November 17, 2013: Updates

We did have a bout of very cold weather (for us) in which the temperature dipped into the upper 30's. However today has been a wonderful day with temperatures in the low 80's. I went outside to see what I could see. I didn't see any Monarch caterpillars on our Butterfly Weed. Previous to the cold spell I had seen 5 or 6. I did find two Monarch chrysalises though. Also there were two to four Monarch butterflies flying around them. Some were interested in feeding on the nectar from the flowers. I thought these might be newly emerged butterflies getting ready for their trip to Mexico. Here is a picture of one.

Monarch Butterfly on Mexican Butterfly Weed

Others looked like they were laying eggs. I checked the leaves and sure enough I found about 10 eggs. Here is a picture of one.

Monarch Egg

I had not planned on collecting that egg. Yesterday I had found another and I replaced the Monarch egg picture from the internet that I used in an earlier blog, so now all pictures to date on this blog are from me. Thus, I already had a picture of a Monarch egg, although I think this one is a bit better.

If I had seen the egg before I cut off the leaf I probably would have left it there. If you look at the picture you can see an orangish out-of-focus blob at about the 10:00 position with respect to egg. That out-of -focus blob is actually an aphid. It was the aphids that I was trying to collect. I found the egg later on.

Butterfly Weed is eaten not only by Monarch caterpillars but its juices are sucked by the Oleander Aphid (Aphis nerii).

Oleander Aphid (Aphis nerii)

The life cycle of these insects is fascinating to me. I will try to do a blog on it when I have time to organize it. For now I just want to say that they have an affinity for Butterfly Weed and can cause a prodigious infestation.

An infestation of Oleander Aphids on our Butterfly Weed

I did follow up on the Gulf Fritillary eggs.  I searched the Passion Flower vine and I found one caterpillar.

Gulf Fritillary caterpillar

I had seen one prior to the cold spell but I do not think this is the same one. I had mentioned that I was going to keep a look-out for a chrysalis and I found one.

Gulf Fritillary Chrysalis

So now I have good pictures of all 4 life stages of two different butterflies, the Gulf Fritillary and the Monarch. I looked through my old photographs I had taken and found one taken in College Station, TX of a Gulf Fritillary that just emerged from its chrysalis. I thought I might include that with the blog as well.

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly shortly after eclosion

One interesting observation I have made to this point is that Gulf Fritillary butterflies lay their eggs on the top of leaves while Monarchs lay them on the bottoms.

I'm learning a few things. I'm developing techniques to capture and photograph insects. It takes a lot of time and effort, but it is rewarding. I'm proud of the fact that I have been able to provide all the pictures on the blog from my personal files. I'm thinking that this project will be more than enough to keep me busy after I retire in about 8 years or so. Hopefully, by that time I will be able to identify most of the insects I see.