Lucky! I love winter but ive had enough up here and am ready for spring.

Where one comes, many will follow. My enclosure is full and I have a few more in a make-shift enclosure, and I took about 20 to a friend for rearing, so when I found 7 more today, they are going to stay put in the yard! These are all offspring of a coupe of winter Monarchs who made it through our one hard freeze. The migrators have not made it here yet, but I did see a swallowtail flit by. We spent the day outside too -- went to a plant sale, then came home and put things in the ground. It does feel good, especially whe the weather is so nice.

Jacob, hope you enjoy some spring soon.

That's great Sherry! It's always so exciting finding such a nice surprise :)

I was never able to find the cats on my big black cherry in my prior home...guess they were higher than eye level...but I always had RSPs.

I was excited yesterday when I found 2 sulphur cats on my newly purchased 8 foot tall popcorn cassia. I also have 4 monarch cats on one of the tropical milkweeds. I hope to have my new butterfly/hummingbird garden finished by tomorrow afternoon and will post pics.

Rhonda

Congrats, Sherry. You have such a good eye for the little guys. I've only seen a couple of red spotted purple butterflies here in past years. One was actually feeding off of a half muskmelon I'd set out on the deck railing! I think it was you who helped me identify the little beauty.

Do you grow the wild black cherry in pots for any length of time and if so, how do they do? I don't have room for an in ground planting. I realize they probably wouldn't live long but I wonder if they'd live at all for a while.

Nothing moving here locally but need to begin watching my enclosure above the potting table. I have several chrysalides that might be eclosing soon as the future weather is looking more springlike now. I had one black swallowtail eclose some weeks back during a spat of warm days and nights. I hated it but he was determined to be off and away. I hope he flew south.

I think I'll follow your lead and get outside and do some cleanup today before it rains again.

Mary

Things are going great for you, Rhonda - 'looking forward to your pictures! I found a LOT of sleepy orange cats on the new growth of my Senna/Cassia bicapsularis, which had gotten killed back over the winter, so there's only a small amount of growth at the base. I may try to get a picture. The sulphurs never would use my popcorn cassia, so I got rid of it - funny how they have local preferences. Of course, you get the orange barred sulphurs there, so maybe that's what's on your popcorn cassias. The only large sulphurs I get are the cloudless sulphurs.

Red-spotted purples are known to like rotting fruit, Mary. I've tried recently to dig up little seedlings and raise them in pots, but they've all died. I think I may have watered them too much. I've tagged some more (came up at the base of the garden fence) to try, and I'll water less this time.

My little guy wasn't eating, because he/she was molting. I got this picture a little while ago that shows the old body - it should start eating again soon -

They may be incredibly ugly caterpillars, but they sure make pretty butterflies!

Sherry

I've never seen anything like that. I've never seen anything like that buutterfly in real life either (had to go look it up). Beautiful! Lucky you. The Monarchs, and occasional Queen and some Gulf Frittilary account for most of the butterflies I see here, along with a soliid yellow one that my son had to ID for his biology class but I don't remember the name of and a very occasional swallowtail.

Thanks for the info on the orange barred sulphur. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to learn about a lot of butterflies down hear that I normally didn't see further north :)

Oh my goodness, ugly is right! :-) If I were a predator, I'd stay completely away from him! :-) I've never even seen a photo of this cat so thank you so much for sharing. How in the world you spotted this little guy on a bare tree twig is beyond me. He looks to b a part of the branch.

Had a lovely warm, sunny day here today. Surprise, surprise, saw two brightly colored, healthy looking butterflies this afternoon, a tiger swallowtail and a black swallowtail, both nectaring on the blooming Carolina Jasmine. Yippee, Spring is on the way.

Mary

My red-spotted purple caterpillar made its chrysalis a few weeks ago, and it emerged a few hours ago-

Sherry

Check your Pipevines, mine are loaded with cats,

That's gorgeous! I released 22 monarchs in the last 3 days -- but they are the only ones I have here. I need to get a pipevine. I have fennel and dill planted, but doesn't look like any butterflies have discovered it so far.

Sherry..it's gorgeous!

Rick in Lower Alabama, I've been checking mine every day, but haven't found any eggs, cats, or female adults. I go outside in the middle of the day, because I know that's when they usually lay their eggs. There are several males that patrol the road and go after each other in a circular, upward twirl - they're probably some of the many males that I overwintered. If you get more cats than you've got pipevine leaves, let me know, and I'll come get 'em - I've got miles of pipevines already.

Thanks, lascatx, and congrats on your monarchs! I haven't seen any monarchs so far this year, but then my milkweed isn't very big yet, so I don't mind waiting. Hopefully some anise swallowtails will find your fennel and anise. I've only got our native false bishop's weed (looks just like dill and green fennel) but no black swallowtails have shown up. I've given up on trying to get dill and fennel to live through the hot, humid summers down here.

Thanks, Rhonda! He/she was on the small side, so it's probably a male, but it might just be the first spring butterfly thing, you know, they're smaller than the summer bunch.

Sherry

Sherry, I probably have a hundred cats on the vine, if you're heading through Mobile anytime some I can fix you up with twenty or thirty. I've been seeing the PVS for a few weeks, I knew they would eventually find the vine.

Rick

Rick, I sent you an e-mail - 'hope your address is still the same.

Sherry