The Monarchs are on the Move – Encouraging population news

This newly metamorphosed Monarch butterfly is in the process of drying and expanding the wings to take the first flight.

This newly metamorphosed Monarch butterfly is in the process of drying and expanding the wings to take the first flight.

The Monarch Butterfly migration is underway!  Monarchs are taking on nectar to build energy stores for the migratory flight to their winter home in Mexico. From Minnesota, Iowa and other points north, reports are that the migration has started. The good news this year is that the Monarch population appears to be on the upswing.  That is very good news indeed.  There was concern that recent population drops would become an annual trend.  

You can help during the migration by making sure you have flowering plants available such as:

Buckwheat (Eriogonum)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
California Lilac (Ceanothus)
Citrus (Citrus)
Coneflower (Echinacea)
Coreopsis (Coreopsis)
Cosmos (Cosmos)
Daisy (Aster and Chrysanthemum)
Dianthus (Dianthus)
Heliotrope (Heliotropium)
Lantana (Lantana)
Marigold (Tagetes)
Milkweed (Asclepias)
Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa)
Rabbit Brush (Chryssothamnus)
Rock Cress (Arabis)
Salvia (Salvia)
Senecio (Senecio)
Star Clusters (Pentas)
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia)
Verbena (Verbena)
Wall Flower (Erysimum)
Zinnia (Zinnia)     -list from the Monarch Program

Many of these plants are very easy to grow.

Use this link to track the progress of the migration.

Use this link for more information on the Monarch including gardening for Monarchs.

Clearly this is not a bug!

Hummingbird at flowerThere is a lot more to see in a garden or field than just plants.  Flowers are nature’s way of attracting a wide variety of creatures.  Many plants need wildlife to help with pollination. A flower or vegetable garden or a field of blooming weeds is full of life.  Some come directly to feed on nectar or collect pollen such as bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  Others, like spiders, wasps, assassin bugs and praying mantis, are attracted to areas with flowers because the bugs they eat are in the plants.  Then, larger animals such as lizards and birds are attracted to the area because of the variety of insects they can find there.

Hummingbird at flower

Female Ruby-throat Hummingbird at Hummingbird Bush

Hummingbirds are a special sight. They are fun to watch at a hummingbird feeder, but watching them feed at flowers is more fun to me.  This little female Ruby-throat Hummingbird checked out every bloom in the garden. I was able to catch a picture of her feeding at the aptly named Hummingbird flower yesterday.  She seems to prefer Hibiscus flowers too.

Some butterflies like specific flowers.  The Monarch butterfly requires the Butterfly Weed, also known as Milkweed, to lay eggs.

Monarch Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed

The Monarch larvae or caterpillars feed almost exclusively on Milkweed as they grow and prepare to undergo metamorphosis into a butterfly.  Other butterfly species have their preferred plants too.  When you think about it, that helps reduce the new caterpillars’ competition for the same plants after the butterfly eggs hatch.   Caterpillars have to eat a lot to grow and turn into a butterfly!

I have a wide variety of flowers in my back yard to hopefully attract different types of wildlife. It works beautifully most of the time.  I have discovered that something must be missing though.  A beautiful Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly passes through the yard several times a day without stopping. They like daisies. I have a daisy plant in a pot.  Perhaps they require more than one pot of daisies to make it worthwhile to stop and feed?

A great place to watch for butterflies, insects and other animals attracted by flowers is at a garden center. The large concentration of flowering plants attracts a lot of attention from insects. And it is free to walk around! Some of the pictures for There’s a Bug in my Blossom were taken at garden centers.

We can enjoy all that nature has to offer whether in our own yard, at the park or a garden center.  We just need to get out and observe.  And yes, sometimes flowers attract all sorts of wildlife!

Squirrel and daisies

Freddy Squirrel

The Kirkus Review is in!

Book Review: Tiger SwallowtailThere’s a Bug in My Blossom

“Get a closer view of a variety of insects and plants in this bright, engaging children’s book.

Featuring a handful of animals, including a cat who implores readers to explore the insects and plants around them, this educational book dives quickly into descriptions of common and not-so-common crawling creatures—carpenter bees and their wood-boring habits, grasshoppers, wolf spiders, walking sticks and even predatory lizards…. There’s also a
discussion on the effects of pesticides on insects, dying bee colonies, how bugs help pollinate plants, butterfly coloration and more—overall, a well-rounded look at insect life. Donaho’s debut children’s book boasts clear, brightly colored photos that immerse readers in the insects’ habitats. Vibrant and engaging, they add a special touch…. The book also offers tips on how to look for insects in flowers in readers’ own backyards—a nice inclusion sure to inspire some afternoon exploring.

One part education and one part entertainment, this vibrant book will delight readers of all ages, from bug beginners to almost-entomologists.” – Kirkus Reviews 

UPDATE: What Is That Butterfly Doing?

Queen Butterfly  1st instar

Queen Butterfly 1st instar

The next stage of butterfly growth has begun.  This is day 4 since I saw the female Queen Butterfly lay an egg on this leaf.  What we are seeing is the 1st instar stage of the new caterpillar.  As you can see, it is very tiny.  It is very hard to see without a magnifying glass.  But it will grow rapidly and then molt (shed the old skin) into the next larger instar.  The Queen Butterfly caterpillar will go through 5 instar stages before it goes into the pupal stage to complete the metamorphosis into a butterfly.  I am going to continue trying to follow this caterpillar on its journey from egg to butterfly. Will he or she make it? There are many perils for small animals in the wild.  Stay tuned!IMGP3309

What is that Butterfly Doing?

Queen Butterfly laying eggs

Queen Butterfly laying eggs

A couple of days ago, I happened to see a lovely orange butterfly in the front flowerbed.  But it wasn’t going to the flowers.  It was landing deep in the plant.  I thought that was weird.  Normally the butterflies are flitting from flower to flower drinking nectar.  What is that butterfly doing?

The camera was handy so I took a few shots.  I wanted to identify the butterfly and maybe get a good picture.  I didn’t have my best butterfly lens installed on the camera at that time so the pictures are not as good as I like.

What I did see in those pictures was the butterfly laying eggs.

Queen Butterfly Egg

Queen Butterfly Egg (with Yellow Aphid)

That is what she was doing down inside the leaves of the plant!  By the time I came back out with a good macro lens, she was gone. Carefully lifting leaves, I found several small single white eggs on the plant’s leaves. She had placed them one to a leaf.

It was time for some research on this butterfly. I am hardly an expert on insects.  Each time I see something new I have to research it to understand what I have seen.  That is part of the fun of doing wildlife photography. It is fun doing the research and learning about this wonderful world.

Queen Butterfly

Queen Butterfly

It was a Queen Butterfly that I had seen in my garden that day.  I, at first, thought she might be a Monarch. But the Queen doesn’t have those dark black wing veins like a Monarch.  Monarch wings remind me of a stained glass window.

Monarch Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly

I found out that the Queen Butterfly is found in many parts of the world with temperate climates. The milkweed plant she used to lay her eggs was chosen as a host because the Queen butterfly caterpillars or larvae feed on milkweed.  This is a common tactic with many insects to assure the young have the correct food source.  If you know the food source of the caterpillar or other insect young, you can usually find those insects.  I also found out in my research that the Queen does indeed lay only one egg per leaf.  This makes sense since the newly hatched caterpillars will have less competition for food on their leaf when they hatch. They also tend to eat other small caterpillars!

If all goes well, the caterpillar will emerge from the egg in another day or so.  It takes 3-5 days for the egg to ‘hatch’.  I hope to see and photograph the new caterpillar at that time. The caterpillars go through growth stages called instars.  It will be fun to watch them eat, poop and grow over the summer.

A side benefit of looking so closely under the leaves was discovering the tiny Yellow Aphids.  If they become too numerous they can cause the plant to die.  The only safe method I can find to rid the plant of aphids without killing the butterfly eggs too is to dab each aphid with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol. I may let nature take its course instead.  I’ll find out pretty quickly if the young caterpillars will eat aphids.

Stay tuned.  This is the first time I have tried following a butterfly life cycle “in the wild”.  It should be fun!

 

 

On Chasing Goats (or Butterflies)

One of the hard lTiger Swallowtailessons new zookeepers must learn is how to catch animals. I was always amused to see it happen. The animal runs and the zookeeper chases. It is how we are wired. The animals zig and zag until the zookeeper is exhausted. It doesn’t matter if the chase involves a dog, zebra, goat or a butterfly. Catching up is very difficult to do.  Four legged animals have a distinct advantage in speed and maneuverability. Flighted animals an even greater advantage.  If you are starting in the rear you have already lost!  You have to get in front of the animal to be successful. That is how cowboys would stop a cattle stampede in the early cattle drives.  Cowboys would ride as fast as they could to get to the front of the stampede to try to turn the lead animals slowing the rest of the herd. It is impossible to stop a stampede from behind.

I sometimes find myself chasing after a photograph too. Trying to follow a flitting butterfly, a zooming dragonfly, a soaring eagle or even a sunset often ends in frustration. The trick is to observe, learn habits and place myself in the right spot at the right time.

Last Monday morning I was trying to capture a shot of this beautiful Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly in my brother’s garden in Memphis. The lure of the chase was strong and a natural instinct. I caught myself chasing. I would get tired of waiting only to move to another spot and see it feeding.  I would then try to follow it as it flew around the yard.  After a few minutes of no luck I stood back and watched. Soon the butterfly’s feeding pattern became apparent. There were two levels to the garden with zinnias blooming in an upper section and then down in a low area. This butterfly was flying a loop between the two areas. The flight pattern was not readily apparent because part of the loop took it over a back fence into another yard. The butterfly would disappear.  It left the upper flowers, flew over the fence and then reappeared to feed on the lower flowers. It did this over and over. Being in the right spot with the camera was now much easier! When the butterfly flew over the fence at the upper level, I moved to the lower area and waited.  It reappeared pretty much on schedule, and I got my photos.  The butterfly also spent more time on the flowers in front of me, because I was already set up and part of the landscape.

Part of being a photographer, a wildlife observer or being a zookeeper is staying ahead of our targets. Take the time to learn animal habits, observe them in the wild and then go for the photograph. That pre-planning will pay off in the long run.  Just remember, “Don’t chase the goats!” Tiger Swallowtail

There’s a Bug in my Blossom receives 5-Star Review!

5star-flat-web

Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Rating!

“There’s a Bug in my Blossom should get even kids who hate or are scared of bugs looking in flowers to see who’s in there. There’s a Bug in my Blossom is both educational and a lot of fun, and it’s highly recommended.” – Readers’ Favorite

Read the full review

Endangered cricket rediscovered by insect expert’s 7 year old son..

Endangered cricket rediscovered by insect expert’s 7 year old son..

This story about the endangered Scaly Crickets on the beaches at Pembrookshire in the United Kingdom is a lot of fun. I believe kids have an advantage when it comes to seeing things.  Adults tend to take a broader view.  I know I do.  Kids look at a scene and can break it down into segments.  And within those segments they can see details that we adults miss.  I’m trying to regain that skill now as an adult. But I find that I still miss a lot until I take a photo and zoom in on it with the computer. Then I see all that I missed in the initial scan. I could attribute missing details to older eyes, but I believe there is more to it than that.

After raising four of my own, there is no doubt that kids are very perceptive and observant.  Can I as an adult regain that wide eyed vision of a child? I sure hope so.  I’m working on it.

It’s National Insect Week (in the UK)

While a week celebrated in the United Kingdom, we should celebrate the diversity of form and function in the insect world everywhere. Click here for a BBC slide show.

This bizarre Flesh Fly is eating some rotten fruit.  Flies lay eggs on rotting flesh and vegetation.  When those eggs hatch the larvae, known as maggots, feed on what is around them. They are scavengers.  In this way flies play an important part in the environment by helping to break down plant and animal waste.  Did you know that flies are important pollinators?  Just like the bees, flies help spread pollen from plant to plant.  Flies are also an important food source to other animals in the food chain.  From spiders to birds, flies and their maggots provide concentrated protein to those other animals.  In New York state, the Flesh Fly maggot is very important in controlling Tent Caterpillars.

The Flesh Fly does not bite us because it has no biting mouth parts.  They are sometimes called “Friendly Flies” because they will land on us to perhaps get some salt or moisture off of our skin.

Let’s not forget the importance of every animal in the environment.  Flies are scavengers, pollinators, predators and food for other animals.

 

Flesh Fly

Flesh Fly, Sarcophaga sp.

 

 

 

Judging the Age of Butterflies

White Peacock ButterflyJudging the Age of Butterflies

The White Peacock Butterfly is found in the southeastern United States through Central American and South America.  This particular specimen was photographed near Naples, Florida. Their lifespan in the wild is one to four months.  Judging by the wear and tear on the wings of this female, this is probably an older butterfly.  Tattered wings are a good indication of where a butterfly is on their lifespan.