2015 So Far

11 years ago

This butterfly season has been going well. I've seen cloudless sulphurs (many) sleepy oranges, little yellows, barred yellows, a snout, tiger swallowtails, pipevine swallowtails, palamedes swallowtails, a spicebush swallowtail, red admirals, one American lady, a buckeye, and I saw my first red-spotted purple of the year recently. It was 'nectaring' on the front porch, the usual RSP 'flower'! :)

I'm raising about ?50 luna moth caterpillars on sweetgum, but it seems like 150! I've got about ?35 pipevine swallowtail cats in two cages, and there are jillions of them outside on the vines. I never did find any red admiral nests on the false nettles where I saw a female lay some eggs (that reminds me, I need to look at that group again) so when I saw a female laying some eggs on the false nettles in my garden, I clipped off the stem and brought them in to raise myself. I keep seeing numerous critters all over the hosts plants outside, like spiders, so I'm wondering if they've gotten the hatchlings. The pipevine swallowtails aren't eaten much by anything, can raise themselves successfully, but the RAs seem to need help.

I found two little spicebush swallowtail cats on some sassafras in my garden, so I've brought them in to raise. Speaking of which, I overwintered a few spicebush chrysalides, and one of them, which was late to 'emerge', was a wasp! :( I got this picture of it before I squished it -

If anybody knows what kind of parasitic wasp this is, please let me know.

Sherry

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Comments (12)

MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
Well, I posted the wrong linky.

Let's try this one -

http://s3.photobucket.com/user/PucPuggy/media/SBSTWasp_zps6tov1pqt.jpg.html

Sherry
MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
If this old version link doesn't work, I give up -

<img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/PucPuggy/SBSTWasp.jpg"; alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Sherry
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dragonflydee
11 years ago
Sherry you are so lucky to be so butterfly-rich!!!

Also,the butterflies are lucky to have such a caring person

Increasing their numbers so well(for release) as we wonder

What the future will be for them as they continue to face

Loss of habitat worldwide.

DD
KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
11 years ago
Sherry, I tried emailing you at data.... but it bounced. If you email me the raw pic of the wasp, I might have a better shot at figuring it out.
MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
KC, I e-mailed you with an address I had in my address book. 'Hope you still have that one. I attached the picture right off my computer - if it's too big, I can e-mail you through Photobucket, now that I have your address, at least I hope I do.

Sherry
MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
I think it's this one, KC, whatever type ichneumon wasp this is.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/234421/bgimage

Sherry
KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
11 years ago
I've had Ophions come out of polyphemus cocoons in the past. I would not have come up with Ophion from your picture since the abdomen was obscured.
MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes, the picture wasn't good.

Speaking of moths, there was a male prometheus moth on my porch last night. I think the porch light caught him in night flight when I turned it on to let the dogs go out. He was flopping around in the light, so I got the dogs back in and turned the light off as soon as possible.

Sherry
angelimperfect36
11 years ago
MissSherry-

Whoa, that is scary. I have been raising monarch caterpillars but haven't had any that came out as a wasp (thank goodness so far.) I have so many polydamas swallowtail caterpillars on the dutchman's pipevine so I just leave them alone. I also have many gulf fritillary caterpillars as well. Those are the three caterpillars that I have so far in my garden. I am hoping to get giant swallowtail to come and black swallowtails (I had some success last yr with the black swallotails, nothing this spring). I have 5 Rue Plants that are growing big and I also have a lemon tree as well that's growing as well but no caterpillars on them. This year for the first time I am growing Zinnias and they are blooming well! I also brought indigo spires as well because I thought they look pretty :) I also bought sapphire skyflower tree which is attracting the most of the butterflies (it's the popular plant in the whole garden, am considering getting a second one.) Any other tips? I am in Saint Petersburg, FL Zone 10.
MissSherry
Original Author
11 years ago
That sapphire skyflower sounds wonderful! I'll have to look it up to see if it might grow here. We get occasional freezes here that might kill it outright.

Polydamas swallowtails are related to pipevine swallowtails, they both eat Aristolochia, and my pipevine swallowtails are the one type caterpillar that I feel totally comfortable leaving outside to raise themselves. I've never had a wasp come out of one of their chrysalides either. The only predator I've ever known to kill them was a big predatory stink bug, but they were only here one year, knock on wood! 'Must be something about that aristolchia, maybe the same thing that makes their poop stink - the aristolochic acid, probably.

Gulf frits don't get many predators either. I usually raise some myself and leave some outside.

'Sounds like you're doing good, but if it were me, I'd have some host plants for those pretty white peacocks! Their main host plant is reportedly water hyssop/Bacopa monnieri. You could plant it in a wet place or make a wet place for it.

I"d also plant some false nettles for the red admirals. It's VERY easy to grow!

And you could find some wild cudweed, transplant it to a well drained spot in your yard, and let it spread in a bed for the American ladies.

The list could go on and on!

Sherry
angelimperfect36
11 years ago
I would have to look those up. I have never heard of those. THe host plants that I have here are the passionvines (purple and lady margaret), the dutchman's pipevine, the milkweeds (many of them), Rue, Dill or Fennel(I am not sure), Mexican petunias and the butterfly bushes (I just found out that they can be a host plant to common buckeye?).
larry_gene
11 years ago
What is the diameter of the piping in the image?