Tag Archives: Southwest Florida butterfly garden

Cassius blue

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I have started spotting the tiny cassius blue butterfly throughout the garden. It is such a fast flyer, making it hard to photograph.

In all the years I have had its host plant, plumbago, I have never spotted the caterpillars, or the chrysalis.

Its wingspan is only 15-22 mm. The egg is flattened and blue. The butterfly will lay the egg on flowers, flower buds or the developing seed pods of the plumbago.

There are two eyespots on the margin of the hind wing. The males are pale to bright blue above, while the females have a bluish-white to white above the basal area of the wing, as well as broad dark borders.

The larvae are also small, as it is approximately only .5 inches in length and are green with faint dark markings, or a patterned white faint marking.

They are back

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The warm weather and sunny skies has sure brought the butterflies back to the garden again.

Since Easter, the monarch population has grown leaps and bounds in the butterfly garden. The caterpillars are on both my balloon milkweed, and giant milkweed, in various instars.

The monarch caterpillars feed solely on milkweed leaves, which produces glycoside toxins, according to the National Wildlife Federation, which deters other animals from eating the caterpillars.

The toxins are stored making them taste bad and remains after they emerge into a butterfly, continuing to protect them.

After the butterfly lays a cream colored egg on the bottom of a milkweed leaf, it takes anywhere from three to five days to hatch. The larvae chews a small hole in the egg to wiggle free. Once it emerges it consumes the rest of the egg before moving onto the leaf.

As the yellow, black and white stripped caterpillar eats the milkweed leaf it continues to grow and molts its old skin, splitting it in half. The caterpillar often consumes the skin before continuing eating the milkweed leaf. It can grow in length to 2″.

One of my favorite parts about having a butterfly garden is finding where the caterpillars end up making their final destination. The chrysalis below was found on my watering can, a good distance, but not too far away at the same time. 

The monarch butterfly resting on red penta, a favorite nectar plant for many species of butterflies.

The polydamas

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The polydamas, also known as the gold rim swallowtail, tailless swallowtail and scientific name Battus polydamas lucayus, lays its eggs on the Dutchman pipe. This is the only swallowtail that lacks the tails at the base of the secondary wings, according to the University of Florida.

The polydamas lays yellow to orange eggs in clusters of 10 to 14, which can typically be spotted on newly developed stems, or growing tips, of the Dutchman pipe. The butterfly tends to lay its eggs on the Dutchman pipe that are in sunny areas, although the caterpillars have a higher survival rate in the shade.

The polydamas swallowtail caterpillars feed in groups when they are small, devouring the youngest leaves, as well as flowers before moving onto the older portions of the Dutchman pipe.

The caterpillar will go through four instars, 19 to 24 days, before it’s ready to form its chrysalis. The colors of the caterpillars are a bit different during the first instar, with tan and small tubercles. Once the caterpillar molts into the second instar, they become dark brown with larger tubercles.

I brought home a new Dutchman pipe from a local native plant nursery last week with two young polydamas swallowtail caterpillars. They remain together, eating.

Back with a vengeance

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The butterflies are loving the warm Southwest Florida weather again. We had some cold spells this winter, and the daily butterfly visits came to a stop for the most part. 

I am delighted to say that the gulf fritillary butterfly has come back with a vengeance.

The caterpillar population has exploded these past few weeks. The upside to this, the maypop passionvine continues to pop up everywhere in and outside of the garden giving the caterpillars plenty to eat as they grow through their multiple instars. 

I decided to put some caterpillars in our butterfly house, a move made after cleaning up the garden and moving the plant out of harms way in the actual yard.

There are quite a few chrysalis in the butterfly house currently. 

Yesterday the first butterfly emerged.

A little breakfast

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The gulf fritillary butterfly is always one of the first visitors in the morning. Not just one, but a half a dozen at a time. This one was enjoying a fire bush.

Another was enjoying the nectar of a Mexican sunflower.