Monarch update

I released one male today...but when I cleaned out the butterfly house, I counted 38 Monarch caterpillars! Woohoo! Lots more butterflies to come. :-)

Also...the Swallowtail cats are still alive, though they aren't eating a whole lot. I think they're doing a starvation protest. :-(

Black Swallowtail update

Finally witnessed the Black Swallowtail butterfly laying eggs on my parsley. They look a little different from the Monarch's eggs. These are round and more creamy colored. Hope I can get a couple generations of raising in before winter. I don't have much parsley this year (heavy rainfall in the spring killed it down) so I was buying parsley at the store to feed the caterpillars that I found on my parsley. Then I wondered why they were dying off as soon as I brought them in. Duh.....pesticides! I admit I had to Google it, didn't think of it myself. Wonder what they do to us? Anyway, with the help of my mom today I was trying to brainstorm other sources of food for them. They eat plants in the carrot family...carrot tops, parsley, fennel, and wild carrot...anyone know what the other name for wild carrot is? Queen Anne's Lace! Yippee! I had my food source! So I picked some along the roadside today and transferred two little Swallowtail guinea pigs onto it. :-) I hope they will eat it and like it and grow! I will keep you updated!

Unique Monarch shot

This isn't crystal sharp, but it was hard to get a shot of these two up in the tree! This is a pair of Monarchs mating.
I think I've seen everything now...all the stages of a Monarchs life.
Mating, laying eggs, teeny tiny caterpillar, bigger cats, shedding skin, J-hooking, turning into a chrysalis, emerging as a butterfly...and flying away to do it all over again!
What a miracle!

A new kind of caterpillar!

I'm not going to go crazy with this one, but it was fun to see a new caterpillar and ID it. This one is the caterpillar of the Buckeye butterfly. I hope to catch a photo of the butterfly soon! In the meanwhile this cat is enjoying my snapdragons which is one of its host plants. Tonight it was on a nearby plant, so maybe it's ready to form a chrysalis. Who knows! Stay tuned!

Monarch update

Released two females and a male today.

Monarch update

Released two males and a female today.

Monarch update

Released two females and a male today.