The cold front came through and my car said it was 82 but it felt a little cooler. Don't worry, we're warming back up to the high 80's later this week. It's a little windy for the butterflies, but I saw a few flying around.

Long-Tailed Skipper. There are so many of these right now.



Still a lot of Barred Sulphurs around. This one was on tassel flower.



I'm pretty sure I heard this Gulf Fritillary singing "I Will Survive".

Poor butterfly. Melanie.....

Melanie, I'm so jealous of your buckeyes! I keep telling myself that just because no buckeye butterflies used my host plants this fall, that's no reason to believe they won't next year. They did show up to take advantage of the unusually early agalinis last spring, at least!

That is one tattered gulf frit!
I love the buckeyes too all shiny & new. They have such great coloring.

Just to remind everyone, that was the first time in eight years of raising butterflies that I've ever raised Buckeyes. I see them a lot, and we've raised them at MOSI, but I've never found the caterpillars. They use such a wide variety of plants that it can be tough. I just managed to see one laying eggs in front of me and collected the eggs. It was laying on False Foxglove, FYI.

mellielong said:The cold front came through and my car said it was 82

Said no Pittsburgher in November, ever.

mellielong said:The cold front came through and my car said it was 82

Heh ...

OH my - that poor Gulf Fritillary.

We were driving into town today and I was positively shocked to see a Monarch Butterfly!! It is Nov. 15 and this is Indiana!! I we have had very pleasant weather here but we have been into the 30's several times overnight and down into the 20's a couple of times now. Daytime temps have been warmer then normal. Normal for this time of year is 53 and we have still been in the high 50's, even into the 60's still. But Monarch should be long gone by now. I still see skippers and sulphurs around if it nice and sunny.

Wow Claudia!
You're never going to believe this... well maybe you will. I saw either a Monarch or a Viceroy today. Can't swear to which because it was flying too fast. I did try to follow it & lost it. Tried to find it nectaring somewhere on the property so I could get a good look but it just vanished into thin air.

Just crazy!!

Today there are several Sulphurs and one Gulf Fritillary. This was a good year for butterflies in my small yard. The Plumbago bloom was under a plastic lawn chair and the Gulf Fritillary was going crazy trying to figure out how to access the blooms. I moved the chair to make his or her life easier.

Tobacco Hornworm @mellielong thank you. Isn't he pretty.

They are pretty looking Charles. Not so pretty when they eat your tomato plants to the ground but pretty as a caterpillar for caterpillar sake.

Here's some pictures from MOSI on Sunday. I've been busy and hadn't had time to post them, yet.

Monarch



Zebra Longwing



Giant Swallowtail



Julias!



Long-Tailed Skipper



I found this Spotted Oleander Moth on the ground and got him to climb aboard.



I walked over to put him on the Oleander, figuring maybe he could find a lady friend as it warmed up. And I found a batch of eggs!



I also found a bunch of the caterpillars which I rounded up and took into the lab. I forgot to take a decent photo, though, so here's a bad one.



This is probably a Monk Skipper.



Malachites like fruit, and we are a full-service butterfly enclosure.



Here's our fruit feeding station. Check out the Monarch below on the pentas.



I found some tiny Polydamas caterpillars.



And back home, there was a White Peacock waiting for me. There are really a lot of them right now.



FYI, I'm withholding one picture because I'm submitting it to the photo contest and I don't want to tip my hand. I can't believe birds and butterflies are in the same category. So not cool.

Melanie, I think Dave did it that way because it is "All Things Plants" and he didn't want it to be the same as "DG", here the most important thing is the "plant", and that should be remembered when submitting a photo.

mellielong said:

I found this Spotted Oleander Moth on the ground and got him to climb aboard.

I like this guy,
SOmething about him, I don't know what, but I like him.

They have pretty colors & remind me of jets.

greene said:The Plumbago bloom was under a plastic lawn chair and the Gulf Fritillary was going crazy trying to figure out how to access the blooms. I moved the chair to make his or her life easier.

I too have a Plumbago which I kept on my deck in full sun. I wintered it over under lights in my basement and when I took it out just after Mother's Day, it was in full bloom and it never stopped the whole Summer. Butterflies AND Hummingbirds just loved it!

I brought it back in a short time ago and it is still blooming its little heart out. After it has had a chance to settle in a bit, I will cut it back some and let it regroup. Should have done so in Sept or early Oct but I just could not bring myself to do so.

papa said:Tobacco Hornworm @mellielong thank you. Isn't he pretty.

I had 4 of these this summer. When I find one, I let them eat what they want - it grows back. And the moth is so beautiful. Did not see any this summer - bummer. But I had some hanging around August & September of 2014. Sphinx or Hummingbird Moth

First found on tomato - he perished from the darned parasites. I got a replacement at our Master Gardener Tomato Fest and he too had been parasitized. I tried to remove them, but he too died. Heck - I nursed him to no avail.

I found one chomping my Contorted filbert and observed him for a couple of days. Then he was gone. Hope he transformed.

Found another who devastated some Datura. Watched him for 3 days and then he too disappeared. I had 7 Datura in a big pot and he clear cut 4 of them.

@DavidLMO i found him munching on my Datura and moved him about 10/15 yards away next day he was back he seemed to like the Datura seed pods i have all the seeds i want so i let him be.