Sherry,

Nice looking moth. Spring has my permission to roll in early.

randy

Spring hit here on January 1st here! I saw butterflies all of last year and even during the Winter in December. ( just Skippers though)On January 1st I saw a bunch if varieties when it got warm. Here it sometimges gets into the high 80s! Like 88*!

Yes, today there were swarms of little flying insects, can't tell what they were, but bug outbreaks are a sign of spring. The warblers were right in the middle of these bugs, feasting I imagine.
I'm ready for spring!
Sherry

Nemoria lixaria sounds good to me too MissSherry unless your season is as out of whack as ours is. The spring form of N. bistriaria is normally brown. But then you are so far south maybe they are green year-round there? Where's my old stinky brown/stinky gray moth collecting pard Dr. James Adams when I need him? LOL Oh yeah, at Dalton College. He'd know for sure. Both he and his mother are small moth freaks, would come west and spend a few days with me every year before he got married with children. They are a real hoot to blacklight with all might.

It can't make up its mind on the North Mojave this year. Gets beautiful and warm for a few days, lots of bugs and birds and critters out, then another cold front rolls in and its bitter cold and windy again. Well, bitter cold by our standards anyway. Strange year so far. Plus side is the longer it stays cold, the longer it'll be before its unbearably hot. Nah, just kidding myself. It can swing 50+ degrees here easily over-night, especially when trying to get from winter to summer or summer to winter (IOW, some years we don't get a spring or fall).

MissSherry - I went and found James website to see what he had on the Nemoria. Looks like both color forms of N. bistriaria can fly at the same time. So it could be either this time of year down south if that helps any. Larry

Larry, I only have two books that I primarily use to ID moths, and they don't have many details about such things as seasonal colorings. My books show both moths as green, but the moth in my picture looks a little more like n. lixaria, so we can agree on that one. I just love the looks of all the emeralds - too bad they're not bigger!
Sherry

I love the little green ones too. Your moth is very pretty; the pattern around the edge of the wing is almost like stitchwork.

I'm hoping for spring, but, it can get a little wild around here when the seasons are changing. Our wild swings from warm to cold and back are being accompanied by wicked weather. We didn't get tornadoes in our part of the state, but we did get hail and about 3 inches of rain.

I have lots of little babies in the plant room waiting to get outside and stretch their stems! And their mom is getting stir crazy.

Sandy

A lovely photo, & I'm glad to hear that you are beginning to see sign of spring. No spring here yet(Madison, Wisconsin). We did have two sunny days in the 50's recently. That kind of weather really brings out the dogwalkers and joggers. I managed a walk this afternoon, and checked out the muskrat that lives near the Yahara River. Then I waved to the fellow gliding across Lake Monona in his ice boat. We are getting a little low on snow, but there is still half of February and all of March remaining. It is too soon to be disappointed with winter!

I saw pictures of the tornadoes in Oklahoma, Sandy - really terrible! I think the winters in Wisconsin would be too cold for me, Eric, and I think the lack of winter in south Texas wouldn't be my cup of tea either, Danny. I guess at my age I just like what I'm used to, everything, that is, but hurricanes, which I hate.
This time of year is great in my area. It was 73 degrees today with perfect humidity - it's 52 degrees now, it'll go as low as the mid-40's tonight, which, with a blanket, is perfect sleeping weather to me. I keep some of the windows open all the time now, and I'm not using any heating (or air conditioning) so my electric and gas usage will be real low for this month.
I ordered my seeds, so I'm looking forward to starting them soon - I don't ever start my seeds inside, Sandy, because I don't have any windows where enough light comes through to make that work.
My Carolina jessamine is still blooming, as are the wild blueberries (still) plus the red maples and the serviceberry blooms have just opened.
I saw a question mark the other day, but that's the only butterfly I've seen, other than the ones that have emerged in my guest room.
I love spring weather and spring activities!
Sherry

Ditto about spring guys. I am very anxious to get past the period where sudden changes in the temps at night can wreak havoc on new growth especially on my lantanas which have almost all started to send out new growth. I may have lost one or two small ones but all the others are looking well. My pipevines are all starting to bud except some of the east coast varieties which wake up more slowly. The A. californicas are full of buds(flowers) and new growth. Some have had their flowers since early January.

This past week I cut down all but one buddleia and had to stop all activity because we are having much needed rain which also means higher nightime temps.

I keep checking the overwintering chrysalids but I am hoping no one will emerge too early. I had one Papilio zelicaon emerge a month ago during a warm spell which made me wonder if there would be any followers but so far so good.

I am determined to plant the last yard space I have that runs along the side of of the house this spring as soon as I can stand the dampness and the cold. I am a sissy when it comes to cold and the arthritis stops me dead within a short time.

I hope this season is our best ever.

So nice to read your posts again, Larry.

Murray

Beautiful picture, Sherry. I've not seen any moths as colorful out here on the west coast.

Murray, my pipevine is completely dormant :-( I've over wintered my pipevine swallowtail chrysalides in a container, in the garage, where it's colder. About when should they emerge? This is my first time raising them.

Edna

It's hard to say, Edna. I've seen pipevine swallowtails flying around at Benicia State Park in the past as early as February. But I am hoping my chrysalids stay dormant until the weather is more reliable and the vines have leaves on them of some size. At the moment all my californicas have to offer is buds and some flowers. It also depends on where the vines are growing. Some wake up earlier than others. It is still too cold for any butterflies especially at night. Although I have been seeing the cabbage whites and one or two west coast ladies on the warmer days.

Most of the yard is still very pathetic looking. It is mostly brown and gray and in need of real weeding and pruning but I am afraid to do it so early.

I've been working outside today - the weather is beautiful, in the low 70's! I saw my first sleepy orange yesterday, and my first cloudless sulphur and little yellow today. These butterflies all looked in pristine condition - I thought they overwintered as adults, but these sure looked newly emerged. I also saw my first dragonfly of the year. I found the first little bit of new growth on my pipevines, and my Mexican flame vine and lantana are making a little new growth from the bottom.
It's getting here! :)
Sherry

The weather teased us here today. And tomorrow, it will tease us again, but another cold front is on the way. Oh, hum.

Sherry, I'm glad to have your proclamation that spring is close. Even though I am excited about returning to the U.S. this weekend, I am not looking forward to cold weather. A friend in Birmingham told me last week that he'd seen four butterfly species already, which would tend to confirm your analysis of the spring signs.

Down here in Mexico, things are greening up nicely and we even had a thunderstorm a few days ago. The days are quite warm -- 85 degrees -- but the nights are chilly. We had a frost Monday night, but it did not damage the young shoots.

{{gwi:454334}}We went to a neighboring town this morning, and I was surprised to see a fair-size Asclepias curassavica growing in front of a pottery co-op. It looked like it needed water and was covered with road dust, but it was unmistakable. Hmmm... I should have checked it for eggs. I must be slipping. Ah well, I couldn't have reared them anyway. Only here two more days. (Yippee, I'm going home!)

geni