I also have a variety of unused clear vases on hand. Perhaps I'll segregate them that way, with cheesecloth on top.
SO I can SEE them all the time!

Here in Northwest Missouri, I observed 6 Instar 4/5 Monarch Cats today on a fennel plant at a local museum. All of them were quite leththargic and none seemed to feed during the 10 + minutes I watched them. In fact, I am pretty sure that none of them moved. In the past 5 days or so we have had lower 60s highs and lows in lower 40s.

I am still learning, so bear with me. It is sposed to warm up starting today and hit ~ 80 by Thursday and then drop back to upper 60s by Friday. Night lows in mid 50s. 10 day forecast looks pretty warm as well.

Will these little guys likely die before making chrysalis or in that stage? TIA

David, if they were on Fennel they should have been Black Swallowtail caterpillars. Monarchs only eat milkweed. And contrary to popular belief, caterpillars don't eat constantly. Sometimes they just sit there and digest, I think. If they're fifth instar, they may be getting ready to gut purge. They also sit still when they're going to molt. If they are Black Swallowtails, they are likely to overwinter in their chrysalis stage and emerge in the spring.

Okay, I'm going to post my picture thread now!

The dentist numbed the left side of my face. Am I the only one that thinks its super fun to poke yourself when you're numb?

When we were talking about my glittery Viceroy caterpillar, it reminded me that Long-Tailed Skipper cats are pretty cool, too. They have orange feet! And really, how cute is that? It's like they're wearing little orange sneakers.



I released more Phaon Crescents today. One of them got some meconium on his back wings and I was kind of freaking out. Could I daub at him with the cheesecloth? As I was starting to do just that, he flew over to another part of the cheesecloth and I guess the flapping motion on the wings removed the meconium. It made me wonder if they can do that with raindrops?



More Phaon Crescents.



It's cool enough this Cloudless Sulphur had to stop and refuel. And I got pictures! I feel like it has been so long since I took a Sulphur picture.



While picking Desmodium, I found another Long-Tailed Skipper egg.



I saw a Blue butterfly on this Hairy Indigo. Knowing it's a host plant for the Ceraunus Blue, I took a close look, but this was a Cassius Blue.



This Tropical Checkered Skipper is a little roughed up.



Skipper hanging out on the pentas.



And this is what that Polydamas chrysalis looks like after hardening. They can be green or brown, like most Swallowtails, but they're usually brown. So this one is kind of odd.



Speaking of chrysalises, this Black ST decided not to overwinter!



These two Long-Tailed Skipper cats silked their leaves right to the side to make a nest.



All right, after I went to the dentist I came home and this Long-Tailed Skipper was basking. Sooo pretty! Oh, it was also laying eggs on my butterfly pea.



While I was gone, my Black ST emerged! This one is male.



And keeping with the theme of butterflies on my hand, here's a Phaon Crescent. Yup, I had more emerge. You can see just how small they are.



I went rummaging through the neighbor's yard and found some more Frogfruit I had missed. I also saw this Long-Tailed Skipper trying to blend with a tree.



I found a Phaon Crescent and a Skipper!



Seeing the picture above of that Phaon Crescent, which is on Frogfruit, made me remember that I found some eggs when I was picking food but that I forgot to separate them out. So I just went in the tank to retrieve them. I also saw a chrysalis that looked weird and its because the butterfly didn't emerge all the way. So I had to go take care of that.

I happened upon this White Peacock but it was real skittish. Only got a few photos.



I did see a Spicebush ST but it flew right by me. The Swallowtails should disappear this month. That's all for today, folks!

I have to be careful trimming the Black Cherry tree . I the last generation of the season of the Red Spotted purple overwinter , I did not know that ,
Only other I saw today or had a chance at was this ,,


Silver Spotted Skipper

You all did some really nice photo's . Melanie , Maybe we ought to have you be playfully numb ,more often , maybe

mellielong said:And this is what that Polydamas chrysalis looks like after hardening. They can be green or brown, like most Swallowtails, but they're usually brown. So this one is kind of odd.

Neat looking chrysalis! I see a cat playing a flute in that first picture.

-edit the quote

Jim, doesn't your Black Cherry lose its leaves? Mine is already dropping them. But I guess if you're trimming the stems and branches, then yes, you would have to be careful.

Christine, that's quite an imagination you have there! I'm not sure that's what the Polydamas was trying to achieve, but who knows?

I can feel my face again so I stuffed it with food. Then, I came in my room and found another Black ST had emerged! Now, I saw the chrysalis earlier today and I could see it was starting to change, but I still would have put my money on tomorrow. FYI, this is the chrysalis that actually got knocked down while the caterpillar was in its sling. So I set the caterpillar on the bottom of the container and it made its chrysalis there. And now the butterfly emerged! See, I told you it would be fine. This one is also a boy.



I'll let him go in the morning. Now, I mentioned finding some Phaon Crescent eggs. You guys might also remember me swearing I wasn't going to raise Phaon Crescents again; this was a one-time deal. You all knew I was lying to myself, right? I busted out the microscope and took pictures of the eggs. The ones on the left are dark and about to hatch, while the ones on the right are newly laid and still green. Looks like I'll be picking more Frogfruit for a while. And yes, I'm still mad at the county. You know, all the other plants seem to be coming back except the Frogfruit. I hope it just takes longer than other plants.

Yes, Mellanie, that's not the first time I've been told I have quite an imagination.

mellielong said:David, if they were on Fennel they should have been Black Swallowtail caterpillars. Monarchs only eat milkweed.

You know - I knew that....DUH Stoopid.
So used to seeing Monarchs as I had no fennel this year, but lotsa milkweed. Will have 2 plants next year I started from seed this year.

Melanie I trim the tree (Black Cherry ) like a bush or such , it is too close to the house , Even though you have had some losses your Caterpillar seasons seem to have been really good

David My last bronze Fennel lived about 6 yrs , Next years is started
The SWT does not like the Bronze as well as the green here , The Dill always seems their favorite Bull Thistle their favorite flower here , It's a monster though ,

The fennel they were on was so bedraggled, I could not tell if bronze or green. And it was slim pickens for the cats as well.

I will add some Dill next year as well.

Nice variety of BFs pics.

I've but a Sulphur and a couple of Whites

Help !!! I have a caterpillar emergency and need advice.

I was weeding, grabbing huge handfuls of weeds and stuffing them into the paper yard waste bags and I was stopped in my tracks by this little guy. There is mostly only the one type of weed in the area. I stopped work to grab these photos. Please, what should I do to be sure he/she is okay? Do I need to intervene or just walk away? Thank you in advance for any help y'all can offer.

Interesting.. kinda looks like its morphing into its chrysalis state. Clearwing hummingbird caterpillar? Of course it might help if I knew what your 'weed' is.

Okay, waiting on Melanie or other person who knows something.

I think that weed is a Diodia. Tersa Sphinx Moths use them as a host plant. I'll leave the cat ID up to someone else, though.

@mellielong

Melanie, are Gulf frit or Zebra Longwing cats bright yellow right upon hatching? I had some bright yellow eggs on the very new growth of my passiflora that I noticed yesterday. Today they have hatched. Way too small to get a photo of. I *think* I see teensy black ?hairs? (something that sticks out of them) on them.

Greene, that is most definitely a Tersa Sphinx Moth. They eat my pentas but I forget what else they eat. So I'd say Danita is right on track.

Ann, I would personally call them bright orange, but I could see how some people might call them yellow. And yes, they have little black hairs that stick out even when they hatch. It's hard to tell which you have until they molt a couple of times. Gulf Frits will deepen to a darker orange while Zebra Longwings will turn white.

I have pictures to share but I can't stop sneezing. I've taken Zyrtec and Benadryl but then I had to go back outside to pick caterpillar food. It's a vicious cycle.

I found the name of the plant:
Florida Pusley/Richardia scabra

I pull that stuff all the time! It's all over my neighbor's yard. Now you're telling me I have to watch for Tersa Sphinx caterpillars, too? They seem to prefer my pentas, though.

greene said:I found the name of the plant:
Florida Pusley/Richardia scabra

Thanks for the report. I was curious. Looking at Diodia, the flowers only have four petals and yours have five.