Beautiful pic of monarch, Linda.

David, Bauhinia are invasive in Florida so I think of them as bad, bad plants. My neighbor had one that used to grow over our fence (the former neighbor planted it so no hard feelings, there). I don't believe it hosts anything in this area and I never saw them attracted to the blooms, either.

Jim, some people say you can tell what kind of winter we're going to have from how orange or black a Wooly Bear caterpillar is. I can't remember if you want them more orange or black, but I'm hoping yours is saying it will be an easy winter!

Linda, tell those Monarchs to keep on scooting down to Mexico! And nurseries are a great place to take butterfly pictures. Whenever I tag along with Dad to Lowe's or Home Depot, or if I actually need something myself, I always stop in the garden department to see who's flying.

Okay, I'm off to the dentist to have some cavities filled. I already had the left side done; today is the right side. It doesn't hurt because they numb me up, but the pain to my wallet - OUCH!

I was just checking Facebook and the Great Florida Birding & Wildlife Trail shared this info about Woolly Bear caterpillars: "The Woolly Bear caterpillar has long been considered a predictor of winter's severity. It's covered with black and brown "fur" bands. Typically, the bands at the ends of the caterpillar are black, and the one in the middle is brown or orange, giving the woolly bear its distinctive striped appearance. According to legend, the wider that middle brown section is (i.e., the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. Conversely, a narrow brown band is said to predict a harsh winter."

They also say the science doesn't support it, but you know how folklore gets spread around like the truth!

Melanie , I was thinking the Black bands , (the larger they are the more snow , )
Like the dark bands on the moss around trees 7 to 10 days before it will show the snowfall depth ,
about 70 to 80 % of the time here , these things seem to be true . The year about 2000 , we kept finding all light brown wooly bears , we had two small snowfalls a medium snowfall , For February through April , all rain , no snow that year ,
Scientists
Folklore
Thought you might like that , as to about how folklore happens

I forgot ,The first Bear larvae showed a mild average winter for here , the second showed mild as the one black band is nearly not there , lot of light brown

Well, all I know is it's an El Nino year which usually means a lot of rain for us. Back in college, I came home for Christmas one year during an El Nino and my parents had sandbags around the well pump! I kind of thought they were exaggerating the situation on the phone but then I saw it with my own eyes.

Today we tied our record high for this day at 88 degrees! Makes me kind of glad I was in the air conditioned office of the dentist. That went fine, by the way. My wallet hurts, but my teeth are better.

mellielong said:David, Bauhinia are invasive in Florida so I think of them as bad, bad plants. My neighbor had one that used to grow over our fence (the former neighbor planted it so no hard feelings, there). I don't believe it hosts anything in this area and I never saw them attracted to the blooms, either.

My Bauhinia are 6 - 10 inches tall and would die by Christmas if left out. My goal is to keep them below 18 inches.
I doubt that they will become an exotic invasive here in Missouri.

Yeah, I'm sure you're fine in MO, but I'm just prejudiced against them. I was glad when the neighbor removed his.

In the latest news, my moth caterpillar died and there are mysterious brown flecks all over the bottom of the container. Parasites? I may break out my microscope to find out. In better news, the Buckeyes both made their chrysalises.

jimard8 said:
Scientists
Folklore

And I believe some scientists are arrogant to say "there is no evidence to support...." It always makes me wonder "well have you LOOKED for any???

The old ways are often valid when investigated.
Now some of them are called "alternative" medicine, "new age" and stuff.

Melanie, or anyone else that might know -- Sorry for being a pain but, I've been looking for that microscope thingy with a camera that you were showing you ordered on line. I'm thinking I would like to get one. Can't find the thread or link. Can someone direct me to it, pretty please?

In fact, start a new thread Microscope Thingy ... easy to find.

1 microscope link coming up
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XNYXQHE/

Thanks, Ann! I got busy yesterday. I've actually been pretty busy for me. Today I'm off to Joshua House with bags of new books. I have a couple on butterflies including the Butterflies of Florida field guide by Jaret Daniels. It's my main go-to book. I figure since they have a butterfly garden, some of the kids might like to learn about what's flying around. Also, our non-fiction section is kind of thin so I'm trying to bulk it up. And you know, I gotta indoctrinate them early!

very much, Ann! I also see they have lots of other little gadgets over there. Anyone recommend anything else? Christmas is coming...

Well, I posted my bird pictures from today, but then I had to take a nap. Apparently, we all took naps and only woke up when the phone rang a little after 6 pm. After making a run for the border (Taco Bell), I am full of burrito goodness and ready to post some butterfly pics.

I went to volunteer at Joshua House today but first I had to load up the car with the books I'm donating. There was a Long-Tailed Skipper hanging out on the house. Again, with the no tails!



But then I got a real shocker. There was a Tiger Swallowtail on the plumbago! I was like, "It's November! You're supposed to be overwintering in your chrysalis!" To be fair though, we're having record heat. Seriously, we've broken the record for three days in a row and they expect we will tomorrow. Yesterday it was 92 degrees! And that was at the airport which is by the bay and not inland like I am! I hear a cool front is coming this weekend and we should go back to normal. Summer started early this year and now it won't let go! Okay, here's my awesome Tiger Swallowtail. You can see he's missing a part of his wings but he also has some brown on his body where it should be yellow, so I'm thinking maybe he got injured? He was still flying just fine.



I even made Mom come out and look at it. By that time, it was on the plumbago on the other side of the house. We watched it fly around until it got near my pentas and scared up a Cloudless Sulphur. The Sulphur won the battle for the pentas and here it is.



This little skipper liked the pentas, too.



So then I went to Joshua House and did my thing. I had a few extra butterfly books I got on the bargain table years ago at Borders, so I added them to the new book section. When I was done, I went to inspect the garden. I found three types of caterpillars: Monarchs, a probable Gulf Frit, and Polydamas Swallowtails. The first two varieties were too small to photograph, but the Polydamas were nice and fat! I petted them because I think they like it. I like it, too! They didn't stinkhorn me so I figured we were cool.



They also have their fair share of Long-Tailed Skippers.



Still quite a few White Peacocks, but they don't like posing much.



I spotted a Barred Sulphur flying around and kept stalking it until it landed. The Zephyrhills water truck came to make a delivery and I wonder if he reported the strange lady stalking imaginary things in the grass with a camera.



Back home, I had to feed the Io Moth cats and I saw a few Gulf Fritillaries flying around.



And I spotted another Long-Tailed Skipper - this time with tails!



Now, I'm not body-shaming because you guys know I love a plump caterpillar, but it seems like the Long-Tailed Skippers have bigger bodies this year. I keep looking at my photos and thinking they seem thicker. I'm going to have to look at past years and do a comparison. I wonder if I'm seeing mostly females who are egg-laden?

I have a Plumbago (of course ) and only things I noticed on it were Monarchs and Hummingbirds. Not sure if any of the Swallowtails we have here enjoy it.

Great plant BTW - I love it and it over winters indoors just fine. Its striking blue color always get oohs and ahs from garden visitors. It never stops blooming. It is still outside on my deck - will come in tomorrow.

I also have a lovely ground cover called Leadwort (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) which is just as blue. It draws lots of bees of several different types.

The weather has still be warm the past few days (70 ish) and I have noticed a lot of smaller butterflies and many moths. None seen close enough to ID.

FYI, Monarch Watch announced the first recovered tag in Mexico! It's on their Facebook page and the lady who tagged it commented! The Monarch was tagged in Cottam, Ontario, Canada on Sept. 17 and was spotted (alive, there's a picture) on October 31 in Juamave, Tamaulipas, Mexico. That's a journey of 1,602 miles (or 2,578 km for our metric friends). Here's their Facebook page if you want to look: https://www.facebook.com/monar...

Oh I was just thinking about the same thing for a week now Melanie. We are covered in butterflies and it's so late in the year. They look like newborns too, all bright & shiny & fresh & colorful! Every time I see them I think, You should have stayed in your chrysalis! How do you expect to mate, lay eggs & the eggs have time to hatch & the cats molt & grow & molt & grow & molt & go into a chrysalis? There's not enough time!!! Someone is going to freeze." And then I get all paranoid & think, "They know better than we do. OMG! What if summer is here to stay this year? "

Today I was gape jawed. EVERY where I looked were Zebra Long Wings. They were all over our place & they all seemed to be the same size - a little small for the species - & all with brand new looks like shiny new cars. They must have all been from the same egg clutch. I counted 7, yes, that's 7 of them all at one time, sipping on my blackberry lily & you guessed it folks... the camera was in the house & I was up on the top of the hill. I left the 7 there & came down & there were 3 flitting around the firespike.

They DO know better than we do.
They have connections we have lost, what with us being all cluttered up with language and stuff.
I hope summer is not here to stay, but winter IS predicted to be mild this year.

Since the butterflies are hatching later than usual, makes me think it's the temperature. Hopefully they will lay more eggs so you will have more overwintering.