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Butterfly Garden
susanlynne48

More QMs!!

19 years ago

You know, when I read my books and they discuss the number of broods per year that you can expect from a butterfly in my area, it kind of makes me scratch my head in wonder.

I've had QMs pretty much all spring and summer. Now, there was about a month break between late July and now, but I'm finding more and more of them again. I brought in about 20 hatchlings yesterday. I love to raise these butterflies because all I really have to do is feed them and change out their paper towel in the bottom of the container. Nothing seems to faze them, like humidity, disease, etc. They just simply grow, change instars, pupate, and eclose. They are just so easy.

If I had to recommend a butterfly for a beginner, it would be this one. They are cute caterpillars, all prickly, and curled up like their namesake, the QM, on the leaves.

If you have elm saplings in your yard, check the tips of the foliage for "scratch" marks, then look underneath the foliage. Also, look carefully at the leaf surface for the eggs. They look like tiny ilttle black dots, some of them stacked up, others layed singly. The clear eggs are "blanks", but there will also be some darker ones that are viable.

I think they are beautiful butterflies. I should be getting some winter form before long - solid orange, without the black coloration on the lower wings.

They are also known to use Hackberry and Hops vines, but Elm has proven to be my best source for them so far (this is after I planted Hops rhizomes, of course!) LOL!

Susan

Comments (6)

  • 19 years ago

    Congrats, Susan!
    I love raising them, too, and I agree, they're probably a little easier (and quicker) than gulf frits even. You'll probably continue to get them off and on all year long for as long as you have elm leaves. And I also agree that the number of broods per season doesn't really apply - all butterflies will continue to lay eggs and have broods as long as there are new leaves on their host plants. Of course, us cat raisers increase the normal brood numbers for butterflies and moths by watering, fertilizing and pruning (for new growth) any plant that supports cats we want to raise, at least I sure do! :)
    MissSherry

  • 19 years ago

    Congrats Susan!

    I love QMs for the same reasons you do. They are just such laid back cats. I guess I had better check the elm saplings around the neighborhood. I haven't seen any activity lately either.

    I am realizing that it's best to let those saplings grow for the season so you can have the BFs. You can always dig them up in the winter, because new ones will come up the next spring. Your elm saplings have provided for more than one species this year!

    Sandy

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  • 19 years ago

    Hi Susan, Thank you for the tip about looking for the "scratch" marks on the foliage. I think part of being able to find cats is getting a clear picture of what to look for since each cat seems to do something different. One of my books calls this experience a "search image," meaning that you know what to look for to find a certain cat.

  • 19 years ago

    I agree, Bernergirl! At first, I had no idea what to really look for, and it was some time before I began to get the gist of it. MissSherry has given us good tips on what to look for in many search efforts, like the RSP, for instance. I didn't know they layed their eggs on the tip of the leaf! But now I know where to look.

    There is little information on the net in regard to recognizing eggs, where they are layed on foliage, colors, shapes, and placement of eggs, hatchling behavior, hatchling recognition, and all sorts of behavior information.

    I love the QMs. They're one of my favorites.

    Sandy, one of the Spicebush cats has turned pink and is preparing to pupate now. Yippee!

    Susan

  • 19 years ago

    I can add to that-The Viceroy cats that I have found in the past week have all been found on the end of vein in the leaf. They do not eat the middle part of the Willow so they sit on it.That is where I have found everyone so far. Look for a leaf that has been eaten but-the vein is still there in the middle...Does that make sense? I have also found them all on Pussy Willow.

    Aggie

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks Aggie! That makes perfect sense.

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