Tag Archives: Southwest Florida gardens

More Eggs

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The polydamas swallowtail has been a regular visitor these past few weeks. They are swift flyers, making them hard to capture in photographs while flying. Well, today, out of 143 photographs, I was able to pick out quite a few that made me smile.

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.

This species can be found throughout peninsular Florida, as well as in the Florida Keys. There are some that wander as far north as Missouri and Kentucky.

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 in the photographs below is laying eggs on one of the two birthwort plants in the garden. Right now this plant is thick with lots of growth, while my three Dutchman pipe are needing time to grow back from the last set of caterpillars.

The little . . .

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The cassius blue, lycaenidae/gossamer wings, is starting to appear constantly in the garden. I was beyond thrilled when I witnessed this little beauty laying eggs on my plumbago yesterday.

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. I have yet to find the eggs, or the caterpillars. I can only imagine the size of the caterpillar and chrysalis.

Heavenly

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The smell when walking out the front door is heavenly, all because the jasmine tree is in full bloom. The butterflies spend time in this tree, and on a rare occasion a caterpillar makes its chrysalis on the branches, or leaves.

The candlestick cassia is also starting to bloom, soon its showy yellow flowers will begin to open from the bottom to the top. This plant has a mind of its own and has grown in a variety of ways. This plant has survived three hurricanes, and has started making its way back again, which is great because the orange barred sulphur visits it on a daily basis laying eggs. Last check there were quite a few caterpillars chomping away.

Wild Lime

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A few years ago, I purchased a wild lime tree, which has tripled in size, and is finally blooming for the first time. I added this plant to the garden because it is a host plant for the giant swallowtail butterfly, and Schaus’ swallowtail butterfly.

According to the Florida Wildflower Foundation, this plant is a shrub to small tree that grows naturally in hammocks in Central and South Florida. The peak flowering season, although blooms year-round, is in the winter and spring. The fruit, the foundation states, provides food for both small wildlife and birds.

The flowers appear in clusters that are yellow to yellowish green on the leaf axils. The fruit are round and yellowish green, the foundation stated, and when mature turn to a “dark brown husk” that when splits show one, or two tiny black shiny seeds. The wild lime has tons of thorns on the branches.

It’s growth habit is 5-20′ plus and 3-10′ wide. My wild lime is in direct sun, therefore produces a “fuller crown.”

Yesterday while wandering the garden I noticed that a monarch butterfly was enjoying the nectar from the flowers. A double win!

An abundance

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My garden recently has had a huge influx of monarch caterpillars. We usually have caterpillars throughout the year, but they seemed to have taken a break this year, as I did not begin to find them again until last month.

There are four stages in the life cycle of a monarch butterfly: the egg, the larvae (caterpillar) the pupa (chrysalis) and the butterfly. I have a few caterpillars left still chomping away from the influx, with more than two dozen chrysalis.

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.

According to “Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and Their Host Plant” (Marc C. Minno, Jerry F. Butler and Donald W. Hall), the milkweed plant has latex within that sticks to the mouthparts of herbivores. The caterpillars will cut the leaves near the base of the milkweed blade to drain out that latex before they begin eating.

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″.

The caterpillar will molt four times, going through “instars” before its last molt.

Once they reach two inches they are ready for their pupa stage. The caterpillar finds the perfect destination to form its chrysalis and weaves a silk mat. The caterpillar grabs the silk with its legs to hang upside down in the “J” form, according to Arizona State University School of Life Sciences.