Thanks, guys! It is certainly a good January here for us.

I'm friends with Monarch Watch on Facebook and they've been updating everyone on the Feds possibly listing the Monarch as endangered. I know it was discussed a few months ago and some people were concerned this may limit hobbyists like us, or perhaps even schools, from raising the caterpillars. Endangered species generally have so many protections and a big one is generally that you can't touch or interfere with them. But some of the recent stuff I've read seems to sound like they just want to fine you if you kill one intentionally or harm their habitat, perhaps. I've seen the timeline for how long it takes to get something approved as endangered and we're looking at probably 2017, folks. So continue the good work for now and encourage all your friends to plant native milkweeds! Seriously, I've met people from the Midwest at the museum and I'm like, "You have to plant milkweed to counter all the corn and soybeans!" But most people I talk to are aware of the monoculture problem and lots of people do grow milkweed. Every little bit helps.

MOSI showed the IMAX film "Flight of the Butterflies" about a year ago. Mom and I went to see it. I have to be careful because MOSI has an IMAX dome which is way more intense than a regular IMAX screen and I get motion sick. But I did okay through this one. So the movie really talks about the Monarch migration and there's a part where it shows this Monarch flying somewhere in Texas and it talks about how she can only lay eggs on milkweed. And she keeps flying and it's looking hopeless and then - there's a backyard garden with milkweed! And she lays the eggs! Mom and I were totally tearing up. Not that it takes much to get me to cry, but I was like, "Yeah, butterfly!"

Yes, and it should be illegal to sell milkweeds that are loaded up with long-lasting systemic pesticides! Some people go down to the big-box or other nursery and get a bunch of milkweeds ready to plant. It's so sad when people want to help the butterflies and the growers make sure the caterpillars will die if they eat those plants. DD has A. curassavica growing that have been in her yard so long they're bound to be safe by now even if they weren't before...but that's in Houston, where it seldom freezes.

Linda, I usually buy from local nurseries and I prefer plants that have actual caterpillars on them. It always makes me feel better when I see the cats eating it, plus I get bonus caterpillars for free! At the museum, I often tell people from this area to grow milkweed from seed because it's so easy and you save a lot of money that way. And you know it's safe that way, too.

Remember the Monarch chrysalis that was on my Giant Milkweed and fell to the ground mysteriously? Well, the butterfly came out in one of my critter keepers late this afternoon. It rained all day today so it's going to spend the night with me and I'll release it in the morning. I'm just glad it was able to pull itself free of the chrysalis. I put it in a tank that had some old sticks and leaves in it so there was something to grab on to.

In other news, there was a Cattle Egret checking out my Senna, according to my brother. I just checked it two days ago and saw no caterpillars so I wasn't worried. Its seed pods are busting open right now but I didn't know if Egrets ate seeds like other birds.

They might be eating the milkweed bugs. You think?

They were at the Senna plants, not the milkweed. I would love if something ate milkweed bugs but I wonder if they taste bad like Monarch caterpillars?

Oh gee, I misread. I guess I was reading too fast. I had Monarchs & milkweed on the brain.

Butterflies love my Siberian Wallflowers more than any other plant in the garden at this time of year. Every day lots of them visit. It is a Correa Brown or Orange Alpine Xenica.

Whatever it is, I like it! It's nice to have someone else with butterflies this time of year. I like to call Florida "backwards land" because it's so opposite the rest of the country. But Australia - you're really the opposite of us over here in this hemisphere! But that just means we can have butterflies year round.

I looked up those wallflowers because I hadn't heard of them and they kind of reminded me of the Ruellia species we have over here. But I see they are in the Brassica family. Do you know if they are ever used as a host plant by anything? I know White butterflies use things in the Brassica family and I think Cabbage Whites have spread themselves across the globe at this point. I was just curious.

Folks, do you think that butterfly looks a bit like a Painted Lady with a touch of Common Buckeye? I'm always trying to make connections between butterflies across the globe. Maybe it's a result of my genealogy hobby? We're all related when you go back far enough; I imagine that's true for butterflies, too!

Yes, Melanie, I was thinking the same thing about what butterflies that butterfly looks like.

Now with Patti here we CAN enjoy butterflies year round! We need more Aussies on the site. We have Glen who shares his daylilys with us when ours aren't blooming & he enjoys ours while it's winter for him. It's a perfect trade. Now we have Patti & can do the same thing with butterflies. Yay Aussies!!!!!!!

I second that! Nice pics.
Melanie, great pics on the page before this.

I will be sure to post lots of photos of these beautiful creatures during your long cold Norther Hemisphere winter I'll also post some during the annual migration of the bogan moth (not really a butterfly but amazing flutterers). Those things are HUGE.

Looking forward to pics of garden aviators from down under.

Look who visited my courtyard this afternoon. This one was trying to avoid having her pic taken and kept trying to hide. Markings look like the Matrix but aven't identified her yet.
Uploading this pic direct from my phone so hope it's clear. I was chasing her around trying to get a good shot.

Cool!

That's a neat one, Patti! Also, I would love to see this moth migration. It sounds neat. Nothing migrates here in Florida. Even the Monarchs are too comfortable so they just spend the winter hanging out with us.

We get these massive moth and other insect migrations up here. Sure it sounds neat until you have to run from the house to the car at night the thick of it!

You must live in a nice place Melanie, so nice that critters don't ever want to leave

Well, I'm in a suburb of Tampa, FL if you know where that is. We get a lot if international visitors which still surprises me. I volunteer at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in the butterfly exhibit every Sunday which is why you'll see awesome photos every weekend from my adventures there. In just the past month or so I've met people from Estonia and Albania at the museum! Pretty cool.

And yes, living in a subtropical climate has its benefits. You kind of get the best of both worlds. We're at the very Southern reach for some butterflies of North America and at the very Northern reach for some butterflies that are more Central and South American. Also, in the 20th century we had some species move in from the islands due to increased trade. For example, this year I finally identified the Monk Skipper in my yard. Turns out it's only been here since the 1960s, but since it uses palm trees as a host, it made itself quite at home in Florida. I've heard some butterflies have even been blown in from hurricanes!

The downside is that we keep attracting people who want to live here and as a result, developers keep trying to pave over everything. There's a huge rally going on in Miami on Saturday to save a habitat known as Pine Rocklands. It is only found in Florida and a few Caribbean islands. It hosts a lot of endangered species including butterflies like the Bartram's Hairstreak and the Florida Leafwing which were just added to the endangered list in September. Plus, we can have some wacky weather so you never know if you're going to have a really mild winter like last year or if you're going to have a surprise frost in November. One thing you can count on is that it will pour buckets every afternoon in the summer! Tampa holds the record for the second highest amount of lightning strikes on earth (some place in Africa has us beat). Then there's the yearly threat of hurricanes. But it's home and like the butterflies I raise, I am a native (which is rare in these parts).

I like that the internet has brought us all together from across the globe so we can see what's going on in other places in the world and learn more about other species. We also have another Australian, Glen, but I read over on the orchid forum that he had surgery (I think on his foot?) so I imagine that's why he hasn't posted much lately.

Expanded my 'watched threads' from only 6 ATP threads to 15 and am a new visitor on this thread.
Love all the photos.
Hey, mellielong, have you considered adding a link to MOSI that will appear at the bottom of each of your posts. That may draw more attention to the museum.

Greene, that's a good idea. I'd been trying to think of something clever for a signature but I'm not clever like that.

Speaking of MOSI, the bosses have been replanting the front entrance to the museum and spread 38 cubic meters of mulch! Kristen, who runs the place, even got sunburned the other day! She posted a picture on Facebook and admitted that this was a record for her, even in Florida. Yes, wear your sunscreen and hats, folks!

Inspired by all their gardening, I decided it was time to do some cleaning of my own. I don't plant until after Feb. 15, our official last frost date. So today I was pulling things I no longer want, along with some weeds that came out with them.

Now, I've been talking the talk, and I decided it was time to walk the walk. You guys know I'm a native plant enthusiast, but I've been using non-native host plants in my yard. I've talked about the dangers of using tropical pipevines because they kill the Pipevine Swallowtails. So today I ripped it all out. Here's what it looked like about halfway through.



I had my wasp spray near me (water, Dawn soap, and a touch of Clorox) but I didn't have to use it. I found about five or six paper wasp nests, but they were empty. I did, however, find a Polydamas chrysalis that almost ended up in the trash! It's now safely in the house.



Then, I spotted another one. But this one looked odd...first it had very prominent stripes on it. Weird, but not totally awful. But it felt pretty light in my hand and when I turned it over I saw why. There was a small hole where a parasite, most likely a wasp, emerged instead of the butterfly.



And I said I was going to rip out all of my Tropical Milkweed and today I did it. Dad said it felt wrong to be pulling it up since I've always ran around protecting it from the weed whacker. Here's an article to help explain why I pulled it: http://news.sciencemag.org/bio...

I did find three or four Monarch cats and they were all moved to the Giant Milkweed.



For now, I'm keeping the Giant Milkweed even though it isn't native because the butterflies rarely lay eggs on it so it's pretty useful as an emergency food source. Hopefully, I can eventually grow enough of the native stuff I won't need anything else. I haven't ripped out my Trilobed Pipevine yet, but that's because I was really tired and aching. Plus, it was cold. I think it actually got colder as the day went on. I don't think we made it out of the 50's. Add in some mist and sprinkles and it was a pretty ugly day here.

Wow Melanie! You are truly a butterfly expert Very impressive. I agree, you should put a link in your siggy to MOSI. We have so many different butterflies here, I haven't taken close notice of them until recently. With the unseasonal rains I think it has brought out more than usual, and later than usual. We still have mating pairs fluttering around this far into summer. I am lucky to live directly across from Kosciuszko National Park which will never be developed. It is like looking back in time. I expect Pterodactylus to come flying out sometimes. People come here to enjoy nature, not to destroy it.

I hope to spot some more butterflies and some caterpillars.