That's a lot of pictures, Mellie!
I may have to come back in the morning....

VERY glad you had an outstanding butterfly day!

My thread is up and butterflies are first, naturally. Check it out - The thread "Melanie's Super Adventure at Orlando Wetlands Park!" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

You know, I counted and I saw 15 different species at Orlando Wetlands Park. It never seems like that many until you actually count. I submitted all but one to BAMONA because the picture wasn't good enough. It was one of the Skippers.

I went to MOSI on Sunday but it was cold! Like, 36 degrees cold! We had the heat lamp on, of course, in the flight cage. Plus, the heat on in the lab. But I still had to go outside and pick some food for the critters. We're warming back up, but it's supposed to rain tomorrow and Thursday so still not good butterfly weather.

I have pictures, though! When I first walked in I was a little confused. The pop-up on the top had Malachites flying around in it. I got the stepladder out and was thinking about releasing them until I saw the set up inside. It was a breeding tank. They had fruit slices to feed the butterflies and Green Shrimp Plant for them to lay eggs on. Most of the butterflies had died, but there were still three that I counted alive. Two of them kept flying around as I worked.



Usually the boss puts a sign on tanks like that saying, "Do Not Release". Glad I figured it out; I hadn't had my coffee yet so I wasn't running on all cylinders.

I couldn't find many butterflies in the flight cage and I could only get a photo of a couple. The Zebra Longwings were too high up and it was dark. There were some Monarchs that I could get to, though.



The only other live specimen I saw was one of the Spotted Oleander Moths but it was too high up, as well. I did find this deceased Cloudless Sulphur. I think it died of old, not cold. It's pretty rough looking. And we haven't had many Sulphurs lately, either.



One of the Monarchs got out into the outer enclosure and then died right on top of the flight cage. Since people get all freaked out about dead butterflies, I took a net and pushed it up against the screen until I "bounced" the butterfly far enough over to fall off. Sometimes, my job is not so glamorous.



Back in the lab, things were happier. The bosses must have made a trip to the butterfly farm because we suddenly have hundreds of chrysalises that weren't there before. And of course, we're still growing our own. Like this Malachite caterpillar who was in his J.



This is what a finished Malachite chrysalis looks like.



I also spotted a Zebra Longwing in its J position.



I had a few Zebra Longwing chrysalises that looked ready to emerge at any minute, but I advised them about the weather. See how you can see the stripes through the chrysalis?



As for the Zebra Longwing tank, there was a Gulf Fritillary in there. Because they eat the same host plant, we often get renegade caterpillars sneaking in.



Gulf Frits are orange with black spines, Zebra Longwings are white with black spines.



Just for fun, I took a picture of one of the Luna Moths. Most of them are in cocoons with leaves around them, but we have some that are just the silk. My boss might have done that so people could see what they look like. Isn't it cool?



Even though it was cold, I took one of the small mesh pop-ups with me. I refer to them as "caterpillar carriers", although we use them for other stuff, too. I went to pick milkweed and you can see what I returned with. I actually found about ten, but they're pretty small and some are on the undersides of the leaves.



And in sad, but educational news, I was cleaning the dishes and the bosses had left some chrysalis boxes that had diseased chrysalises in them. Like this Monarch. This Monarch was parasatized. The chrysalises do get darker when a Monarch is about to emerge, but if you can't see the wing pattern, or the colors aren't uniform, you've probably got a diseased one. I know this one was parasatized because the parasite was in the bottom of the box. See that little thing that looks like a small bean? That's a fly larva. Generally, you'll get between one and three that come out. They come out of the chrysalis on white "strings" which you can sometimes see. At first, the larva are white and soft and look like mini-grubs. But they pupate into this brown thing you see, and after a few days, a fly comes out. Don't worry, I squished it. It will never harm another butterfly!

I went to USF Botanical Gardens again today. This time, Dad came along. And I got you guys a variety of butterflies and caterpillars to feed your appetite for all things Lepidoptera!

This Polydamas caterpillar was not supposed to be this blurry.



The Queen was still there on the same milkweed plant! I showed Dad and even he could tell the difference between it and the Monarchs once he saw one in person. Remember, three sets of tubercles instead of two!



There were several Monarchs flying around which was cool but they started getting annoying when they chased the other butterflies away.



Monarch caterpillars abounded, as well. Two sets of tubercles (the things people call antennas, but they don't get antennas until they become butterflies).




Barred Sulphur up in some Oxalis. They get that reddish look in their winter form.



Look, it's another Monarch!



This Cassius Blue stopped just long enough for me to get a picture.



It took me a while, but I finally got a picture of this Polydamas Swallowtail. When I submit this to BAMONA, I think I should just type, "EL NINO!!!" in the comments section.



I only got a blurry picture of this Duskywing because the Monarchs were being jerks. But it was good to see a Duskywing as I haven't seen one in a while.



This Cloudless Sulphur led me on a merry chase, but I caught her as she was checking out a Cassia to lay eggs on.



The only butterfly I saw that I didn't get a picture of was a Zebra Longwing. I was glad to see one of those since we had such cold weather. They flee when it gets too cold. I think it was 2009-10 where we had two bad winters in a row. I went an entire year without seeing a Zebra Longwing in the wild and it freaked me out.

No butterflies today as it was cool and overcast, and I was out there kind of late in the day. But I did have some caterpillar experiences to share.

We finally got cold enough that some of my passion vines are losing their leaves. And the pipevine is finally going dormant. I found this little Gulf Fritillary cat on my P. lutea and I moved him over to P. 'Lavender Lady'. You can see the plant he was on was not going to support him to butterfly-hood.



Whereas, 'Lavender Lady' is actually blooming. It's also starting to creep toward the garage so I'm going to have to move it. But at least my caterpillar has plenty to eat now.



Some of my Corkystem Passion vines (P. suberosa) are doing well, depending on where they are in the yard. This one got egg-bombed. The yellow color and the fact that they're clumped together make me think Zebra Longwing, although I haven't seen one in the yard in a while. Generally, this time of year would only be Gulf Frits. I might have to bring those inside and see what they hatch into. I can always take them to MOSI - we're a little light on caterpillars right now.



I was checking my Senna ligustrina for caterpillars and general health. One of them has gotten a little misshapen. I think I might dig it up and let one of the seedlings that have popped up take its place. Anyway, don't ask how I saw this, but there was a little orange thing dangling from silk off a leaf. This Sulphur caterpillar is probably only a day or two old. If you're having trouble spotting it, look at the dark spot on my finger. I think it's dirt. Then, go southwest. See the orange thing? Baby Sulphur caterpillar. I put him on a leaf where he could munch happily.



Speaking of munching happily, something bigger had been eating my Senna. So it's another episode of caterpillar hunting with Melanie! Now, I first saw these chewed leaves and you can tell it's very fresh. Look at the droplets of water where the leaf was eaten.



Nearby were more chewed leaves, but that looked like older damage.



I kept looking, afraid a bird might have gotten my prey instead, but then I found him! An Orange-Barred Sulphur. I was looking for Cloudless Sulphurs since they're more common this time of year, but you know what I'm going to say - "El Nino!" If we do have warmer years, the Orange-Barreds will stick around longer, but this was still a bit of a surprise. I did bring this guy in and put him in a container. Sulphurs have to get so big before I bring them in because: they have a horrible death rate, and it's super hard to find those little guys even in a tank.



In spring preparation news, host plants are coming back for the spring butterflies! I was in the ditch in front of my neighbor's yard, checking out the situation. This is the one that my neighbor agreed not to mow and then three days later the county came and did it. I may have to throw myself in front of a mower this year, folks. I count on you guys to raise my bail money.

The first host plant is Pellitory which is used by Red Admirals. Red Admirals also use False Nettles and Stinging Nettles, and this is in the same family, but is much nicer since it doesn't sting you. It grows in sun or shade but seems to like places that stay a little on the wet side. It dries right up as soon as it gets hot so it's one of those weeds I wouldn't bother to pull even if it wasn't a host plant. It got hot so early last year that I didn't get to raise any Red Admirals. They build nests in the Pellitory and hopefully I'll be able to show you that in a month or two!



Also making a comeback is Virginia Pepper Grass. This is used by the Checkered White, primarily. We feed it to the Great Southern Whites at MOSI, but I've never seen them lay on it in the wild. I've only ever seen one Cabbage White in Florida, so I don't know what they're doing. Harassing farmers? Checkered Whites lay the eggs right under the flowers so that's where you have to look. They only lay a couple at a time, though. Great Southern Whites are nicer because they tend to lay their eggs in clusters which makes them easier to collect at the museum. Pepper Grass grows along the sides of the road and in disturbed sites. It grows all over the medians of the interstates. I used to get stuck in rush hour traffic and just sit and watch the Whites fly around. But this is another plant that dries up as soon as it gets hot, so not worth pulling, but you also don't see the Whites later in the year because of that. FYI, if you're looking for something else to feed White butterflies that isn't a weed, they will use Cleome (aka Spider Flower). Just make sure you have plenty of it! Here's Pepper Grass pictures (and yes, the seedpods have a peppery taste, though I've personally never tried it).



FYI, the white flower in there is Spanish Needles. They also grow in the same kind of areas. When I sit in traffic, I often see the Dainty Sulphurs that use it as a host right alongside the Whites. I used to drive down the interstate and just see tons of each species every spring. And don't worry folks, I promise spring is right around the corner!

mellielong said: And don't worry folks, I promise spring is right around the corner!

In Florida maybe.
It won't show here until April....

All right folks, move along, nothing to see here. Because it's now in the February thread: The thread "February 2016 Butterflies, Moths & Larva" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum