A stroll through the garden this morning revealed five cloudless sulphur caterpillars on our cassia tree.
These caterpillars do a wonderful job of camouflaging themselves. These caterpillars turn into a brilliant yellow butterfly, which have become a welcome visitor to our garden.
This afternoon was a perfect example of why you should slow down and take in your surroundings.
I found these two mating monarch butterflies deep in my tomato plant before the male took flight with the female attached to a nearby tree.
I have read that mating monarchs can remain together for 16 hours or longer. It’s not until the very end of their attachment that the sperm is transferred to the female. The fertilization of the egg does not occur until right before the egg is laid on the host plant.
During mating, the male will use its claspers, located on the end of its abdomen, to attach to the female’s ostium bursa.
The dainty sulphur, the smallest yellow butterfly, were in abundance this morning, sipping from weeds in the yard. These littles, wingspan 2.2 to 3.0 centimeters, fly very fast and are hard to capture with their wings open.
The females have more orange and extensive black on their upper hindwing, while the males are bright yellow with black markings.
The host plant for these littles are of the Spanish needle, a herb of the aster family. The caterpillars are exposed, but are difficult to find due to the size. They would definitely be fun to find as they are green with a purple stripe.
There’s truly nothing better than adding my daughter’s artistic flare to our butterfly garden.
Today’s project was adding two little butterfly drinking fountains, if you will, to the garden. The rocks are for the butterfly to stand on while taking a sip.
Again, something I have seen other butterfly enthusiast try, so we thought it was worth adding to our garden. The best part is if we do not get any action, they can become little flower planters instead.
A great deal of research has shown that butterflies, mostly males, will mud-puddle, or what’s coined “puddling,” which enables them to drink “salt” from the mud. So to test the research, my daughter and I included a little spot in our garden to see if we can attract any males. One of the websites I found shared that if you sprinkle salt on the surface, or put overripe fruit in the dish, it will attract the butterflies, something we might try after a few days.
The males partake in the puddling because it helps them digest nutrients, which helps support the female in producing healthy eggs, therefore creating healthier offspring.