Honestly, I've always found Tropiflora to be overpriced. It's probably because I'm always buying from the local clubs who aren't trying to make a profit. And I'm not allowed to buy any bromeliads for a long time. I have so many! And I went to a member of the Bromeliad Guild's house a couple of months ago to give him a plant I had and in exchange he gave me about twenty! Not kidding - like twenty! See, this is why I had to take time off from MOSI - I have so much of my own gardening to do!
And speaking of my garden, I took a little walk around this afternoon. I had to go get my allergy shots so when I got home I took care of the caterpillars and did a walkabout. There are so many Frits outside! I saw the hummingbird again and he was going for the Jatropha but all the butterflies were on it and then I guess scary me was there, too. Okay, here's one Frit I caught resting on Spiderwort (again).
Monarch chowing down on the Giant Milkweed.
Now, I know I've seen milkweed bugs of varying sizes so I suppose they must molt like most insects, but I think I saw one that had just molted today. Check it out!
My big Palamedes gut purged while I was gone. He's looking more yellow. I moved him to a different tank that's just got a Sulphur chrysalis in it because I didn't want him wandering all over my other caterpillar. I hate when they start stinkhorning each other.
I think this is one of those Monk Skippers.
So you know how I'm always saying Zebra Longwings live so long because they can eat pollen, too? And that they collect it on their proboscis? Well, check out the glob this one's got going on! FYI, it's on the Jatropha.
The first time I saw one like that I freaked out. I was like, "It has something stuck to its proboscis! How will it eat?" And then I learned.
Okay, here's one of those Skippers I think is one thing but I'm always wrong. BAMONA always tells me I'm wrong. One of these days, I'll get one right.
Over on the Passiflora lutea, I have eggs and a Zebra Longwing cat. It's weird because when they're super small they look like a pale orange so you think they might be Gulf Frits. But as they get bigger they turn white while the Gulf Frits turn darker orange. Zebra Longwings also have dots on their head capsule so you can always stare them in the face and see who they are.
Now, Gulf Frits are the most commonly encountered butterfly in the area, whether or not you grow passion vine. Seriously, I saw several driving to my allergist and then again in the parking lot. But if you grow passion vine you will be inundated. Also, I remembered my promise to look and see if my Gulf Frits have stripes like Cecelia in Argentina's do. This winter I took some pictures of some with stripes, but mine don't have them now except the one caterpillar who has one down his back. But earlier this year they had them on their sides, too. Maybe it's a seasonal variation?
In other news, as I was typing the Sulphur chrysalis started banging against the side of the container because Palamedes was trying to share his stick. It was really loud, so I went in and moved Palamedes to the bottom. And now he's crawled right back up next to the chrysalis. Just shaking my head.
Oh, and while I was at the allergist, someone left the Sunday home section of the Tribune which has the gardening section. Very fortuitous. You have to wait thirty minutes after you get your shot (so they make sure you do't go into shock, I guess). They had an article about daylilies and some big show we're having. Apparently, our local club holds the first daylily show in the continental U.S. I might go and take pictures just to harass the daylily people.
And then next weekend there's a rose show. It's going to be at one of the local malls which means air conditioning! So might check that out, too. I don't grow either daylilies or roses but I like to look and take pictures for the plant database. Good to get out of the house, too.
I also found some more Sulphur cats while picking food this morning. They're tiny so I put them in a small container. If I put them in the big one, I'd never find them and end up accidentally throwing them away when I cleaned the cage. And my largest American Lady made his (her?) J today.
