I can’t tell you how many shots I have attempted to take of this Polydamas Swallowtail (probably over 100). I have tried and tried to capture this Butterfly in flight and I just can’t seem to do it yet. However, today this Swallowtail actually stayed fairly motionless for a bit while laying some eggs on…
Butterfly And Wildlife Gardening And Photography
Butterfly and Wildlife Gardening And Photography In Houston Texas
Category Archives: Host PlantsTake a look at these Polydamas (I’m pretty sure that’s what they are) caterpillars. These guys are huge and they still haven’t gone to pupate. They look to me like they are literally about to bust. Speaking of Polydamas, I’ve been struggling on how to differentiate between the Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars and the Polydamas Swallowtail… Our Passionvine is growing all over the place, like up the Queen Palm, on the Bamboo, across the Milkweed, etc. However, that doesn’t mean that a Gulf Fritillary really cares all that much where the plant is growing, or even if it is growing. Here’s the story. I was cutting some Passionvine to bring inside… We’re up to around 90 of these Pipevine or Polydamas caterpillars. I always thought they were Pipevine but I’ve been seeing so many of the Polydamas Swallowtail’s laying eggs on the Pipevine that now I’m not so sure. One thing is for sure, they not only are born side by side, but they apparently continue… Before I share the pictures, I have a confession. I really need to improve in taking pictures of moving subjects. I took (or tried to) over 30 pictures of a couple of Polydamas Swallowtail (the only Swallowtail without the “tails”) laying eggs and out of the 30 or so, only 2 were keepers and even… Our “collection” (not really a collection as we always release them) of Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars is really growing. Right now we have somewhere close to 50-60 Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars in several enclosures. I knew the eggs were all laid together (not one at a time like the Monarch) but I didn’t realize that these guys…  Another early morning visitor. This was a very small lizard hunting for food on the Parsley. There was an equally small lizard close by this one but he scampered away before I could get a picture. We finally got some Ladybugs (3000) yesterday to hopefully reduce this Aphid infestation we have. Last night and early this morning they were really feasting on the Aphids. Towards the afternoon when we started to hit a heat index of probably 100 degrees, they started to fly off. Hopefully they will come back tomorrow because…  Yesterday I posted the pictures of the PipeVine Swallowtail eggs. Well today they hatched. Just on two separate clusters there were 18 of them. I’m sure there are more out there but it was getting dark. I’ll continue my hunt tomorrow to bring them inside to safety Or at least that’s what the head of this Long Tailed Skipper looks like to me. Last year, not knowing what kind of caterpillar these were, I admit to, uh, removing them from my Bean plants. This year, I allow them to munch on as many Bean leaves as they wish. However, I can also…  It’s so damn hot and humid in Houston right now I think even the Butterflies are laying low. Unfortunately, the pests that inhabit a Butterfly Garden are all over the place, at least all over my place. Aphids. Normally I don’t stress too much about these little pokemon looking critters, but some of my Milkweed… We haven’t seen a whole lot of Pipevine Swallowtail flying around, but they must be around somewhere as our Pipevine is starting to get filled up with eggs. One thing you may notice between these eggs and say a Monarch or Eastern Black Swallowtail is that this Butterfly lays its eggs in clusters. I didn’t… Looks like we found the answer to one of the mystery Butterflies. It’s a Polydamas Swallowtail, also called the Gold Rim Swallowtail. As mentioned in my previous post, this is a “tailess” Swallowtail and is a Mexican/South Texas (further south than Houston) native. They feed on Pipevine. According to Joshua, from Joshua’s Native Plants, these…  If you’ve been reading, you know I have lots of books on Butterflies but sometimes books don’t provide all the answers. Look at the next three pictures and see if you can identify what type of Butterfly these might be as I have no idea. First up, some type of Butterfly on our Fennel. Here’s… Actually the title has nothing to do with this post, I was just trying to think of something witty. I’ve never posted a picture of this next Butterfly because they are pretty hard to photograph. They bounce from leaf to leaf constantly. This little guy is known as a Long Tailed Skipper or Bean Leaf… |
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