flight cage. I found about a dozen Monarch cats out in the garden today.



Back home, I'm having my own Monarch crisis. I think they have cloning technology. Seriously, like two days ago I was checking out the plant in front of my house and there were two large caterpillars on it. Last night, there were five. This morning, there were eight! And they're really big! It's not like I overlooked them! And then, when I looked close the eggs have hatched and I have lots of little ones, too! I relocated some of them to other plants, but I might have to relocate a few to the museum.



This is why I don't have flowers on my host plants. This is Giant Milkweed.



This is an extreme example, but I wanted to show people how frass can be a good way to find caterpillars. If you see frass, just start looking upwards and you will probably find the caterpillar(s) in question. I used this method to find some sulphurs a few weeks ago. It helped that they had been eating the flowers so their frass was kind of yellow in color.

I had a hummingbird adventure today. You can read about it in the hummingbird thread. Here's the link to the post: http://garden.org/thread/view_...

Seriously, the things I do for you guys. I'm not kidding about the weird tan lines on my feet. If I knew I was going to be out there for two hours I would have put on sunscreen. The car said it was 81 degrees but it felt much warmer in the sun. Plus, I read this research about how people with fibromyalgia have trouble controlling their body temperature which makes a lot of sense.

I went out earlier in the day to take butterfly photos since they were showing off. Like this Monarch.



And this one that just emerged on the bottom leaf on one of my bromeliads (the milkweed is planted right below).



I still have crazy amounts of caterpillars.



And some that are in their J! This one wandered over to a Spiderwort plant.



But while I was hunting hummingbirds he made his chrysalis.



Stucco remains a popular choice for chrysalis-making. The caterpillar in the picture made his chrysalis while I was waiting, too. Mom thinks it's funny they're all over the house.



There are a ton of Gulf Fritillaries around (no surprise) including this one that doesn't care that there are no leaves on my Corkystem Passion Vine and lays eggs on it anyway!!



My Duskywings are back!



And this little skipper was on the Spanish Needles during my stakeout.



I also saw my first Zebra Longwing of the season (Mom and Dad had already seen them) but it flew over as I was watching the hummingbird so no photo. I also saw a Tiger ST, a Cloudless Sulphur, and some kind of White butterfly. Normally, I would assume Checkered White, but since I saw those Great Southern Whites in my yard last year I'm not so quick to assume. Oh, and the whole reason I saw the hummingbird in the first place was because Mom saw a butterfly she didn't recognize and yelled at me to come outside. It was gone by the time I got my sandals on (that concrete is HOT, no bare feet here) but she looked through my book and thinks it might have been a Painted Lady. I'm going to have to wander around and take a good look at the weeds and see if I can't find me some more caterpillars!

Beautiful, Mellie, you're so great to share your pics of butterflies and caterpillars! Last night I went outside to check for the armadillo that keeps tearing up my yard and since I had the flashlight, I decided to use my old night technique to check on the two little milkweed plants that have shown a little damage lately...even though I've looked during the day and seen nothing! I was shocked! Took this pic today.

Just one Monarch cat, but I'd given up on seeing ANY this spring!

Hooray for caterpillars! It's weird how they seem to hide and then suddenly appear out of nowhere isn't it?

Love your butterfly and caterpillars photos Mellie!! Keep it coming!

Linda..I have not really seen an armadillo in person... just those on the various websites..can you take a photo of the one in your yard..??? Are they big?

Armadillo photos, yes please.

Well I for one, would not have time to photo an armadillo if I saw one because I would be too busy getting the shotgun. We have one now that is wrecking havoc every night. I lived with it & left it alone for a year but now the sucker is getting just too, too bold! Holes everywhere! Everywhere! EVERYWHERE! Every morning I have to go around fixing the messes it is making all over the place & I'm only fixing the ones right around the house. What a pain.

Pretty hard to get photos of them b/c they are mainly nocturnal.

The only Nine-banded Armadillo photo I seem to have is one I once trapped to relocate. Haven't seen this other one yet...must be coming between 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., when I'm not around. They're 2.5 ft. max nose to tail in the U.S. and supposed to weigh around 12 lbs., but of course I never weighed one. This one is digging way too much, killing plants, and I have a trap out. Peculiar creatures, said to be progressively expanding their range a LOT since their natural predators are around much less as the years go by.

Since I started with pics of the Monarch caterpillar, I took pics of other butterfly caterpillars today that I have.
Painted Lady:

Tiger...either E. Tiger Swallowtail or Two-tailed Tiger Swallowtail, not sure which yet:

Pipevine Swallowtail:

There are more kinds of "baby butterflies" (caterpillars) outside also, if I can find them!

Incredible structure for a mammal.

You mean, armadillos aren't used as speed bumps in your area? Seriously, those things are toes up all over the place around here. I haven't seen in a live one in several years and that was at night when I was pulling in and my car's headlights shined on it.

Linda, you have Swallowtails and I'm so jealous! I saw a Tiger ST today and immediately checked my Sweetbay Magnolia for eggs, but nothing. And even at the museum we have tons of parsley and rue (as well as other things) and nothing! I know I shouldn't be biased, but it's like butterfly season doesn't really start until I find a swallowtail caterpillar of some kind. And I always want to be the first to find it, too. I can be a little competitive. Plus, I've never raised a Tiger ST to adulthood. And Pipevine STs are fairly rare around here but we have tons of Polydamas to eat our Pipevine. But the Polydamas don't usually show up until it's pretty warm as they are mainly a tropical butterfly. So I'll keep waiting and watching the Monarchs eat my garden in the meantime. Mom thinks she saw a Painted Lady today so I told her I'd get out and go inspect the weeds since that Sweet Everlasting stuff they like to eat is all around right now. The pellitory is everywhere too, but I haven't seen one Red Admiral.

I might have to go wandering over to the neighbor's yard. My neighbor behind me died last year and he has about nine acres for sale right now. His kids are keeping it up but he's got plenty of weedy spots where I've caught caterpillars before. Sounds like it's time for an expedition!

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