flaflwrgrl said:

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Newbie here wants to know who that big scary one is.

Zebra Longwing. The official state butterfly of Florida! Sorry Critter, they don't come as far north as you. And they're not scary at all! Those hairs are more like the bristles on a hair brush and don't sting. They do make it harder for wasps to insert their eggs and parasitize the caterpillar, though.

excellent!

mellielong said:Zebra Longwing. they don't come as far north as you.

crittergarden said:

Newbie here wants to know who that big scary one is.

I'm sorry. I did not make it clear the cats were the offspring of the Zebra Longwings. They are our state butterfly btw. I find it interesting how they start off that amber/orangey color & then turn that pure white.

I haven't learned about instars yet or I might have understood those were the same butterfly-to-be.

Well you learned the word instar so you must have learned something critter. Cool!

Is that a 1st & 5th Instar?

DavidLMO said:Is that a 1st & 5th Instar?

Aw heck David, I have no idea. They're just growing out there on the passion vine & I check on them every day but can't keep track of who is in what instar. There are a lot of them out there.

flaflwrgrl said: I ... can't keep track of who is in what instar.

You don't?

I've got caterpillars I believe they're Gulf Fritillary cats on my passionvine. Tons of them

@wildflowers and @DavidLMO The mail just came so I'm assuming the letter carrier took the envelopes containing your Spanish Needle seeds out. Here's hoping the machines don't crush or tear the envelopes! My dad is a retired letter carrier and he said as long as they're less than 1/4 inch thick, it should be fine. I put the seeds in those little plastic envelopes Dad gets when he buys hardware at ACE or Home Depot. I'm glad I got the seeds when I did because we're supposed to be getting some rain soon.

Ibis, you most certainly do have Gulf Frit cats!

I've been a little under the weather so I didn't go to MOSI yesterday. I feel a little better today; maybe because I've been sleeping a lot. I do have some pictures I took Saturday that I need to post. But first, I need a shower!

Oh goody! Melanie, thank you very much.

Picture of caterpillars I found that aren't supposed to be found in my area. It can happen!

Since they were azalea caterpillars, I was hoping to find wild azaleas growing here. I've never seen blooms on the host plant in question and have never been able to positively ID it, although I suspect it might be wild blueberry or possibly farkleberry? And, I've never seen azalea cats again since this 2010 sighting.



(I wasn't a very good photographer back then either. )

Those are amazing caterpillars Christine, have you seen the adult?

Frostweed, they were amazing to see. When I approached them, they all stood up and started dancing around. It was interesting to watch. I guess they were trying to look scary. Not sure if I've seen the moth in the past, but I haven't seen one lately. I keep looking though.

Very neat, maybe Melanie can show us the Moth that they will become.

More info from UF: http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/crea...

With all the azaleas around, you think I'd have seen these guys before. But I am in the southernmost county for them, according to UF. There are a lot of butterflies and moths where I'm right on the edge of their limit so sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't. Now, I'm going to be inspecting all the azaleas!

Thank you Melanie, that is a very interesting post showing all the stages of the azalea caterpillar and moth.
I must say that the beauty of this insect rests on the caterpillar, the adult moth is disappointingly plain.

Cool! It does say they rear up when disturbed so you assumed rightly Christine.

I've been meaning to ask.... Melanie, in about 7 days we are supposed to get down to 32 or 35 depending on which hour you happen to look at the forecast -- they change it constantly -- what about my ZLW cats? Will they be okay? The vine is in a fairly protected location. Should I put a sheet over the vine & them to hep hold heat in? If I were to bring the cats in it would be murder b/c there is NOT going to be leaves left for them to eat when that vine goes dormant with the weather.

What to do, what to do.

mellielong said:@wildflowers and @DavidLMO The mail just came so I'm assuming the letter carrier took the envelopes containing your Spanish Needle seeds out. .....I've been a little under the weather

I hope you get to feeling better real soon.