I did not a photo , yesterday I saw a small Butterfly , A copper or a Satyr , about that size anyway , Way too early yet , But I have seen the Mourning Cloaks in February ,,

I spent six hours at MOSI today and it was super fun and I totally overdid it. I'm going to crash now and whenever my body decides to wake up, I'll post super awesome photos.

I'm starting to see signs of spring here too... and saw my first butterfly of the year. I think it was a Question Mark, not to be confused with a ? Or maybe it was a Comma. Not sure as it was a fleeting moment.

It looked something like this ~

Very pretty Christine, those are so lovely too.

Okay, I'm awake and I took a Flexeril before I went to bed so I don't hurt too much. I had to help Dad with his computer and he apologizes for taking me away from you guys.

Christine, I'm no expert on Commas and Question Marks, but I did see a lot of them when I was in KY and WV one fall. I think yours is a Comma. The Question Mark looks bigger to me, has more scalloping on the wings, and longer "tails". It's hard to tell though, if you don't see them very often.

Here's a picture I took when I released my Orange-Barred Sulphur in the morning. I love fresh butterflies. And Sulphurs that hold still!



Now for yesterday's pictures. The weather here is absolutely beautiful, although rain is on the way for tomorrow night into Wednesday. That's supposed to drop the temps a bit, too. But you can definitely tell the variety of butterflies is starting to increase.

In the flight cage we had one Polydamas Swallowtail left. I don't think any of them laid eggs and we had plenty of butterflies. It's like they somehow know they're not supposed to be out this time of year.



We had Zebra Longwings in the flight cage and I saw some outside, too. I caught one, but it was totally asking for it.



We have a Kumquat in the flight cage and it's main use is as a host plant for Giant Swallowtails. Right now, though, it's in bloom. I was standing between it and the Sweet Almond Bush, which is also in bloom, and I'm pretty sure I now know what heaven smells like. The butterflies were actually nectaring on the Kumquat blooms which I don't often see since it only blooms once a year.



We still have some Malachites and they are very popular with the guests.



When I catch butterflies outside and then put them in the flight cage, they often go into what I like to call "freak out mode". They flap around the top of the screen like they want out. Eventually, they calm down and go nectar. Here's one of two Gulf Fritillaries I caught yesterday.



I also caught two Cloudless Sulphurs and one of them was laying an egg when I caught her so maybe she'll lay eggs in the flight cage! By the way, this is about the only time of I can catch a Sulphur. They're so fast!



The butterflies were also helping with the signage. Seriously, I think the plastic was warm from the sun.



Here's a Monarch on Cleome (Spider Flower). Remember, Cleome can be used as a host plant for many of the White butterflies.



I was checking the new plant order in the shade house when I saw (and captured) this Spotted Oleander Caterpillar Moth.



Why is it called the Spotted Oleander Caterpillar Moth? Check out the caterpillar! See, there's an Oleander Moth caterpillar that is plain orange with black tufts, so this one had to be named something different. I found four of them, and no, they don't sting. They do, however, move a lot faster than you would think.



Skipper out in the garden. It's on the native Scorpion Tail (Heliotropium angiospermum).



Back in the lab, we have Great Southern White caterpillars! They're lucky they're so pretty because they stink! We're feeding them collard greens so imagine how it smells when you cook cabbage and throw in a little frass. Not quite as bad as Pipevine, but not a fun tank to clean. Anyway, you can see where they all molted together on the back of a leaf. Now, they're back to eating that leaf into oblivion.



This is the most faded Phaon Crescent I've ever seen, but I'm going to send it to BAMONA to be sure.



I caught this Long-Tailed Skipper right after I took pictures. But a lizard caught it in the flight cage! It got loose from the lizard, but the head was so damaged I had to euthanize it.



This Gulf Frit caterpillar is curled up because it's scared. Then again, if a giant hand came out of nowhere and grabbed me, I would probably curl into the fetal position, too.



Here's a Monarch on a geranium!



And here's a Malachite and a Monarch! See how blue the sky was yesterday? And it was in the 70's.



Back home, it started clouding up, but I still found this little Skipper on my Tampa Vervain (Glandularia tampensis). That plant is endangered.



And my well is starting to become a hub of activity again. The moth caterpillar I found pupated, but died. It's pretty gross. But BAMONA says it's a Tolype species, probably Tolype velleda. Yesterday, all I found was a bag worm, but he was sticking his head out a bit which was cool.

Melanie

Christine, you have a Question Mark, I believe. They have 4 spots on the forewing, while the Comma has 3. QMs are much more commonly seen than Commas, too. Some people believe that all QMs have a white "?" on the underwing, and all Comma's have just the curved half circle on their underwings. But that's not so. Many QMs are missing the "." below the half circle, so we can't always confirm the ID by those markings. Generally speaking, the male QMs are smaller than the females, too.

I love the QMs and attract them on my suet feeder that I put rotting bananas in when they arrive. We have lots of Elm and I usually get lots of their curiously "stacked" eggs on the leaves.

Mellie, love, love, love your photos. The adult Oleander moths are so pretty! And, I'm crazy about the Malachite! The Cabbage Whites eat up my Cleomes during the summer. But, I don't mind.

I have to get more passion flower this year. Mine died out last year - I'm assuming they are incompatible with the black walnut, too. So, I'll have to grow them in pots.....

Susan

Susan! Be sure to fill out your profile so we can see where you're from and stuff. This is the best forum (and thread) on ATP, but I might be biased.

In case you didn't catch it, I volunteer in the butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). I've been there since 2008 and began raising butterflies (and the occasional moth) in 2007. I tend to have more photo opportunities since I have captive recruits so I've been giving all the Northerners their butterfly fix this winter. You seem to know a lot about butterflies! I'd love to hear your experience, what your favorite species is, if you raise them, etc. Welcome to the group!

Let's see if this is better.

I have been at this for awhile, but not long enough to claim any kind of expert status.... There's always something to learn!

I have raised the following:

Monarch
Queen
Gulf Fritillary
Variegated Fritillary
Black Swallowtail
Giant Swallowtail (have 2 overwintering chrysalises)
Tiger Swallowtail
Spicebush Swallowtail
Pipevine Swallowtail
Buckeye
Red Admiral
Question Mark
Cloudless Sulphur
Sleepy Orange
Hackberry Emperor
Tawny Emperor
Common Sootywing
Grey Hairstreak
Gorgone Checkerspot
Silvery Checkerspot

Sphinx Moths:

Manduca sexta
M. quinquemaculata
Agrius cingulata
Paratrea plebeja
Amorpha juglandis
Erinnyis obscura
Hemaris diffinus
Eumorpha achemon
E. pandorus
Amphion floridensis
Darapsa myron
Xylophanes tersa

I have one overwintering M. sexta.

I don't know why I can recall the Latin names for the moths, but not the butterflies. Must do with my brain wiring or something.

Anyway, I quit for awhile when my oldest GD stopped being interested. But, now my youngest has become enthralled, so I'm getting back into it with her.

Susan

That's quite a list! We usually use common names on here unless there's a reason to get more specific. Or when some of the moths don't have common names. Although, for plants I try to use the Latin name, especially if we're talking host plants. I don't want any confusion over what to plant. I remember when I was researching host plants for the White Peacock and found out Bacopa is used as a genus name but is also a common name for a plant that is not related at all to what I wanted! Arrgh!

I don't have a checklist of butterflies and moths I've raised, but I suppose that would be a good thing to do. Oh, and for the record, we often refer to BAMONA which are the nice folks at www.butterfliesandmoths.org I like to report my sightings to them and use them for ID purposes, especially when it comes to Skippers.

That's an impressive list!
Welcome to Butterflyville Susan.

Thanks!

I agree with you on the use of Latin for plants - too much confusion in overlapping common names. Yesterday I was trying to find info on my Caesalpinia gillisii, also commonly referred to as Bird of Paradise. Well, you can see where that led already. Even some of the "experts" were confused by assuming it was a question concerning the genus Streletzia. I had used the Latin search terms, too!

Susan

Susan, Welcome to the Butterfly forum from Arlington Texas.
It looks like you really love butterflies, I think we will be able to share and learn from you as well.

Welcome, Susan. That is great that you found us and I hope you will stop by regularly.

Thank you Susan and Melanie for the butterfly ID. Hopefully I will be seeing more of them.

I agree about Latin names for plants.

Hey Susan! Welcome to ATP & the BBB forum, butterflies in particular!
Oh I am indeed looking forward to photos from your neck of the woods. That's an impressive list of the ones you have raised!

I went to a meeting of native plant people last night, which had a speaker (a graduate student) from the University of Texas at San Antonio who told us about a program for the study of the Monarchs and their host plants. I noticed that like many people from northern states, he was surprised when he started working on this and found out that some of the Monarchs come to Texas in the fall will lay eggs on host plants. Not the story people usually hear.But I was glad to hear his talk and learn about the program. They even grow milkweeds to learn more and have Monarchs that they raise in a protected environment.I remember the head of this program from my years at the university, but she wasn't there last night.

I throughly enjoyed your report of the 22nd Melanie.

Good to hear this Linda.

Thanks, Ann. I like your choice of syntax. I felt like I was reading either military correspondence or an old newspaper. My genealogy hobby leads me to read a lot of interesting things.

Linda, that's great to know there are programs going on in your area. As a Floridian, I feel like there's not a lot I can do about helping the Monarch migration. When I talk to guests at MOSI, and they mention they're from the Midwest or somewhere along the migration route, I encourage them to plant milkweed and many already are!

Lots of rain today and cooler weather on the way. I still have so much I need to do in my garden, but allergies are killing me. I go see the doctor in the afternoon.

It's good that we'll be running the heat the next few days, that will filter the air in the house. Let's hope this cold snap will zap some of those darned oak tree flowers, huh? Pollen season is nearly upon us! I've taken to washing my 4 huge oak trees with my power washer to get rid of pollen around here. Works pretty well.

I'm not allergic but even I get itchy eyes and nose at this time of year. I wear glasses and a hat and sometimes if I'm going to be outside for a while I've even worn one of those little painters' masks. Then I change all my clothes when I come indoors so I'm not carrying the pollen around on me. Ick!

My dad is a woodturner and he wears a dust mask when he turns. He bought me one for when I garden. It's rated to filter out anything above 1 micron. I went to the doctor today and she's trying me on Advair. I took it years ago, but I guess I'll try it again!