mellielong said:Sure, torment me with your Echinacea and your other species of Fritillaries! No, it's cool to see something that I don't get down here. Although, I have to say I didn't think Giant Swallowtails went as far north as Connecticut. What do they host on up there? Also, love the picture of the Tussock Moths...don't care for the real life ones. I don't know much about the different species, but I thought those might be Milkweed Tussock Moths because the thing in the left of the picture sort of looks like the seed pods of the big milkweed that grows up north. Is that milkweed they were on?

And a to Jason. And if I had a nickel for every time time I messed up something on my computer - I could buy another computer! Like the time in college where I was trying to write an email to my mom and posted it to my class' list serve instead. And who hasn't hit the "reply all" button by mistake! Yikes! But hopefully you've got things figured out so don't be a stranger. We love butterflies here. We like to see them and talk about them. Personally, I find petting caterpillars to be great therapy. I'm allergic to cats and dogs and pretty much anything with fur so I have to pet something!

Haha Thanks! Yes that was common milkweed that grows around here, they loved a few plants I dug up out of a parking area nearby! Also working on growing a few other varieties. Its funny how colorful those cats are and only grow to be white moths! Well, time for some wine and tv with the wife, talk soon!

mellielong said:Thanks again, guys. back at ya!

I'm a firm believer you could just grow Echinaceas and have an awesome butterfly garden. They just swarm them! But alas, I cannot grow them for more than a few months before they kick the bucket. So I have to find other ways to tempt the butterflies. But Jason, I definitely admire your layout. I'm so bad at planning where to put things. Getting better. Going to be planting things in about two weeks so let's hope I make better choices this time around!

thats a bummer that echi's don't last long for you, i love them. But theres plenty of other goodies out there for the flutterbyes. I have a couple 4x8 raised beds at the back of the property that I fill with zinnias as a butterfly/hummingbird buffett and for cutting. I find the property just kinda leads me in installing gardens, I definitely go overboard and end up bitching about all the weeding I have to do! This is the second property of mine where i've put in alot of garden area, my newest project was a mess beyond anything you could imagine ( acolonialcottage.blogspot.com & https://www.pinterest.com/jaym... ) It been a bit tougher, the entire property was covered in japanese knotweed, a horrible nightmare of a weed, thick delicate orange roots that never end and go more than 2' down and any little speck of root will sprout a new plant. I've dug up or covered up the majority of it but it still sprouts up and i'm constantly pulling up new growth. Anyways, i've found it much tougher with this property because there were really no defined spaces, no sheds, etc, so trying to plan for now and the furture of where i might want a path or a wood or storage shed, etc is a bit touger. But its comes together pretty good, at least i'm giving plants some time to establish and then I can always move some around down the road. We're not even living at this property yet, but I hope I realize that dream before next winter!! Just a quick summary of the house, it was abandoned for a long time and i was able to buy it for $1 and $5K in lawyer fees and i've been working on rebuilding and adding on to it for the past few years, no loans, a few credit cards but mainly just paying as I go to have as close to a paid off house as I can once all is said and done, i'm 38 so to have a house paid off within the next year or two has been my ultimate goal! I have a wife, 3 kids and a rental house so needless to say its been a great challenge time & money wise. Ok i'll end there going on & on here lol!

mellielong said:Sure, torment me with your Echinacea and your other species of Fritillaries! No, it's cool to see something that I don't get down here. Although, I have to say I didn't think Giant Swallowtails went as far north as Connecticut. What do they host on up there? Also, love the picture of the Tussock Moths...don't care for the real life ones. I don't know much about the different species, but I thought those might be Milkweed Tussock Moths because the thing in the left of the picture sort of looks like the seed pods of the big milkweed that grows up north. Is that milkweed they were on?

And a to Jason. And if I had a nickel for every time time I messed up something on my computer - I could buy another computer! Like the time in college where I was trying to write an email to my mom and posted it to my class' list serve instead. And who hasn't hit the "reply all" button by mistake! Yikes! But hopefully you've got things figured out so don't be a stranger. We love butterflies here. We like to see them and talk about them. Personally, I find petting caterpillars to be great therapy. I'm allergic to cats and dogs and pretty much anything with fur so I have to pet something!

Yes glad to have the giant swallowtail here!! Now if we could get some more monarch action that would be great! Only seen one monarch anywhere in CT over the past couple years, in my garden this past summer, and i work outside as a house painter so i'm outdoors ALOT!
The giant swallowtail's main wild host is the Northern Prickly Ash and also lays eggs on two non-native garden plants, garden rue (Ruta graveolens) and the closely related Gas Plant or Dittany (Dictamnus albus) (http://www.butterfliesofmassac...) It also uses the native Wafer Ash or Hop Tree (Ptelea trifoliata) "In addition to garden rue and gas plant, Giant Swallowtail has adopted cultivated non-native Citrus (e.g. oranges) as a host plant, and is therefore listed on Table 3 as among the “Switchers." In southern states, one of Giant Swallowtail’s main habitats is citrus groves. In northern states it is found in semi-open areas, including gardens. "

I didn't realize the Wafer Ash went that far north. Interesting. Of course, in Florida we have tons of citrus groves so the farmers consider the Giant ST caterpillars to be a bit of a pest. I use Rue in the garden since it hosts the Giant ST and the Eastern Black ST. More bang for your buck! At the museum we also have Wild Lime and Hercules' Club although the latter is too tall to find caterpillars anymore.

And speaking of the museum, I did go today but I haven't downloaded my pictures yet. I'll be sure to post them later. I met people from Brazil and Germany today so it was very international. Oh, and the Renaissance Festival started this weekend and it's located on the property next to the museum (the property is also owned by the museum but there's nothing built on it). So I got to hear bagpipes and lots of yelling as I was walking the gardens. I forgot to ask the Germans if Ren Fests occur in Europe, too, or is this just something we crazy Americans find fun?

Lafayette, I have returned! Or something like that, anyway. And I brought pictures this time! Not a lot today since our diversity of species is not exactly at its peak right now.

Somehow, this is the only Monarch picture I took. I got to talking as people showed up and forgot to take more pictures once it warmed up. So it was just hanging out on the screen catching some rays.



We're currently being overrun by Longwings - Julia and Zebra. Here's some Zebras, first. The one on the Delphinium was one I released and it must have been hungry because it went straight for that flower. They don't usually do that when I first release them, believe it or not.



And some Julias, now.



And here's some of both.




There are only a few Malachites left but they were definitely the favorite today.



Now for the educational part of today's post. Apparently, today was the day all the Orange-Barred Sulphurs decided to die because I found three of them in the flight cage in really good condition. Okay, one wasn't quite dead, but he was in the throes of death. I used the opportunity to show the difference between the male and the female. Males earn the name by having the "orange bar" across their top wings.



Females lack the orange bar and have orange on the bottom wings only. They also have black dots that the males lack.



I also had a Gulf Fritillary I had to put down. I had to get a little aggressive because it was trying to get out of my grip, of course. So I thought I'd illustrate why it's important not to touch a butterfly's wings unless absolutely necessary. You take scales off which appear like a powder on your finger.



I was cutting some fresh cassia for the Sulphur cats and happened to find an egg on the piece I cut. It's that tiny, football shaped yellow thing in the middle of the picture. People are always amazed by how small they are and that I can find them at all. But eggs are way easier to find than a chrysalis despite the size difference. You just have to know where the butterfly lays its eggs. It could be on top of the leaf, under the leaf, where the leaves meet. But it's almost always going to be on new growth.



I've said before we don't usually raise Gulf Frits (or Espejitos!) because they get that horrible melting disease. But we have a tank of them and they looked pretty healthy today. I took one out because not only did it have the black striping, it has some cream coloring near the bottom. I told you guys I was going to pay attention to them this year. So far, so good!



By the way, I totally used the Espejito thing on the Brazilian visitors. Sure, they speak Portuguese, but I figured it was close enough. I forgot to post this above, so here's the Gulf Frit, or Espejito, that I caught in the garden today. I think it's a female because I caught it as it was sitting on a passion vine leaf. Didn't give it a chance to lay an egg before I swooped in with my net.



That's all for today, folks! Hope you enjoyed the show and maybe learned something new!

I have always had a fondness for Skippers and expected that many of them were being hosted in my garden but never really witnessed the life cycle. I only seem to notice them as adults zooming around the garden before the other butterflies are awake. When i was cutting back some growth after the rainy season, i noticed this cocoon or chrysalis (i'm not sure which term is scientifically correct in this case), didn't know what it was so i watched it daily to find out. This is what i found out. It appears to be a Panoquina evansi (Evan's Skipper). By the way, i've been doing what i can to contribute to the plant database and have very little time for this forum but i hope to check in once a week or so.

Awesome, Beverly! Because of the host plants they use and their small size, most skippers can be very hard to find as caterpillars. And in general, moths make a cocoon, butterflies make a chrysalis. You can always use the term "pupa" which applies to both.

Beverly, awesome photos! I love the little skippers too.

My favorite Skippers pic (year's ago) -

Is it weird that I want to hug that picture?

Spectacular jmorth now that must have an acorn at the very least. It should also have a place at the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art, and it certainly has a place in my heart.

Thanks ladies The skippers are European Skippers, I think, another possibility is Peck's Skipper.

It's pretty neat that the Skippers all got along. They always seem to be chasing each other off the flowers at my house. What are those flowers that they are so addicted to?

Chrysanthemum, it's the last flower to bloom in my garden every year.

Neat! I don't think I've ever seen one that color before. It kind of reminded of a Dahlia but the centers look different. It's good that you have something that blooms late so the late butterflies still have food.

Here's one more favorite skipper pic. I think this is the Least Skipper


There's other neat ones when they congregate on fall's New England Asters, but that'll have to wait for another day.

I think both of Jack's photos should be hanging on my walls!

Beverly, I love the progression in those photos. What a gorgeous skipper! You can see gold dust in that coloring. And how about that pupa? How it glows!!!! Wow!

I knew those Least Skippers were small, but WOW! I have a Duranta, too and I know those flowers are pretty tiny so that butterfly must be minuscule.

I go every year to the University of Florida to take their "short course" for a few days - to keep up the education hours necessary for the Master Gardener Program. This was taken on a field trip last year at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, at the the Butterfly Rainforest Exhibit.

Amazing place; they get chrysalis' from all over the world; and then they're put in the garden. No host plants though for them to lay eggs and reproduce - just nectar for them, until they die. Lots of doors to go through (wind tunnels). They can't take the risk of an escape and causing problems with Florida's flora or perhaps the agricultural industry.

You know, Elfie, I still haven't been up there to visit. Everyone keeps telling me I need to go. Even the guests at MOSI tell me I need to go! I'm super glad to hear they have multiple barriers to keep the butterflies in. At MOSI, we only raise native Florida butterflies so it's not an issue if they make a daring escape.