CassieBash's Critters Spring 2017 edition

I think the worst of the winter weather is behind us now. It still gets chilly at night occasionally, but the daytime temps say "spring". Last weekend, the weather was nice enough to work in the garden, clearing out the old leaves and stems and weeding. It was so nice, that I took some video of our pond, this time focusing on the frogs. I also have had a few butterflies hatch out: one of each of the swallowtails have hatched this past week (tiger, black, and spicebush), and while cleaning the garden, I found a naturally shed antler from one of the deer. My guess is that he rubbed it off on the fencepost, since my garden borders the pasture for the horses. But you're probably just itching to see the frogs, so without further ado: the frog video.

For those just discovering my threads, if you're interested, the Winter edition is here.

A frog video is motivation to click over from the winter thread.

>2 qebo: No doubt! Actually, because of LT's space limitations on pictures, I may post more and more video links--unless I hear a lot of complaints. Unfortunately, due to processing the video, this may slow my pace down. I filmed this on Saturday or Sunday and have just now gotten it uploaded to YouTube, so there was a 3-4 day turnaround. On the other hand, instead of just seeing stills of the critters, you can now enjoy the flutter of newly-hatched butterfly wings (well, not NOW, of course, but later in the season), the antics of a dog, the frolics of a cat, or the pounding of horse hooves. I might back-post; I do have some videos from previous years of horses, cats, dogs, foxes, and other creatures of interest, and YouTube isn't necessarily a bad "backup" system for my files. Beats filling up my hard drive.

I do burn the files onto DVDs, so the whole family can enjoy. I've made a very personal disc for myself of the two cats preceding Peppa that's a sort of memorial to them; Nocturne died of old age (he was 18 years, 7 months) and Sherbie was hit by a car before she made the transition from barn cat to indoor cat. Having the videos of them is a great comfort.

Hi, Cassie! Happy new thread! I enjoyed "meeting" the frogs.

Love the froggies, thread is starred!

Last night, another butterfly--a tiger swallowtail--was released into the world. I'm getting about one butterfly emergence a day right now from last year's chrysalises. I've been seeing red admirals--not many, but enough to make me think about looking for their caterpillars in another week or two. The nettle is up but not very high yet; if I find caterpillars now, I'll be finding them on the youngest nettle in my memory. This year has been exceptionally warm overall; we've had several days of 70 degree weather and hit the 80s last Saturday. We've been having a bit of rain on and off--maybe not what we should, but not so little that it's hurt the plants too much. NOAA is predicting the above-average temps to stick around through June (great, another hot year) but with an equal chance of either getting above average, average, or below average rainfall. So the question of whether we'll have prolonged dry spells is up in the air.

I did splurge a bit and got a couple of decorations for the garden. They came from a PetSmart's aquarium aisle. I have concluded that fish have the best decor of the pet kingdom, cats have the best toys, and dogs have the best apparel. Of course, this is all subjective opinion, as taste in toys, decor, and apparel vary from person to person. But I got a "green man"/Ent-type tree stump and a rearing Asian dragon. Yes, I know the dragon is supposed to be submerged so it can blow bubbles, but I have a thing for dragons. I think I'm going to collect more dragon garden decor and create a little dragon-lovers glen. I already have two others.

>6 CassieBash: The red admirals and swallowtails have been out and about here as well. The admirals are once again dive-bombing the grey tabby cat, who is too arthritic to bother them.

Last week I saw what I think was a goshawk right in downtown Indianapolis by the statehouse. It was sitting on the lawn and just looking around, probably watching for the chipmunk that lives in the storm drain between the government center and the State Library.

I am not looking forward to the hot weather.

>7 casvelyn: Your poor cat, to be bothered annually by butterflies. I don't know about goshawks in cities, but I know that Peregrine falcons are becoming much more common. You can compare them here visually. And yes, not looking forward to heat, especially when dealing with hot flashes. I do have to wonder, though--my hot flashes are usually followed by chills; will that happen when the temps hit 90 with high humidity?

>8 CassieBash: carry a fan, seriously. I have some folding types that I used to carry with me for those "personal summers" that often strike at the most inopportune moments.

I've not seen any Red Admirals here, but I did see and photograph an American Lady, a Common Sootywing, and some sort of Comma butterfly. I also saw a couple yellow Tiger swallowtails, and several Silver-spotted skippers.

>8 CassieBash: I don't think it was a falcon, although it doesn't look like the goshawk in that link. It didn't exactly look like anything, but the goshawk is closest. Certainly not a red-tailed, sharp-shinned, or Cooper's hawk. Mine looked a lot like this picture at the Audubon Society. Apparently goshawks have been seen around here, rarely, and in the larger city parks rather than the city itself.

I tried to take pictures, but all I had was my cheapo phone, and there was a dirty window between me and the hawk. So it's kind of a "can you identify this grey vaguely raptor-shaped blob" affair at this point.

>9 fuzzi: I've already been carrying a fan; it's a palm-woven one. I also have a battery/electric cord fan that I've got at work, but it's small enough to bring home if I really need it during evenings and weekends. But I am curious to know if the chill will follow--can you get chills with temps like that?

>10 casvelyn: And hawks/falcons are fast, so they're hard to get a picture of if they're on the wing. But it's good to know that goshawks, like Peregrines, are adaptable.

No butterflies emerged yesterday, but I did see what I think was a question mark butterfly on the wing. It didn't stop long enough for me to properly ID it, but the basic coloring, size, and flight pattern were right. Relatives of the admirals, they have that same flitting, jerky flight but are much more golden brown than orange-red.

I'm hoping to prep some videos for everyone; to follow up on my amphibian theme, I recorded an American toad singing in the bog this weekend, looking for a mate. Later, the bog will be swarming with tadpoles, both frog and toad. But right now the toads seem to be the amorous ones. Their tadpoles develop quickly and they'll be hopping around as tiny toads later this year; green frogs can take their time to an extent, because their babies remain tadpoles for over a year.

>11 CassieBash: after I go to bed, I often have to kick off the covers and let the breeze from the ceiling fan cool me...but then I get cold, too. Is that what you mean by "chill"?

>12 fuzzi: Yes, but I don't have to have a fan to get the chill (although it seems to speed up the process). I read that there are some women who only get chills and don't get the flush of heat; I'm waiting to see if my naturally cold-blooded sister is one. Last night was the closest I've come to an actual night sweat, but as usual, the warmth woke me up before I could get too sweaty.

But what you've probably all been waiting for are the singing toads video, which is actually two separate (but recorded pretty much back to back) videos spliced together. Watch for the frog cameos, too, even if the frogs aren't yet serenading us. I'll try to film them when they start in, too.

Sunny but breezy and cool today, so I'm mostly going to work on inside things. I'll go out and do a little weeding later perhaps; I've actually got a pretty good handle on the weeds so far. Mostly what's sprouting now that need controlled are sunflower volunteers from the nearby bird feeders and the morning glories, which are easy to pull right now.

In a couple of weeks, our Humane Society will have their big spring fundraiser, "Catsino" night. My sister is a board member and she's putting together a couple of prize baskets, and I'm helping stock them. They always seem to get a lot of dog-themed things and little to nothing for cat people, so one of the baskets will be cat-themed and I'm making a few catnip toys. The other is a tea theme and I'm donating a few bags of both caffeinated and herbal teas; I'm off caffeine anyway now, thanks to the endometriosis, so someone else might as well use it. I haven't been drinking much hot tea anyway due to hot flashes, so even the herbal is just sitting around, though I'm thinking of making "iced" herbal tea--mint and Krogers's sweet cinnamon spice are my favorites and I think both would be good on ice. So I'm going to do some sewing and make some cat toys instead of gardening, and maybe drink a cup of hot tea cooled by ice.

I like the decaf version of Green tea. I have no issues with drinking it.

>15 fuzzi: Decaf still has some caffeine in it, just not as much, and while the amount is so minute, I figure every little bit counts, especially since phytoestrogens are everywhere and you can't possibly avoid all ingestion. Pretty much all food has some. Caffeine is a (relatively) easy cut from my estrogen list and only when I indulge in chocolate (which also contains some) do I get some caffeine in my diet. My uncle has had kidney stones and that was one thing he was told to cut out of his diet, so I figure I'm also doing a favor to my kidneys at the same time. But I did try chilled sweet cinnamon spice tea on Saturday, and it was excellent! Later this summer, I'm going to make sun tea in a canning jar with a couple of mint tea bags and see what happens.

Weeding progressed a little; the morning glories are starting to come up and I'm pulling the babies in the areas I don't want them. Also just up are my swamp milkweed and two of the four butterfly weed; at least they are one of each color (traditional orange and the yellow). I'm not sure if the other pair, also one of each color, made it through the winter or if they're just a little farther behind. The coneflowers, daisies, and Jerusalem artichoke are all really growing now; the artichoke will have to be brought in line again. Since last year's experiment with the seasonings, the artichoke actually got to thrive and now they're everywhere again. Mom was very concerned two years ago, as they had been eaten so very often that there were only a few coming up, but that's definitely not the case this year! I sprinkled the spices yesterday; the next chance for rain isn't until Thursday. I also spent a little time yesterday back under the birdfeeder area, starting up the project of removing the build-up of years of seeds rotting under the feeders. I broke up the crusty top layer and let the raccoons go to town back there, and to let some air dry it out. All the rotting vegetation stunk to high heaven, but once you get under that top crusty layer, there's some rich black dirt. Between the decomposed veggie matter and bird guano, it should be!

Unfortunately, I'm on the evening shift until further notice, so gardening will not be something I'll be doing for a bit. As students prepare for finals next week, I'm prepared to work a seven day week starting today, followed by basically a six day week. Urg. But such is life, and I like to give the students as much an opportunity to use the library as possible. I may not have anyone show up on the Sunday hours (it's always hit and miss each year), but at least I can honestly say I tried!

Forgot to mention that I had two spicebush and two black swallowtails emerge from their winter siesta on Sunday. Yesterday was beautiful but not a single emergence. When I left this morning, no new developments, but my sisters will check for me tonight and I will check again tomorrow morning. We are supposed to have scattered t-storms tomorrow but not until around 8 PM or so, so the little guys should have time to find shelter if they emerge.

Busy, busy, busy! You sound very productive, though, and the students should appreciate you.

>16 CassieBash: thanks for the update! I've been drinking decaf green tea, and chamomille (naturally decaf) tea, and like both of them. I sometimes put a little bit of honey (antioxidants) in my hot tea, which helps me with sugar cravings.

I take my spading fork and just turn over the stuff under the feeders. It's usually full of earth worms, and does not smell, for which I am thankful.

Did I mention that I'm growing more carrots this year, to supplement my swallowtails' feedings?

>18 ronincats: Every so often, usually at graduation, I get one or two students who thank me for their help. And the Student Government will send me thank you notes after the library space is used for an event. Otherwise, librarians seem to get taken for granted by students. Right now, except for material returns, I'm not helping students much. They're busy finishing courses and prepping for finals next week--Honors Ceremony is Friday night on the 5th, followed by Graduation Ceremony mid-morning on the 6th. As the only librarian committed to being there for both days (one is out for surgery, the other is expecting her first grandchild to be born that weekend), I'm going to be busy helping Registrar's Office. The library is the only place big enough to hold our grads as they line up for ceremonies. Here is a beautiful picture of the chapel here at Ancilla, where we hold our Honors and Graduation Ceremonies. Even if you're not Catholic, it's beautiful and impressive. (The picture is huge and not mine, therefore the link.)

I'm into shameless plugs, and while searching for pictures of the chapel, I came across the 50 Most Affordable Small Catholic Colleges 2015, and we're #30 on their list. Ironically, the picture they show is not the college entrance but the main entrance to the main complex, which aside from the college also houses the Sisters themselves and the Maria Center residents--Maria Center is the Sisters' independent senior living. Their entire operation, which includes an art gallery (MoonTree), a Beef and Grain farm, and assisted living (Catherine Kasper Home), is known as The Center at Donaldson. Donaldson is a very tiny "town" about 15 minutes west of Plymouth, Indiana.

>19 fuzzi: Yeah, honey's good stuff, and sometimes I put it in my tea, too. And depending on how strong the sun makes the mint tea, even I may have to put a little in. That sun tea is good stuff!

Mom wants the level under the feeder brought back to the same level as the surrounding ground; it's been building up for years, so I think that's part of the smell. The unevenness of the ground level upsets her balance. Once I get this done, I'd like to do what you do, or at least keep that crust from developing on top, so that the raccoons can help me keep the soil loose and turned.

Excellent option for swallowtails; they always love carrots. The stuff I'm thinking (almost positive) is hemlock growing along the side of the road, and upon which I found a few black swallowtail caterpillars last year, seems to have spread. We're going to have to get rid of it somehow this year, before it spreads into our field, but it's extremely toxic and therefore must be handled carefully. I'm thinking of trying a solution of vinegar, salt, and dish soap as described here to get rid of poison ivy. Apparently, this mixture works much like Roundup but without the nastier chemical stuff, and Roundup is one thing they say kills the hemlock. It's worth a try.

>20 CassieBash: I'd be interested in your Poison Ivy killer recipe, as we have a LOT of it so far this year, and I am allergic.

>21 fuzzi: It's on the link above; the subtle "here" link in the last paragraph. I'll make it a little less subtle by making the link longer. I know those links can get lost in the shuffle if they're only a one-word link. You'll have to scroll past the "how to identify" stuff, down to where the picture of the vinegar, soap, and salt are. My mom shares your allergies and none of the rest of us are none too keen to test our luck.

I did some more filming this morning before leaving for work, and hope to get the footage processed and posted later tonight. I've started a spring walk-through of our gardens and the videos include my garden, the pond ('cause everyone loves the pond), the patio bed across from the pond, and the front hillside garden.

Oh, and just so you know, I haven't tried the above recipe to kill plants yet. Anyone with a bad poison ivy infestation that wants to try it out before we do and give us a review here, please feel free to do so.

But now, without further ado, here's today's promised videos!

My garden

The pond garden

The patio garden

The front hillside gardens

Later this week, I'd like to film and post the other hillside garden, the original waterfall pool (still under reconstruction), and the round bed that's behind the pond. Until then, enjoy these!

>22 CassieBash: lol, I see the link now!

I'm going to check out the videos shortly.

In a couple of the videos, I mention that violets are a great spangled fritillary's host plant for the caterpillars. I also said that I hadn't yet found evidence of munching. Well, today I went out a little before going to work, and now I have seen the signs! Little notches have been eaten into the violet leaves, and it looks like caterpillars to me! Also, I'm seeing the tightly rolled nettle leaves that indicate the likelihood of red admiral caterpillars. Unfortunately, with my crazy work schedule, it's not a good time to start collecting yet. *Sigh*. Things will be better once I get past graduation this Saturday; I'll reassess my ability to care for caterpillars then.

>25 CassieBash: I've been seeing variegated fritillaries around lately, so I'm hopeful about my increasing patches of violets. Last year I watched one laying eggs in my front yard, but I never found the caterpillars.

>26 qebo: They may also be evening feeders, like the spangled. If so, look for them during the early morning or late evening hours, or on very overcast days. And look for signs of nibbles on your leaves! :)

I'm trying to upload a bird compilation video to YouTube, but our net connection here has been slow--maybe too many students studying or taking finals! :) Anyway, I got one to load, the video of our barn hillside gardens. I'll try for the bird one in the next post, but it's been stuck on 89% uploading and it's counting time up rather than down. Not a good sign.

Bird video finally finished!

After the graduation thing today, I intend on collecting the red admiral caterpillars that I can find. We may have a frost coming up in the next couple of days, and I want to collect at least a few to nurture. I don't think that it'll kill the hardier plants like the nettles, but it might be detrimental to the caterpillars. I finally get tomorrow to stay home (today is the 13th day of being at Ancilla, and I'm exhausted), and I'm taking three days off next week. I hope to catch up on garden care: weeding and fertilizing using the stuff under the birdfeeders, plus working on replacing the fencing. I might also move and weed some Jerusalem artichoke from the garden path. I definitely want to catch any straggler morning glories coming up in places I don't want them, plus the chickweed is trying to come back again. And, of course, some video projects might be in order....

>29 CassieBash: hey! I drove by the Ancilla sign on Friday, just after noon, and waved. :)

>30 fuzzi: I was still there; we had just finished up our 50th commencement graduation ceremony. I have to hang out in the library afterwards for a decent amount of time, since the students use the library for robing and tend to leave purses, sweaters, jackets, and of course hangers lying around. I always end up with a small pile of unclaimed hangers.

Yesterday I filmed little toad tadpoles in the pond; I'll try to get the video processed later today and ready for uploading to YouTube. Our local Humane Society had their spring fundraiser, "Catsino", on Saturday and I bought tickets for one of the prize packages, along with my sisters, and we won! Among the package's really nice bonuses was a big fleece blanket (my older sister got that), 6 tickets to "A Chorus Line", playing at the local Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend (show is in February, so lots of time to find a couple of available friends to go with the four of us), and what I consider to be the plum in the pudding, a video recorder! Not that my Nikon doesn't do a good job, but it eats batteries like crazy when it's filming, and I'm hoping that the video recorder won't be a power-hungry (or it takes a more powerful set of batteries). But you also can't zoom in, video-wise, on an iPhone like you can with Nikon, and there are some times, like filming tadpoles, when a zoom would be handy!

Video time! As promised, I have the tadpole video, plus a few bonus videos for good measure!

Tadpoles, stage one
Red Admiral caterpillar, the pen is for an idea of scale. These are very young and small yet (I have smaller than these, not much bigger than a thread, but they wouldn't film well).
Black Swallowtail butterfly
Raccoons under the birdfeeder.

I hope to film the tadpoles periodically throughout their life, as well as film the admirals when they're bigger and fatter. Ultimately, I hope to be able to film a caterpillar making a chrysalis and one hatching. Not that there aren't other films of that out there, but it's cool no matter how many times you see it.

>31 CassieBash: I'm back, and catching up.

Nice prizes!

Welcome back, fuzzi. Hope you enjoyed your visit.

Yesterday was nice--low 70s and some sun-and since I have time off, it was garden time. I weeded and worked on controlling the Jerusalem artichokes; I finally found my fourth butterfly weed from last year, buried under artichoke. Give those things one good year and they take over! So I'm removing them from the areas where I don't want them. I have to do the same now with the Queen Anne's lace. I also broke up more crusty ground under the bird feeders for the raccoons to paw through before carting it away to the compost heap. Plus, I finished another book and did some dishes. All in all, a productive day. Today is cooler and it rained overnight, so I think today is my errands day. I should be able to get back soon enough to garden at least a little. I'm thinking of replacing the fencing around the garden to something more decorative and less flimsy; the raccoons just plow right over the current one.

Today I set up 12 of the 15 new fence panels; we'll see how well they work in the next few days.

I'm hopeful that the toad I rescued from Topaz the cat moves into the toad house I set out a couple of days ago. I scooped him up and put him in, confusing the cat in the process. The toad was inspecting his sanctuary when I left; he'd crawled to the back and seemed to be thinking it over. I'll recognize him if I see him again; his color was unusually yellow. I'll try to get video or at least a picture if I can.

New idea for the cheap plastic kidney bowl I brought home from the hospital; I'm going to sink it in my garden, fill it with porous rocks and minerals, and add water to make a mineral pool for the butterflies. I paid for the darn thing and since I didn't use it in the hospital, by gum, I'm going to use it here! :)

>35 CassieBash: haha! We always take the basins and stuff when we go to the hospital, as they'll be thrown away once you leave, and sometimes you can find a use for them.

>36 fuzzi: Haven't sunk it yet, so last night it held all the useless scraps of felt and RV fabric samples from my catnip toy projects. I've cut out a lot of mice, fish, and a couple of birds, as well as trimmed up some of the RV fabric for "pillows" (simple squares or rectangles sewn up and stuffed with a fiberfill and catnip mix--kitten pillows, I call them). The end products will be donated to our Humane Society for their big fall fundraiser, which is a craft bazaar. Last year we got there late, and apparently a guy had been there earlier asking about my toys. Next month is National Adopt a Cat month and I'm hoping to have a small supply of pillows ready for them. They can give a pillow out for each cat adopted.

Saturday I picked up some new natives: a second yellow coneflower, a golden Alexander, an anise hyssop, and a few whorled milkweed. I also got some non-natives: stonecrop to plant between my paving stones in the path, a yellow/white lantana, and a dark red pentas. Yesterday we went to a more local nursery (the annual Ginger Valley run) and got an entire flat of mixed verbena (a favorite among the butterflies and an excellent container flower), another couple of pentas (another red and a white one), several more lantana (mixed colors), and the best find of all--heliotrope! I haven't been able to find heliotrope for a few years now, so I'm glad to see it back. Again, it's a favorite of the butterflies. I actually showed restraint and didn't purchase any new perennials at Ginger Valley; I was just a few days early to get the ice ballet variety of swamp milkweed, which would have been the only perennial there that I wouldn't have been able to resist. I'd make a trip up later in the week but as I'm the only librarian on duty, I'm working overtime (without overtime pay--sucks to be salaried sometimes), and I have to find time to plant the rest of what I've got. Maybe next year, or maybe I'll order online. In the meantime, I'm going to try planting a few plants every day after work, weather permitting. Tonight should be OK, so maybe I'll get the whorled milkweed into the ground tonight.

>37 CassieBash: I love my red Pentas, it's the biggest hummingbird magnet in my gardens!

>38 fuzzi: And skipper butterflies in particular seem to like it. I have hummers that hang out around my garden; I think they nest in those shrubs and trees just on the north edge. I get "buzzed" by them while gardening in the summer.

>39 CassieBash: I get several Silver-spotted skippers at a time around my pond area, near the RED Pentas. They like to rest on my shepherd's crooks. The hummers here do a "fly by" and buzz me, too, if I'm too close to the feeders, lol.

Hatched a spicebush swallowtail last night. The whorled milkweed--last of the perennials that needed planted--are in the ground as of last night. Tonight, I plan on putting some verbena in small pots, if there's time. Those red admirals are getting big and eating a lot. Last year on FaceBook, my older sister implied that there was some sort of competition to be "top caterpillar"--she was all for Team Swallowtail (Papilionidae), which probably did win out in the end. Which brings me to:

CATERPILLAR GAMES 2017

Team Brushfoot (Nymphalidae), subteam Admirals (and question marks/commas): The red admirals have a strong early showing, as usual for their species, and the exact numbers, while unknown, are probably close to the hundred mark. While some losses have happened--a couple of spiders that must have gone unnoticed in the food plants harvested and there's been one confirmed parasite found--every time food is gathered, those losses have been replaced with new individuals. Early numbers, however, don't always mean that this team will be the most common this year; lots of variables are involved in how successful a species is, and because Nymphalidae is so huge a family (this includes most of the butterflies that aren't swallowtails or skippers in our area), I'm breaking out monarchs and fritillaries from this group to be their own team, but since the food plant, size of the butterfly, and wing shape of admirals, question marks, and the elusive comma are similar, I'm putting them together.

Team Brushfoot, subteam Monarch, however, has been sighted as far north as Indianapolis, rumor has it. (The native plant seller said he sold a lot of milkweed varieties to people who had seen monarch eggs in central Indiana already, and were worried their existing milkweed was too small to support the little guys.) If this is the case (and we hope it is!), we could be seeing Team Monarch pull ahead later this year with a much-needed boost in numbers. My milkweed is coming up strong now, though it's still a ways away from being truly ready for Team Monarch to make their appearance. With projected highs in the 70s and 80s through most of this week, Team Monarch is set for a good early arrival, just like Team Admiral.

Team Swallowtail (Black, Spicebush, Tiger) has plenty of adults around but so far, no eggs or caterpillars have been seen. In all fairness to this team, I haven't had the time or inclination to hunt for the most common of the three, the spicebush swallowtail.

Team Tiger Moths have one solitary individual--the giant leopard moth. He's nibbling at some leaves but he may be thinking more of cocooning; like the woolly bear, giant leopard moth caterpillars hibernate over the winter, make a cocoon in the spring, hatch out in early to mid-summer, then start the process over again. With small species like the woolly bear, there can be more than one generation a year, but the giant leopard moth, whose body is about the length of my middle finger and twice as thick, often does one generation here.

Last year, I told myself I'd do a "Critter of the Week" segment but never got around to it. So I'm going to start doing that and see if I can sustain it. Since it's spring and Team Admiral is leading the way, let's start with the appropriate red admiral.

Critter of the Week: Red Admiral Butterfly:





The red admiral is usually the first caterpillar in this area that I see in any great numbers. Like the monarch, it has to repopulate its northern territory by migration--it just doesn't have as good a PR agent as the monarchs do. While some sites say that the admiral has only one generation in the northern U.S., most of the time, I have two. The second isn't necessarily as big as the first, and sometimes it's bigger; it depends on the year and the number of parasites that attack generation 1. If generation 1 is highly successful, obviously generation 2 will have more adults mating and laying eggs.

Adults lay eggs on stinging nettle, one at a time, on leaves. (Their kissing cousin, the Milbert Tortoiseshell, lays eggs in clusters on the top of the plant.) When an admiral hatches, it uses silk to close the leaf tightly around it. Early instars pinch the leaf at the base of the stem, so that the rest of the leaf remains unfolded but the leaf by the stem is folded in half. As the caterpillar grows, it needs more room in its tent, and the leaves will be neatly folded in half. Admiral caterpillars are covered with what look like spines, but the "spines" are really fleshy and soft, and the caterpillars can be safely handled. At worst, they may spit green spit that can temporarily stain your fingers. Despite their protective nest and fearsome appearance, they are prey for any number of birds, spiders, and even (especially, perhaps) parasitic flies and/or wasps. (The ones I find in this species are usually flies, I believe.) Caterpillars, when raised in large groups in captivity, can be noisy eaters and I have often heard them eating (I heard Team Admiral eating away last night, actually.)

Chrysalises are free-hanging; unlike the swallowtails that anchor themselves with a "belt" on an angle, the admirals, like monarchs, attach their chrysalis from a solitary point and hang "upside down". Like most chrysalises, when close to emergence, you'll see the butterfly through the thin chrysalis skin.

The admiral is a friendly butterfly that often lands near (or on) people and will let you get pretty close, allowing for good photographs regardless of the zoom. They enjoy the salts from sweat and if you sit still after working hard in the sun, they may land on you to get the salty goodness. They puddle as well; the males require salts and minerals for successful mating. Admirals also enjoy rotting fruit and animal excrement for the same reasons.

>41 CassieBash: loved that post!

My milkweed is thriving, tall, and blooming, but I've not yet seen one Monarch... :(

>42 fuzzi: Perhaps they haven't quite yet made it your way; maybe the migration weather patterns favor Indiana? I did originally wonder if the Indy people had been seeing the look-alike Viceroy but they said they've seen caterpillars and eggs on milkweed, and the Viceroy eats very different host plants (willow trees for us). I wouldn't mind if they held back for a few more weeks to give the milkweed a chance to get a little bigger at least. I'm not really ready yet for too many "teams", and won't be until I have a more typical work schedule.

>41 CassieBash: close the leaf tightly around it
Ah, useful to know. I don't have stinging nettle in my yard, but I do have clearweed which is a cousin and supposed to be a red admiral host.

>44 qebo: I like to get them as young as possible. It's not a guarantee against parasites, but the less time they have in the wild, the less time they have potential exposure to them. If you do a Google Images search for red admiral leaf shelter, you'll get a lot of example pictures so you can visualize better. Here's an example of one picture that came up:



This is an older instar, judging from the size of the tent--though sometimes they make a bigger tent than they need. The very tiny, thread-like first and second instars don't usually use an entire leaf like that.

Team Admiral's showing continues to be strong, and though we had some losses yesterday (at least one confirmed parasite; three or four others unknown), their numbers continue to swell, mostly because I can't gather them enough food without using nettles that have some on them already. Teams Swallowtail and Monarch have their work cut out for them, as brood one is now making chrysalises and will start to emerge as the next generation of mating butterflies in just a few weeks. Team Admiral have several at the top in at least the "J" stage--where they have attached themselves, upside down by their last pair of prolegs, and start the chrysalis making process. By the time I get home, Team Admiral will probably have at least a dozen new chrysalises.

Team Tiger's solitary member, the giant leopard moth, continues to nibble but isn't showing much interest in food. Instead, I believe he might either be sick (and therefore likely dying) or just as likely is prepping for the cocooning process. When I found him only a few days ago, he had been on the barn's wall rather than on a plant or the ground--another indication that cocooning isn't far away. The garden tiger family makes cocoons of silk and their shed hairs or bristles, and I've seen this particular species make cocoons suspended in corners of terrariums. Interestingly enough, I've found that this particular species can and will thrive on milkweed and have found them on occasion while gathering Team Monarch members. Right now, only time will tell us if our leopard moth is ill or simply moving into another part of his life cycle.

Movie Time!

This is the mid-May update of my garden. Apologies for the roughness of it; the new Vivitar camera came with an 8 GB, non-video specific card and it was the first time I used it. Not sure which contributes more to the shakiness and jumpy aspects of the video.

I had a friend this morning on one of our many library windows. This one was filmed with my usual iPhone.

Five of last year's Team Swallowtail (all 5 were spicebush swallowtails) flew off yesterday evening (3) and this morning (2). Another spicebush chrysalis is getting darker--indicating that in a day or two, I'll probably have at least one more.

Team Admiral is still going strong, with caterpillars still ranging from the tiny, threadlike newbies to the big "J"s. Many are in a chrysalis now; probably between 15 and 20 total. Another loss to a parasite but losses were few yesterday. Overall, parasitism hasn't been a problem so far with Team Admiral this year. And I'm still finding plenty of new team members of varying size to more than make up for the loss.

Team Tiger Moth's solitary member is still questionable. He's definitely still alive; he curled up slowly when I took out the old food to replace with new, but he hasn't been eating much, if anything. We still have no shows from Team Swallowtail, Team Monarch, Team Silkworm, Team Looper, or any other future group that may appear. Some of these teams really have no chance of beating out the top 3: Swallowtail, Monarch, and Admiral, except maybe Team Skipper, if we have a strong enough showing of silver spotted skippers and sootywings in the fall. But Team Silkworm and Looper are at a disadvantage, since they are arboreal species. This is a good time to note that my numbers don't necessarily reflect accurately the populations in the wild of many teams, since arboreal species and night-time feeders are a lot harder to spot and collect. Thus, just because a team hasn't had a good "showing" in my collection, doesn't mean it's struggling. That being said, I've noticed a big drop in both adult and caterpillar forms of Team Silkworm.

I went to Muncie Saturday and came home last night, so I wasn't here to see my sisters release three swallowtails (they think spicebush and they're probably right--I did have more spicebush than any other swallowtail last year). Team Admiral has slowed down in their eating, partly because many have started (or finsihed) the pupating stage. I'm pretty sure that Team Tiger Moth's member is getting ready to cocoon; he's clinging to the side of his tank now, rather than just lying on the floor. This is encouraging, since they tend to find vertical surfaces to support their cocoons. Team Generic Green has one fellow from off the hackberry; he's not a tawny emperor or a hackberry butterfly and so until I can find a more suitable team for him, he can go into the Generic Greens. I even have a video showcasing the teams and their members:

Team Admiral, Team Tiger Moth, Team Generic Green, May 22, 2017

I also happened to look out the window one day and caught sight of a red squirrel in the trees. Here's the video I got of him (with the pond below in the background):

Squirrel

Then there are our horses:

Whimsey, Star, Pewter

And finally, what movie time would be complete without...

frogs!

Actually, I'm glad I got proof that Emerald is still around; we had a great blue heron (as mentioned in the video) and I think the frog population may have taken a dip along with the fish.

>49 CassieBash: I admit (selfishly) that I miss the photos. I don't look at youtubers, mostly.

>50 Lyndatrue: I miss the photos, too, but with the limit on the gallery, I'm trying to still have some sort of visual element while I try to find a photo service I like. Video takes a lot of processing and more prep. On the other hand, animals in motion (like running horses) are pretty fun to watch.

>51 CassieBash: I, too, prefer the photos, but I understand. If you find a good photo service that is good for sharing, I'd love to know about it. I use Shutterfly for my personal pictures, but I have it on "invited guests only", so I can't use it here.

Personally, I'm content with Flickr. I don't think that there *is* a perfect site out there. I note that several people here are on Flickr (I think I have some of them on "Follow"), and it seems easiest to use. I've used imgur a few times when I'm concerned about not sharing information, but it's not my favorite.

I have a "Pro" account on Flickr, but I don't think it's necessary to give them money. The only down side is that the only way to share photos here is to make them public there (but then, I guess if you're sharing them here, that's public too).

I use Flickr also. I pay for a pro account because it has more organizational features but that's because I have lots more photos than what I post here. I have an album for LT garden photos. I have other albums (e.g. family photos) that are private except for specific people who have a guest pass or whatever they're calling it these days. I like Flickr because (a) the links to individual photos remain intact regardless of which albums they're put into (I stopped using PhotoBucket when I rearranged photos into albums and the links in my posts broke; this was a few years ago so they may have improved), (b) it automatically provides several size options w/ accompanying html so you can post a small image and anyone who is interested can click through to a larger version.

>52 fuzzi: I have used Shutterfly but there was something about the service that made it difficult to share. I can't remember what it is, exactly; I should try it again to see if it refreshes my memory and try to find a workaround.

>53 Lyndatrue:/>54 qebo: It's not the privacy settings with Flickr; my issue with it is that it tries to take over my phone and download everything. There are pictures on there that I don't need or want to have on Flickr, which would mean removing them from the site (and then have to remove them from the site again when it tries to download automatically again). This is why I love LT much more than FB, which has turned notification nagging into an art form. I like to control my social media, not the other way around.

But on to other things. I've taken Team Admiral caterpillars out of the large tank and put them back into the original smaller tank, as I had to use the big one for all the chrysalises Team Admiral has made! While I had about half a dozen to maybe 10 of the team members succumb to parasites, there are still plenty left. However, Team Admiral is winding down for their first brood, which will allow me a chance to prepare for Team Swallowtail to make a showing--the spicebush swallowtails may be in their curled sassafras leaf beds by now. No sign of any tiger or black swallowtails, but they tend to be latecomers to the team, comparably. This weekend is supposed to be rainy, so I'm thinking it will be a good time to prepare the tanks and organize the caterpillar shelves for the rest of the year. Hopefully it won't rain all weekend, and I'll be able to look for signs of Team Swallowtail.

No sign yet of Team Monarch; their northward progress may have been stalled by our cooler temps. Hopefully, by mid-June I will see a few.

>55 CassieBash: Ah, yes, interaction via phone would make a difference. I do nearly everything on my desktop, drag and drop selected photos into Flickr and it doesn't try to grab anything else.

>56 qebo: Maybe I just need to try Flickr without the phone, which is limiting to me at home but really not any more limiting than the video process, which of course requires Internet access to upload (and using the phone just uses up oodles of data plan). If I had more time and money and a good Internet plan at home, I'd say I'd start my own photo upload site and ask for all sorts of feedback to make it really, really great!

But enough of that, when I have had six emergence events yesterday! Two spicebush swallowtails and two black swallowtails, which was a surprise because I wasn't sure I had any more of them left. The other two were moths; one was a milkweed tussock moth, and the other an unknown, small black and white one--maybe a Rheumaptera or similar. I have two tanks of chrysalises--the one from over the winter where the swallowtails, last year's milkweed tussock moths, several of the first of the admirals from this year, and any miscellaneous small cocoons, plus the one that's nothing but Team Admiral now.

Team Garden Tiger is frustrating me; the fellow is still on the side of the tank but has not yet started to make a silk bag, nor does he seem to be interested in food. I wonder what he's waiting for and hope he's not sick after all, but he's not so weak that he can't cling yet, obviously.

This weekend's forecast isn't a complete washout and it looks at the moment as if our best chances of rain are in the overnight hours, so I should be able to check on the existence of any possible spicebush swallowtails, and the higher humidity should help any emerging butterflies and moths.

The return of photos?

Well, once you find the dang code in the Flickr link and delete the rest of the crap around it, it's not bad. It worked much better through the computer, where I could tell it I want this picture and that picture, than just letting it hijack my phone.

This is a picture of a mask I made many moons ago for the Fishers Renaissance Faire. As I recall, it was for a parade consisting of the entire cast, and for the faeries of the cast (including my Lady Lepidoptera) to be seen, we had to "wear" masks. (Technically, we merely held them up to our faces.) We had to decide how we saw humans and make a representation of that for our masks; Lady Lep, being a storyteller, sees the history and stories behind human existence. I was trying to go for a drama/comedy mask style but I wanted a totally different mouth expression, so I went with a round hole, used a little clay to build up around the mouth to create the "lips" and eye sockets, and pasted all the medieval and renaissance art I could find all over it, and covered the entire thing with clear varnish to weather-resist it and keep the pictures from peeling off. It's a little creepy and yet cool at the same--at least, that's my opinion. When I shared this on FB, most people just said it was creepy. :)

>58 CassieBash: Not creepy, although I'd have stared long enough at it that you might have found *me* creepy. :-}

I recognize so much of that art work, and it's just wonderful. I'm sad that you're probably going to say that the mask is long vanished, except for this photograph. I'd love to pick it up, and look at it closely.

>59 Lyndatrue: Oh, no no no! The mask was in a ren-fest tub in our storage. I dug it out last month and it's in my room. I'm thinking of bringing it in to work. And I find myself looking at it hard and long, too. It's fascinating!

Yesterday revealed an interesting and welcome addition to Team Admiral, and one that I must have gathered via food plant, because I don't recall collecting it directly (finding it and going "ooh! gotta have it!"). If you recall from post >41 CassieBash:, Team Admiral is actually a subteam consisting of admirals, commas, and question marks. While question marks are definitely common (though usually later in the season), commas are a bit less common here in my section of Indiana. Not unheard of, but unusual. While thoroughly cleaning the caterpillar tank, I came across a caterpillar with stiffer spines, and stark white ones as well--definitely not an admiral, whose "spines" are fleshy and soft, and usually match the color of the caterpillar body. While admirals come in a pale brown (a strange sort of beige is about the closest I can describe it), they certainly don't have bright, pure white, either on their bodies or on their spines. The caterpillar looks like a question mark, but question marks tend to have orange-ish spines, even in the early instars (at least here in my area). So I am thinking I have a young comma caterpillar, which I haven't had a chance to raise in several years. I've isolated him for rearing separately, just so I can keep a special eye on his development.

As for the rest of Team Admiral, they seem to be doing well, with minimal losses due to parasites and disease, though there have been a few since the last posting, of course. I intend on going through the tanks and doing an actual count, as well as removing the empty and dead chrysalises from last year's tank. I should have a pretty decent count of Team Admiral for you by then end of Monday.

The giant leopard moth has indeed died, so Team Tiger Moth no longer has any members. We'll see if there will be a showing of Team Swallowtail, once I get out into the pasture and start searching the young sassafras trees.

I hope to have more pictures, including one of the comma, on Tuesday.

Team Admiral will be hard to beat this year. I've done the official tally of the current population in all stages. Today I had an admiral adult fly off on new, bright wings, so my chrysalis count now numbers a whopping 308. That's just admirals; this doesn't count last year's Swallowtails and admirals don't winter over up here. That's pretty impressive for a first brood. Add to that 138 caterpillars and another 16 in the "J" position, and the Team's total number of admirals adds up to 462 (+1 if you want to count the butterfly). Team Monarch hasn't had any adults spotted yet, let alone caterpillars, but they and Team Swallowtail will have a lot of catching up to do. Fortunately for them, Team Admiral's youth are slowing down and I'm finding more nettle without caterpillars on it than before. Tomorrow before the next round of rain moves in, I'll see if there are any spicebush swallowtail cats hiding in the sassafras leaves.

There is a new team, however: Team Underwing. I found a copper underwing cat on a weed on the edge of my garden. He's settled in nicely and shows a good appetite.

I did have 2 more black swallowtail butterflies and a couple of last year's milkweed tussock moths emerge as well.

Pictures will be forthcoming on Tuesday.

I'll be looking forward to Tuesday. I love the photographs of all your little beasts. :-}

I too look forward to photos! I watched your generic green video. I don't know what it is either, but I have hackberries so I'll keep an eye out.

Team Amiral had a major setback; between yesterday afternoon and early this one, several (12+?) succumbed to that @$€~£! virus that turns healthy caterpillars into goop. I did what I could for those still outwardly healthy; gave them all fresh food, switched them into a new tank (and later disinfected the other), but I still feel some of them are probably exposed and I'll probably have to do it again. Fortunately, I isolated the comma from the team some time ago, so hopefully he's OK. What most "commercial" raisers would probably have me do is destroy all the cats and start fresh, but I hate to do that. For one, it's possible that many weren't exposed and may be quite healthy. The other reason is that even insects have immune systems (though of course not like ours), and any survivors whose systems could fight off this virus needs to stay in the gene pool.

This was also the first day I know of when the gains (4 found) didn't outweigh the losses. Looks like Team Admiral is going mostly to the adult stage, especially since I had another emerge (as well as two more of last year's spice bush swallowtails).

And speaking of Team Swallowtail, my hunt for spicebush swallowtail cats turned up nothing. I think it must be too early yet, despite the number of adults I'm releasing and seeing flitting around. The sassafras leaves are still new and small; I wonder if swallowtails, like monarchs, can delay sexual maturity.

The underwing is doing well; he's fat and happy eating leaves from his weed. If I run out, he's not a pick eater; I can substitute anything from tree leaves to Virginia creeper.

No sign of Team Monarch, either; the milkweed will get bigger but it's ready any time now. C'mon, Team Monarch!

>65 CassieBash: I'm still waiting on the Monarchs here, too.

FYI: I think your reasoning for not destroying all the caterpillars is valid, and logical.

Well, it's been a Monday of a Tuesday, if you follow. I'm just now getting round to posting and I'm not going to be able to post all of the pics today, but I guess that just draws out the fun longer, doesn't it? Got to make this quick; I've got some errands to run before places close (car needs an oil change, for one). But here are a couple of the comma caterpillar that I took with a couple of the red admiral caterpillars. You can tell the comma apart by the striping and different colored spines; the other two are different color phases of the admiral cats.

>67 CassieBash: Aw, pre-butterflies. I'll be happy with just them, for a bit...

>67 CassieBash: love seeing the caterpillars! I'm still waiting for more here...

So far, no more known deaths due to that virus. All the admirals seemed OK yesterday evening. The comma cat shown above was in a "J" at the top of his tank, so I'm hopeful that he avoided infection. Until he hatches from that chrysalis, though, I'm not going to say for certain that he's safe.

We had quite a few emergences last night: 2 black swallowtails, one spicebush swallowtail, and three red admirals. All successfully flew off to live their lives.

The copper underwing is still eating. The only thing that worries me is that small black spot, most noticeable on the second picture, on the segment between his first "true" feet and the section where his false feet begin. That spot is only on that side; there's not a matching one on the other. Often, this means that a parasite or injury has taken place. Still, he seems fat and firm, which may or may not tell the true story of what's going on inside him. Until he also hatches out as an adult, you can't be certain.







Now for garden updates....

Well, as mentioned in one of the video tours of my garden, I said I had a plum tree that sometimes retains fruit long enough to ripen, when the conditions are right. Perhaps it's the rain and warm but not cold weather we've been having, or maybe it's because it was pruned fairly heavily last year. Whatever the reason, that tree is loaded with green plums the size of those huge olives you get in salad bars. Take a look:





But it's not just the plum tree. I also have a few quince bushes; these things were lost to the yard, overgrown and long thought dead (and thus, every time we mowed, cut off), but since I reclaimed the area and have cleared out around these thorny (yet still scraggly) bushes, I've had lots of blooms but no sign of fruit. Until this year, that is:



In addition to fruiting trees and bushes, I also have flowering plants. My annuals, as well as my perennials, are now all planted (and a good thing, too--they were getting much to much water from the recent rains to be sitting in small pots and flats. As always, I went overboard on the verbena, so they not only went into just about every pot I planted, but also into the ground. So did the lantana, since I put the pentas and heliotrope into the bigger pots. I think I need to put verbena around the outside of the tire every summer:













There are more pics but I need to post my 75 Challenge book yet and then get back to work. MLA citation style guide--thrill a minute.

Still no overt signs of disease, but last night my older sister's car was giving her problems, and I had to simply toss the fresh food on top, with no time to clean the tank properly, in case I had to fetch her. (Her boss came out to the mall where she was stranded, cleaned the connections on her battery, and jumped her; that seemed to fix the problem.) I'm hoping everyone is healthy. A lot of the times with this disease, it seems that they climb up the sides of the tank before disintegrating; the parasite book I read actually says that behavior changes with viruses and bacteria (which are forms of parasites) can be common. Another caterpillar disease I've seen is one that "petrifies" the caterpillar--they go very stiff and hard. Again, a common marker is that the caterpillar climbs to a place where other caterpillars are likely to cross its path, thus spreading the disease more effectively. Hopefully, all my charges are fine and disease-free now.

I did have a total of 12 admirals emerge yesterday from chrysalises, but only 10 were healthy. Two had such crumpled wings that there was no way they would ever fly. Of the other cats, the underwing is showing less interest in food and more interest in the paper towel bedding; he's looking for a place to cocoon and has chosen the underside of a corner of the towel (the towel section is a bit big for the bottom of his small tank, and it flops over to form a little tent). So I'm hoping he, too, will turn out to be healthy.

For those interested in watching the admirals in motion, I have a YouTube video of a few of the admirals, and one in particular liked me a lot. Or, at least, he liked the salts on my hand, as you can see his tongue just lapping and poking at my skin. Basically, he was "puddling" my sweat! For those not video-oriented (or who like both), I do have pictures, too:











And the copper underwing; note the hunched position and the color difference from the other pics of him. Usually these are good signs of a caterpillar preparing to make a cocoon or chrysalis.



I still have pictures uploaded that I haven't had time to post from Saturday's gardening extravaganza. These are pics of the critters that were underneath the very wet flat of my verbena: millipedes!









I'll try to catch up on picture postings tomorrow, but we have a student orientation day scheduled so it might not happen. I'm taking Monday off, so Tuesday would be my next possible posting day.

>71 CassieBash: What a gift you are! I especially love the photos of the butterfly perched so delicately on your hand. It makes me happy that it's June, and that there will soon be dragonflies sitting on my fence.

Love the photos, thank you!

>72 Lyndatrue: & >73 fuzzi: Thanks!

Didn't have time to take pics tonight; I was too busy keeping track of a spicebush swallowtail, a leaf roller moth, an unknown moth, and37 admiral butterflies! Of these, only 3 admirals had crumpled wings. Tonight in our yard, no matter where you walk, you'll see an admiral or two.

I did have some deaths in the admiral tank, and a few had the virus. I cleaned everything as best I could; with only a small number of virus deaths, cleanup wasn't as bad. The comma is indeed successfully in his chrysalis, hanging from the top of a small terrarium. The underwing moved from the paper towel and at first I was very perplexed about where he'd gone, but then I found that there is a lump of leaves; he's rolled them around himself to cocoon. I'll leave the leaves for now to give him some undisturbed time to pupate, and then in a few days I'll carefully peel back the leaves to give the cocoon some air exposure--cocoons can mold if you're not careful, and any moisture the leaves contain will contribute to that. Now that summer's moving in, I'm not as worried about low humidity like I do wintering cocoons and chrysalises.

OK, before the student ID rush happens, I'll post another few pictures taken last weekend. These are from the garden up against the north end of the house, right across from the pond (and right underneath my 2nd floor bedroom window).



Our jack in the pulpit, not looking as fresh as he once did:

Lovely photos, and shade gardens. Do I see some primula (primrose) blossoms in the bed under your window?

>76 fuzzi: Yes, you do. Well spotted.

Well....

Team Admiral's adult emergence hit a high point this weekend, despite a modest start. But with over 400 chrysalises, I should have expected the insanity. Pictures are below.

Friday: 30 admirals, one of which couldn't fly
Saturday: over 60; head count was difficult due to sheer numbers and the fact that they wouldn't stop moving--only 3-4 of the 60+ had wing issues that would keep them from flying
Sunday: (are you ready for this?)--70+; again, difficult to get a truly accurate head count; another 6 unable to fly
Monday: Much fewer; a sharp decline but still a respectable 48, with 5 that couldn't fly

A few of the non-fliers ended up getting stuck in their chrysalis and therefore couldn't emerge properly; sometimes this is a humidity issue, but it could be illness related as well. I did have to clean the tank twice over the three day weekend due to the virus, but feel justified in still giving those I have left a chance, as some have made chrysalises successfully.

Team Swallowtail hatched a spicebush swallowtail as well, and Team Monarch has finally been spotted in our area--a single monarch flitting over the fields just down the road from me!

Other spectacular events include our lovely Saturday weather, that allowed me to garden before it got to hot, humid, and buggy on Sunday and Monday. I also found a baby mantis on our trash receptacle when I went to put it away; I moved him to someplace safer than the corner of the barn where we stash our bin when it's not being emptied. I'll show off mantis and garden pics tomorrow; right now, I have butterfly pictures of--guess what?--red admirals! These are in no particular order so you won't be able to tell one day's admirals from another, though on Saturday and Sunday, the scene was pretty much the same!













I've been bad about keeping up with the "Critter of the Week", but want to give it another go. Because June is National Adopt a Cat month and Sunday was National Hug Your Cat Day, I'm choosing to go with felis catus (or domesticus), the common house cat. My cat Peppa thinks she's a dog, so for National Dog Day (in August), so I'll probably have to hug her that day, too. And World Pet Memorial Day is June 11. So dog lovers, remind me in August that I need to feature canis lupis familiaris.

Cats are every bit the individuals that dogs are, as anyone who's kept more than one can tell you. I started keeping my "own" cats--ones that I was personally responsible for--with a black one named Bagheera, while I was in high school. Bagheera was killed on the road. Bagheera II disappeared. Since then, I've had only inside cats, starting with another black cat named Nocturne, who showed up on Easter Sunday, a bit after Bagheera II was gone. Nocturne came right up to us and he had such a beautiful voice (the reason I named him what I did--nocturne is "night music"). He lived to be over 17 (almost 18) and was the cat I had prior to Peppa. I also had a Persian who was very sweet to everyone--people (though she was shy and took a long time to warm up to strangers, unlike Peppa), cats, and dogs alike. She was late middle-aged (about 10) when cancer took her, and Nocturne outlived her by many years, though later in life he was suffering from kidney issues, arthritis, and kitty dementia that left him much more tolerant to the other cats, whom he bullied in his younger days. (He kind of forgot he didn't like them, and was surprised when they hissed and smacked at him.) Now Peppa is queen of the castle and prefers hanging out with the dogs and people much more than the other cats in the house.

Peppa, like Nocturne, is on a prescription diet for urinary crystals, so her treat is catnip, which she adores. Like Nocturne, she sleeps on the bed with me, and follows me around. Like Nocturne, she likes the dogs--though she takes it to an extreme he never did. Unlike Nocturne, when the mood takes her, she'll fetch catnip toys for me. And unlike Nocturne, she warms to strangers fairly quickly, but isn't much of a lap cat, preferring to sit on the back of the couch, right behind you.

Feel free to share pics and stories of your cats.

I felt I should post the butterfly count before I forget what it is, and then felt doubly the need to post when I found.... But first thing first. Today I had 14 admirals, one unable to fly due to a crumpled wing. I also had one spicebush and one black swallowtail. Then when I went out to get nettles for the remaining admiral cats, I decided to give the nearby milkweed a once-over.

You know where this is going.

I now have 8 monarch eggs and one monarch cat. Team Monarch is officially in the running, and about two weeks earlier than average! This could be bad news in the long run for Team Admiral--will their early showings and so far high numbers win out over the Monarchs, who arrive later but who also lay eggs later as well? And this weekend will be another search session for Team Swallowtail, who share the same strategy as Team Monarch?

>78 CassieBash: send some down here! My milkweed is blooming profusely, and I only have milkweed bugs and bees visiting the plants... :(

As always, I enjoy seeing and hearing about your butterfly Olympics.

I need to clock in, and go make the coffee (priorities!!) but I'll try to stop by at lunch and do a little bit about my cats over the 50+ years of my life. :)

>79 fuzzi: Would that it were that simple! I'll do my best. In turn, could you please try to send some rain? It's been going to either the north or south of our house (so close, and yet so far!), and it's been about 2 weeks or more since we've had rain on our property.

On Saturday, before the weather and mosquitoes turned nasty (anything over 75 degrees is nasty right now to me--never been one for hot temps, even before menopause), I did do some gardening work. So today's pic fest will be my garden.

Overview shots of the garden; I had cleaned about half the edge from by the tire up to the orange obelisk cat memorial (there are several buried under plants in my garden--I believe four in all, but maybe 5):











This is the start of an expansion. The plant on the right hand side is the crappy wisteria which, for those who've followed me for some time, may remember that it refuses to bloom no matter what we do. All it does is send tendrils out into my garden under the ground in an effort to take over. I'm going to take out the grass between it and my garden, so that my garden can grow and it's less work to mow or trim the area between them.



General flower pictures. If we don't get rain soon, I probably won't have much to take pictures of:

11 admirals tonight, all with perfect wings! Also, I can add 5 more eggs to the monarch count.

Team Inchworm has a solitary member now; no idea what he is, but he was actually half-way into the latch on our barn door. If anyone had gone to open it, he would have been crushed. Luckily I usually look for any sort of critter--spiders, caterpillars, ladybugs, etc.--before opening the door. Chances are he's thinking of cocooning soon, but to cover all bases, I've put in hackberry, crab apple, and willow leaves with him. All these trees are in the area, and inchworms are often arboreal.

>80 CassieBash: what's the purple flower in the concrete planter?

I'd love to send you rain, we've had a lot of it this Spring, though we're at about normal/average for the year so far. I really want to see Monarchs. :(

>82 fuzzi: The dark purple flower with the broad leaves is heliotrope. The purple/white and red/white flowers are verbena. Heliotrope really attracts smaller butterflies and skippers--the silver spotted skippers love it, as do pearly crescents and other butterflies of that size. I saw a tiger swallowtail on my yellow and white lantana this weekend.

Ironically, when I posted the first picture of it back on the last day of May, I had planted it after we had had some heavy rain, and it was getting waterlogged and wasn't happy. I've got it in moisture control potting soil, and you can see the difference!

Pentas, verbena, lantana, and heliotrope when I can get it (supplies seem sporadic up this way) are staple annuals that I always try to get, since they are butterfly attractors, and they bloom throughout the summer. In fact, I like the verbena around the tire so much that next year, I'm going to get a bunch more and plant them in a full circle around it, rather than just in the small section I have (those were left-overs I didn't have room for in pots). I'm planning on putting crocus bulbs around the tire for earlier spring-time blooming for the bees.

Pictures! These were taken yesterday. The first ones are the inchworm, then there are a couple of pictures of the comma's chrysalis, followed by a picture of the tiny monarch caterpillar and one of the eggs that I found the other day.















Also, my sister's adult coloring book, published late May of this year, has now been cataloged. While not strictly a "cat" book, it's close enough to add in honor of my choice of Critter of the Week:

Slug Kitties Coloring Book

She's selling these at art fairs and she wants to take some to our local (Mishawaka) Barnes & Noble bookstore, but right now, only Derek's White Rabbit Used Books in Muncie, Indiana, is the only "retail" place you can get them at.

Ah, heliotrope is one flower I've never tried. The others I am familiar with: I grow some red Pentas every year.

Yesterday, there were 10 healthy admirals and one with crumpled wings, plus I found a few more monarch eggs.

Today, 15 perfect admirals took flight. As it's my birthday and because I could, I took a day off from work and did a spot of gardening, then went on a caterpillar hunt. While Team Swallowtail is still a caterpillar no-show, Team Monarch has 6 new cats and probably about twice that in new eggs. Sorry, fuzzi, but I don't think a caterpillar would make it from Indiana to North Carolina, even if I pointed it in the right direction. Maybe when it's an adult? I hope you see some soon; we need all the monarch butterflies we can get!

>85 CassieBash: happy birthday!!!!

>85 CassieBash: You'll probably see this tomorrow, and it won't be your birthday any more, but for right now, I'm joining the celebration. Happy Birthday!

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

11 perfectly healthy admirals left on fluttering wings.

Team Admiral has but two caterpillars left. All others have either made chrysalises or have succumbed to illness. Along with a generic green who also eats nettle, they have been moved into a smaller tank so that tomorrow I can clean the larger one in preparation for either Team Monarch or Swallowtail. Team Inchworm's sole member from >83 CassieBash: has made a cocoon, so his luck in my noticing him before squishing him, and the patience it took to "convince" him to get in my hand has paid off for both of us. The largest of the Monarchs will be in "J" position soon. I'll have pictures at the start of the new week.

Yesterday was a good day for variety, as a few admirals, one spicebush swallowtail, and a white lined sphinx all emerged. Plus, I need your help in deciding what the heck I had: a question mark or a comma? The caterpillar from>67 CassieBash:, with it's white stripe and spines, more greatly resembles the comma rather than the reddish-brown colors of the question mark caterpillar.

Here's the evidence from the adult:



This is the best picture I could get of the butterfly before he took off. I had to be careful not to jar the plastic terrarium to take that, and as soon as the lid was off, he was out of there like a shot. Even with a second person trying to get a picture before takeoff, it just wasn't possible. So compare that picture with the various guides below, and tell me what you think.

Butterflies that Punctuate

Side-by-Side Butterfly Comparison

Bug Guide: Eastern Comma

Bug Guide: Question Mark

This is the white lined sphinx from last year's caterpillar collection. He also took off pretty much right after the lid was removed.



This the cocoon of the inchworm on the barn door in >83 CassieBash:.



The largest of my monarch caterpillars dwarfs all the others. I didn't find any others of this size in all the milkweed in the pasture where I found this guy.



I never shared pictures of the praying mantis baby I found, so this seems like a good time to share them. This little guy was on our trash receptacle and was moved to a safer spot. I've seen three about this same size in the same place, and because our trash bin sits up by our spirea bushes lining the south side of the house the night before trash pickup (we move it down for the pickup the following morning), I'm guessing this little guy got on there the night before, rode the bin down, then back up when I put it away and first noticed him. Normally, I'd wait until fall, when more people are likely to notice the big adults, to make the praying mantis the Critter of the Week, but this guy is just too darn cute to wait, and it being a Monday, it seems like the appropriate time to choose a critter. So the Critter of the Week is the praying mantis!

The mantis family are clean and "groom" themselves frequently, almost like a cat! While the name comes from the devotional-like way it holds its front legs, it could just as easily be "preying" mantis, because the mantis family are first and foremost hunters. Green or brown, their first line in either offense or defense (they are often prey for other animals, especially when young and small, like in the pictures below) is their color camoflage:





They also can stand for long periods of time, almost motionless, until something they wish to eat comes along. Then they move very quickly, grabbing the (usually) insect in their front legs. If game is scarce and doesn't come to them, they'll stalk their prey, creeping up in bobbing movements that probably (my hypothesis) mimic leaves or twigs bobbing in a breeze. While the mantis diet is usually any insect that it is strong enough to catch and hold onto (and there are few, if any, that it can't), and for that reason, many gardeners like this creature as a natural pest control. (Caterpillars are a favorite.) But adult mantises may prey on much larger and unusual animals, including mice and even hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are fast, but sometimes the mantis is faster. For those interested in seeing this, YouTube has several mantis vs. hummingbird (as well as other animals) videos, this one being one of the less graphic and with slow motion, but if you can't stand the thought of watching a hummingbird die, you'll want to skip it.



The praying mantis can turn its head a full 180 degrees, which the females find particularly useful for catching and eating their partners after mating. If the male is fast enough, he can escape--the deed isn't necessarily a done deal, and some species are more cannibalistic than others. It doesn't help the men folk of the species that they may mate with more than one female, increasing the odds of being caught with each mating. The female will lay eggs in cases; in many species in America, this case may contain 200+ eggs, and the case looks like a ball of hard foam. Baby mantises emerge in late spring/early summer and take most of the summer to become adults. In Indiana, the adults die off in the fall after the arrival of very cold weather, though they are cold-hardy to a certain degree and only slow down until the first very hard freeze.

Wikipedia has some nice pictures of the various stages of development of the mantis, including babies emerging from their egg case (they will eat each other if not offered food, so a careful eye is required if raising an egg case in captivity), as well as behavior traits (including a mantis in a defensive posture, reared up and with wings unfolded).

Only a solitary admiral emerged, but my largest monarch caterpillar was in a "J" and even had a tinge of green under his skin--a clear indication of the start of a chrysalis forming. And while all of the remaining members of Team Admiral have passed on--I found a parasite pupa so at least one had parasites--I've found what may very well be the beginning of Team Swallowtail on the tulip tree. If my egg is what I suspect it may be, I'll have a very small tiger swallowtail before too long. This means that likely the spicebush and black swallowtails will begin laying eggs, if they haven't already. Hopefully, we get some soaking rain over the next few days. All around us right now are torrential rains--my older sister sent pictures from work with an inch of water standing in the parking lot.

I do have pictures to upload tomorrow of a red admiral and a male Io moth I found outside of the entrance to the college today. Stay tuned....

I'm here! I'm here! Your photos were not showing, so I thought I'd check back, and there they are!

That sphinx moth is GORGEOUS.

I love watching Praying Mantises, whenever I see them, but I'll pass on the video...I don't want to see it catch a hummingbird. :(

I got some pictures of what I think is another American Lady butterfly, but haven't uploaded the SD card yet. Will do, soon.

Not much time for chat; no new butterflies or moths emerged from my personal collection, but I did see an admiral and a male Io moth outside of my workplace yesterday morning. >91 fuzzi:, you think the sphinx was gorgeous, check out the Io moth:













I also took some pictures of my morning glories; some of the new ones are up, I think, as are a few of the cyprus vines--the new morning glory varieties obviously have the funky leaves, since last year's varieties had either the heart-shaped leaves or the three-lobed ones. These have almost finger-like projections, and the cyprus vines look like funky baby pine trees.









And this morning, I saw a couple of the baby mantises. Perhaps one is my garbage bin buddy....

Oh, but I did find a few more monarch eggs and caterpillars, and the egg that I found the other day did indeed hatch into a tiger swallowtail, so Team Swallowtail now officially has a member for the year. Here's hoping for more!

>92 CassieBash: Moth is breathtaking in its beauty!

>92 CassieBash: oh, wow, re: Io moth.

One red admiral emerged.

Team Monarch is down a member; I think a small predator may have gotten him, or perhaps internal parasites. Not sure. The others are fine, and I found a second tiny tiger swallowtail on the tulip tree. This weekend, if it's not so rainy and buggy that it keeps me inside all the time, I plan on looking for more spicebush swallowtail caterpillars on the sassafras saplings growing everywhere in our horse pasture. (They really are a bit out of control and need to be mown down, but we have to make arrangements with a farmer who has the appropriate equipment, and right now he's busy with his own fields.) But since I'm just finding very tiny tigers, I figure last weekend when I tried to find young spicebush cats, they were probably still in the egg stage. It's easier to pass by eggs, which are laid on the underside of the leaves, while the caterpillars give themselves away just like red admiral caterpillars do--they fold the leaf, or a section of leaf, around themselves.

One admiral and one unknown moth. I tried to get pictures of the moth for later identification, but all I got was the general shape (very triangular) and color (very dark grey). I don't know if this will be enough to ID or not; I'll give it a try this weekend.

Team Monarch is now taking up 4 containers: a large tank for the 5 largest larvae, a smaller one for the two larvae that are small enough that I had concerns about them slipping out of the larger tank, and two nurseries: one for the tiny cats and one for the eggs. Team Inchworm also has another member; a green one that I've yet to ID. I checked the other Team Inchworm member--the one in the cocoon--to be sure that it wasn't the unknown moth, and it's not, so the moth must have either been from last year or it was one of the unknowns from earlier this year. I'm pretty certain it wasn't the copper underwing, since what few markings it had didn't look like one, and the moth's shape was a much sharper triangle than an underwing, with a very narrow, pointy head.

It's not officially summer quite yet, but it does start this week, and this is as good a time as any to end the spring edition. My new summer thread is up, with a quick announcement of the Critter of the Week and a fast summary of my Lepidoptera collection. Pictures will be posted later.

>98 CassieBash: on my way!