For the first time this year, I saw an Eastern Black Swallowtail and she was laying eggs on the Fennel.  We never cook with Fennel, we just let it grow however it wants in our garden.  The result is that we have 2 huge stalks (is that the correct word?) of Fennel, which I guess if you are an Eastern Black Swallowtail, looks like a perfect place to lay a few hundred eggs.

First Eastern Black Swallowtail Of 2012 Laying Eggs

Before I get to that, I wanted to share some information and see if others might have noticed the same thing.

We’ve had quite a few eggs and Caterpillars from the Eastern Black Swallowtail, but just as the Caterpillars get to be a decent size, they disappear.  I now have a theory.  I think the Green Anoles have been eating them.  I offer that theory for a couple of reasons.  One, those Anoles have been really stalking our outdoor Butterfly Enclosure that contain the Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars and Chrysalises.  I’ve pretty much “Lizard-Proofed” the enclosure, but they haven’t stopped trying to find a way in.  My second reason for this theory, is that the Green Anoles were hanging around the Fennel and Dill where the eggs and Caterpillars were feeding until I took them inside to raise them.

So what do you think?  Have you ever observed Green Anoles feeding on Butterfly Caterpillars?

Now for the pictures.

This first picture contains two Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars.  You can see the one on the left is absolutely huge!  I thought for sure it would begin forming a Chrysalis yesterday, but it continues to feed.  It almost looks like it’s about to burst.

Two Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars Feeding On Fennel

In comparison to Monarch Caterpillars, the Eastern Black Swallowtail tends to prefer structures where it can attach itself to a structure and hang.  This wire structure that the Caterpillar and Chrysalis are attached to is at the bottom of our indoor Butterfly Enclosure.  They didn’t attach themselves to the top of the enclosure like a Monarch would typically do.  It doesn’t seem to be as concerned about protecting itself from the elements like a Monarch Caterpillar.  The only problem with these Eastern Black Swallowtails attaching themselves to this location is there is no way they could exit the Chrysalis and dry their wings without us moving the structure as it’s barely an inch off of the ground.

If you’ve ever wondered what an Eastern Black Swallowtail Chrysalis and Caterpillar look like side by side, well here’s a picture.  It’s pretty obvious how difficult it would be to find the Chrysalis in the outdoors.  It would likely attach itself to the stem of a plant that matched the color and texture of the Chrysalis and unless you have “eagle eyes” it would be difficult to find.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillar And Chrysalis Comparison

First are the Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars.  We have quite a few of these now, we’ve counted around 20, but our Fennel is so thick, I’m sure there are some we are missing.

In this picture, you can see 3 of them.  They are all around the same size.

Three Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars On Fennel

This picture below is of a different Fennel plant.  In this picture you can only see two.  I’ll get my macro lens out soon and take some close up shots, as they way these Caterpillars look now is nothing how they look once they get a bit bigger.

Two Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars On Fennel

Our Monarch Caterpillars are a bit tricky to get pictures of right now.  All of our Milkweed is quite small, as are the Caterpillars.  To the best of my knowledge, these Caterpillars are all from the same female Monarch that we saw a couple of weeks ago.  We haven’t seen one Monarch since then (which is rather strange actually).

Are other people seeing Monarchs right now in the Houston area?  I would have thought we would have seen several by now, but either they are visiting during the afternoon when we aren’t here, or they just haven’t been around.  I’m going to assume the latter, as we haven’t seen any new eggs on the Milkweed.

Young Monarch Caterpillars On New Milkweed

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly Laying Eggs In Mass Of Fennel

After she laid quite a few eggs on the Fennel and Dill, she flew to the Coral Honeysuckle to stretch her wings and rest (or perhaps warm up).

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly Resting On Coral Honeysuckle

We still have Monarch Chrysalises, and one eclosed today.  I took her outside in the hope that it would be sunny and warm enough for her to fly away, but it stayed cloudy throughout the day and she never did fly away.  So, back in the house she goes since we’re supposed to have nothing but rain tomorrow.  Something tells me Leecy and I will be hand feeding Monarchs this week.

This is just a picture I took of this female Monarch on Fennel.

Female Monarch On Fennel Branch

There are a total of 5 videos, each one is less than 2 minutes long.  Watching these should give you a decent idea of how to start (or continue) a successful Butterfly Garden.

In this first video, I talk about how to buy Milkweed, what prices you should expect to pay (at least in Houston), how to tell if you have healthy Milkweed, and how to plant your Milkweed plants.

In this second video clip, I talk about the importance of having Nectar plants for your Butterfly Garden.  I also show a brief clip of my Butterfly Enclosures.

By the way, some good nectar plants I recommend are Penta, Salvia, Purple Coneflower, Lantana, Butterfly Bush, and the Cigar Bush.

In this third video clip, I talk about some other Host Plants for your Butterfly Garden including, Pipevine, Fennel, and Citrus Trees.

In the fourth video clip, I talk about some additional Host Plants for Butterflies including Spicebush and Passion Vine,  as well as what kinds of Butterflies you can expect to attract with the different Host Plants.

In this fifth and final video clip I talk about some additional Butterfly Gardening tools such as portable Butterfly Enclosures and long tweezers.

If you have any questions about these videos, where to buy plants or the additional Butterfly Gardening tools, just send me an email or leave a comment.

Hope you enjoy and it makes sense!

The picture below is an Eastern Black Swallowtail laying eggs on the Fennel.

This particular Ladybug was on the Fennel

Aphids.  Normally I don’t stress too much about these little pokemon looking critters, but some of my Milkweed is just covered in these things and I’m sure it’s causing some stress on the plants.  I tried last weekend to pick up some Ladybugs to but the places I went too were sold out.  I’ll try again this weekend.  The challenge will be keeping the Ladybugs around long enough to eat most of these Aphids as I don’t think they care too much for this super hot, humid weather we are having.

Another pest, but normally not a huge one for me.  This guy just happened to land nearby when I was taking pictures.  I’m not sure if this is the tachinid fly or just a regular housefly.  Either way, I consider it a pest.

Red Eye

This thing is a monster!  Look at those legs?  I can’t remember what these things are called and I’m too tired to look it up, but whenever I see one, I squash em.

Bad Bug

Just for the record, I don’t dislike all bugs, just the ones that eat or destroy Butterfly caterpillars or mess up my plants.  For good measure, I thought I would throw in a picture of a “good guy.”  Although I do have quite a few nectar plants in the garden, it seems that lately the Honeybees are more attracted to the flowers (and pollen?) on the Fennel.

Honeybee

First up, some type of Butterfly on our Fennel.  Here’s what I’m thinking.  It’s a rather dull colored Butterfly, that has me leaning towards some type of Skipper.  However, this Butterfly was bigger than most Skippers.  It also flew considerably slower than most Skippers I have seen.  I also thought it might be some type of Crescent, but I couldn’t find any pictures that matched this Butterfly.

So, what are your guesses for this Butterfly?

Mystery Butterfly

Next up, some type of Swallowtail perhaps?  It kinda looks like a Giant Swallowtail to me, but it doesn’t seem to have all the necessary markings.  I thought Giant Swallowtails have another line of yellow across their back and this one does not.  It’s also missing the two “tails” of most Swallowtails.

Any guesses?

Mystery Butterfly 2a