Butterfly Watch

[Gina145]

I never realized that plant choice would have an effect on the type of butterfly that visits one's garden. A few months ago I saw masses of butterflies flying around one area of our garden and they were all white. Sadly they were flying around so fast that I didn't even manage an attempt to photograph them.

I've seen the odd colorful moth or butterfly among my bonsai trees, which is the one place I don't want them. Or rather I don't want them laying eggs there. If I find a caterpillar I will try to remove it from my trees without killing it and relocate it elsewhere, as I really can't have them destroying all the foliage and making my trees look ugly. They're perfectly welcome in the rest of the garden though.

 

[ChanellG]

Chanell, how do you tell it's a male?

Male

Female

Via: http://adver-net.com/monpics.html

Thanks for doing the research for me.. Yeah, there is a huge bush behind my apartment complex. I must go and check it out one of these days. However, these are real wild plants more like giant shrubs. I cannot have them in my balcony lol

Maddie, would you be able to take cuttings from those wild plants? You could always then start your own and keep them trimmed. Milkweed supposedly needs to be cut back at the end of the season anyway.

 

[maddie]

Wow! I didn't know the difference either. Thanks for posting those pictures I have learned one new thing today!
Chanell, as I said earlier, they are really huge shrubs. The leaves are huge and the paant spreads itself out like a fan. It is dangerous to pets and children if ingested. I still wish I could have it. I have been reading up about the host plants and I see that butterflies love lemon trees. I hope someday they will come and breed on my lemon bonsai. I know the caterpillars will destroy the leaves, but they will always grow back!

 

[ChanellG]

Wow! I didn't know the difference either. Thanks for posting those pictures I have learned one new thing today!

LOL, Maddie, I have heard this phrase so many times in the last week! If I had a dollar... it's also been great to talk to people about the butterflies and see so much awareness and interest. Quite often people look at you funny over stuff like this, lol.

Chanell, as I said earlier, they are really huge shrubs. The leaves are huge and the plant spreads itself out like a fan. It is dangerous to pets and children if ingested. I still wish I could have it. I have been reading up about the host plants and I see that butterflies love lemon trees. I hope someday they will come and breed on my lemon bonsai. I know the caterpillars will destroy the leaves, but they will always grow back!

There is a fuzzy, yellowish-white caterpillar I keep finding on different plants, including my blueberry bush, that I am guessing is some sort of moth larvae. I keep removing the caterpillars and they keep coming back. I'm fortunate that the swallowtails never discovered my parsley and I am trying to keep the caterpillar population to a minimum until I get more plants set up in an area just for the butterflies.

I really want a protected area in a screened enclosure that I can take the caterpillars to and protect them from wasps. Keeping them indoors has other risks - a few have perished and two have pupated - one more to go! It's truly disheartening when they don't make it. I am hoping I won't see any new eggs on my plants for a while to give them - and me, lol - time to rebound.

 

[maddie]

LOL, Maddie, I have heard this phrase so many times in the last week! If I had a dollar... it's also been great to talk to people about the butterflies and see so much awareness and interest. Quite often people look at you funny over stuff like this, lol.


There is a fuzzy, yellowish-white caterpillar I keep finding on different plants, including my blueberry bush, that I am guessing is some sort of moth larvae. I keep removing the caterpillars and they keep coming back. I'm fortunate that the swallowtails never discovered my parsley and I am trying to keep the caterpillar population to a minimum until I get more plants set up in an area just for the butterflies.

I really want a protected area in a screened enclosure that I can take the caterpillars to and protect them from wasps. Keeping them indoors has other risks - a few have perished and two have pupated - one more to go! It's truly disheartening when they don't make it. I am hoping I won't see any new eggs on my plants for a while to give them - and me, lol - time to rebound.

LOL, but that is true. I could never figure out a male from a female. They look so similar except for the way their wings are shaped.
Hmm.. Now, hearing you speak about your caterpillars this way I may not want them here in my little garden. I have very few plants to spare.. and no space to keep them protected from the birds as well. The adults are welcome to the nectar from my flowers

 

[ChanellG]

My last caterpillar has pupated and in one week will be on its way to butterfly adventures. Maybe by next year I will have figured out a space for the butterfly garden where I can have plants that are just for the caterpillars. Right now, I want my herbs for cooking and pest control, lol.

 

[Babble64]

I was with the boys I watch today and I stopped suddenly because I saw a milkweed plant. I HAD to look at the underside of each leaf to see if there were eggs or chrysalises. I didn't find any, though.

 

[ChanellG]

I was with the boys I watch today and I stopped suddenly because I saw a milkweed plant. I HAD to look at the underside of each leaf to see if there were eggs or chrysalises. I didn't find any, though.

Did you take a cutting to propagate? None of my caterpillars pupated on the milkweed plant. I would assume they crawl off somewhere so as not to be disturbed and to have a little protection from potential predators. Someone posted on Facebook about a wasp attacking a swallowtail caterpillar and how heartbreaking it was. (All remaining caterpillars were given protection)

If I were you, I'd start propagating milkweeds and getting ready for the next egg laying season. Those caterpillars can eat quite a lot!

 

[Babble64]

Did you take a cutting to propagate? None of my caterpillars pupated on the milkweed plant. I would assume they crawl off somewhere so as not to be disturbed and to have a little protection from potential predators. Someone posted on Facebook about a wasp attacking a swallowtail caterpillar and how heartbreaking it was. (All remaining caterpillars were given protection)

If I were you, I'd start propagating milkweeds and getting ready for the next egg laying season. Those caterpillars can eat quite a lot!

I didn't even think of this! That's a great idea. Thanks!

 

[ChanellG]

I HAD to look at the underside of each leaf to see if there were eggs or chrysalises. I didn't find any, though.

Guess what I found on my milkweed just now? I took one of the plants around back so I could blast the aphids off with the spray nozzle on the hose (do this very carefully) and as I was turning over leaves there were little white dots on many of them. The plant just started growing back from the last time!

Of course while I was in the yard a female flew in and proceed to lay even more eggs. Just when I thought the flowers on the new plant might actually get to go to seed, lol. I had tried isolating one of the plants with a mesh hamper, but it wasn't tall enough. I'll have to get the popup cylinder kind. (Sigh)

 

[ChanellG]

Update: I now have swallowtail caterpillars on my parsley. They are still quite young, and it's a good thing I knew what they were because they are not at the pretty stage, lol, and I would have been trying to get them off of my plant! I'll have to expand the butterfly habitat so that I can protect them from the wasps.

 

[Babble64]

I like swallow tails as much as monarchs!! We saw many of them (more of them around here, it seems, than monarchs) while on vacation last week.

 

[ChanellG]

They are so pretty! They are more diverse than monarchs and pupate for a longer stage. It's amazing to watch them through each instar as they change. The parsley was hanging so I moved them to another parsley that was in a large bowl-like container in order to place them in the habitat with the monarchs.

They polished off that parsley, some fennel, and by now they have probably eaten through the second fennel plant I plant I placed in there and much of the third. I may have to go back for the dill after all, lol. Otherwise I won't be able to keep any parsley for me

 

[Babble64]

They are so pretty! They are more diverse than monarchs and pupate for a longer stage. It's amazing to watch them through each instar as they change. The parsley was hanging so I moved them to another parsley that was in a large bowl-like container in order to place them in the habitat with the monarchs.

They polished off that parsley, some fennel, and by now they have probably eaten through the second fennel plant I plant I placed in there and much of the third. I may have to go back for the dill after all, lol. Otherwise I won't be able to keep any parsley for me

I'm glad that this is a source of enjoyment for you, especially since you have to share your crop to the "very hungry caterpillars"

 

[RomanAnthonysMama]

That is so awesome! It must be such a beautiful experience to watch the caterpillars emerge into beautiful butterflies. I ought to start watching for the butterflies and caterpillars in my own garden, and start taking pictures as well, because my mom adores butterflies. She's from Japan (She was an air force brat), so she's always had a love for butterflies. Thanks for giving me the idea, and good luck on watching these beautiful creatures transform and grow!