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How cool is that mawipafl! You did real good on the pics. Nobody said it was easy. And you have one of the most perfect host plants for them. I am envious.
The last pic I got was one who had a tangle with, I'm guessing a bird.
This young lady was flapping her wings so fast I couldn't get a clear shot.
Adult female eastern black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes asterius (Stoll), with wings closed.
Here she is opening up to us. She spends a lot of time in my back garden on a salvia, that I can't remember the name of. Yeah I have the tag, just too lazy to look it up. :-)
Regretfully many of our pollinators are vanishing. I used to have lots of butterflies-not anymore. It is one of the insecticides. Until it affects a major corporation nothing will be done. Remember the DDT???
I have lots of swallowtails on my phlox and hyssop. They seem nuts about those plants. I saw my first and only monarch last week. It was fluttering around my milkweed. Beautiful. I only wish there were of them around here.
I used to have a lot of butterflies. Now I am singing "Where Have All The Butterflies Gone". I plant and grow the correct plants. Still they are no butterflies. I am so very confused by the absence thereof.
I used to have a lot of butterflies. Now I am singing "Where Have All The Butterflies Gone". I plant and grow the correct plants. Still they are no butterflies. I am so very confused by the absence thereof.
Look into pheromones.. they do sell them for certain butterflies.. also a Terra Cotta Dish and only use Terra Cotta pot dish.. 12--16 inches across and 1--3 inch deep... lay it on some bricks elevated off the ground. Now in a low wind area .. but in sunlight pour some fine sand couple cups.. now wet the sand so it very damp not drippy wet.. not use banana peel pieces laid on top of the damp sand. Just remember before going to bed remove the banana peel or you will have unwanted critters.. Banana peel in zip lock bag.. place new sections out each day.. may take a week or so.. place were you can observe but not to interfere with the butterflies..
Perhaps have patience composter! My expanded gardens have been existing since May, but except for monarchs, no other butterflies have visited until just recently.
Female black swallowtail visits purple blooms only, and bypasses any other color (and she's blurry because she never stops fluttering):
The giant swallowtail eggs hatched yesterday (July 27). These two little guys are about 1/8" long:
This guy hatched from an egg I didn't know was there - much bigger than the new ones, about 5/8" ... and indeed the giant swallowtail caterpillars do look like bird poop:
I have a lot of monarchs. I've figured it how to attract them. I brought caterpillars in and raised them to chrsyalses. They had a disease and didn't emerge fully. I cut back some of the milkweed and am letting MotherNature do her thing. I apparently don't have enough of the other attractor plants to get a huge variety of butterfliesin the yard although I do occassionally see others. It was an extremely rainy spring for us and my plants suffered for it.
In spite of lots of perennial salvia, coneflower and phlox the butterflies have been scarce this year. DH has seen one monarch. I've seen a swallowtail. Zone Four, Southern MN.
I'm hoping August will bring more out. In the meantime I have plenty of bumblebees, some honey bees and all manner of wasps and hornets.
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