I haven’t posted for a while but I haven’t forgotten to. I ran into an issue with my host where they thought my old MT blog might have been a security concern, but in the end it wasn’t really.
The plants and butterflies are doing well, except the plants the rabbits are eating!
I got some pictures in last night from my film camera. Once I get a chance to scan them in I will post them and other updates.
on July 15th, 2006 at 8:01 am
I really enjoyed your website. It was very helpful in letting us know what kind of catepillar we were seeing on my mother’s lemon tree. It is the giant swallowtail!!
We love to watch the lifecycle of butterflies. We have several milkweek plants and are always watching the monarch catepillars and looking for their crysalils!!
We live in the suburbs of New Orleans and sometimes have butterflies all year long!!
Thanks again for a great website!!
on August 4th, 2006 at 9:24 pm
We have our very own Butterflygirl! She is our ten-year-old daughter June, otherwise known as Hedgehog. She loves butterflies, but only live ones. She would never agree to pin them onto cardboard in a glass case—she loves them too much.
My wife, Sara, and I do our gardening on one of the Gulf Island off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. I understand you’re in St. Louis. Once in a while we drive down to Seattle, Washington to the incredibly well managed Woodland Park Zoo. As you might know, they have a butterfly exhibit down there, where Hedgehog would love to spend the whole summer, if only she could.
Her favorite is the startling Zebra Swallowtail. Once she spent so much time in there, one of them landed on her jacket. Being a proud father, I snapped a picture. The attendants brush you off with a feather duster, to make sure that none of them has stuck to your clothing on the way out.
We have a rather large Butterfly Bush called Border Beauty, but all it’s attracted so far this year are white butterflies. Last summer I saw one or two Monarchs (at least I thought they were Monarchs) but I didn’t tell Hedgehog, because she was out shopping with her mother and would have been heartbroken.
In fact, the caterpillar damage has been minimal this year, so it seems that they’re staying away. Our island is getting to be more and more populated, and with all the barbecues going full blast in this warm weather, it’s no surprise that the butterflies prefer less populated areas.
How far into the country are you located? Do you get as many butterflies this year as usual? What are your favorites (guess I’ll have to read the rest of your postings)?
We don’t use any pesticides, only 100% safe and organic ones, like Bug Away, made by a company called Advanced Nutrients. We also inoculate our plants against pathogens with a product called Scorpion Juice and feed them with Iguana Juice, Grow and Bloom. Don’t be fooled by the name, the latter is a fish extract organic nutrient, which results in prize-winning blooms and succulent vegetables.
Now if June would only learn the names of all the butterflies with the same enthusiasm that she has memorized all her favorite Pokemon characters, she could have a great career as a lepidopterist!
on August 4th, 2006 at 11:38 pm
I came to this site while writing about wildlife in my country. What I find here is so much interesting. I never though this way about butterflies.
on July 9th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I love your photos of the spicebush swallowtail and all your other photos too. Thanks for sharing with us. Check out http://www.forbutterflies.org There’s a group of other people that love butterflies and want to promote them, too. Mona Miller
on July 23rd, 2007 at 6:49 am
You have the best pictures of the caterpillars I have been trying to identify! Thank you. I have lots of black swallowtail caterpillars on my parsley plant. If I want to try to bring some in to my classroom, should I provide a stick in the cage as a place for them to form the chrysalis? What kind of sticks/plants do they prefer. I live in Florida, so we are blessed with butterflys all year long. Right now I have zebrawing, gulf fritillary, monarch and black swallowtail caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflys in my yard and I just started this endeavor in June! I just love watching them!