How excited you must be Miss Sherry. I don't imagine those leaves will last too long.

how wonderful, I am excited for you. my Ptlea was only about 4 inches taller than yours when they also laid eggs all over it last year. I guess when they like something they really like it.I kept moving the babies to citrus because I wanted the ptlea for the tiger swallowtails. It is listed in at least one book as being used by them. have you ever had them use it? I splurged on a garden flag that has a tiger swallowtail on it because as I told everyone "I am going to have a tiger swallowtail in my garden even if this is the only way". congratulations,
Smidge in the alley

Wow, MissSherry, I wouldn't have ever guessed they'd lay them on something little like that! Lucky you! I hope to get some someday if I can ever get some host plants going for them.
Cathy

Those mommas must be desperate, MissSherry! I assume you're planning on moving them to your other, more substantial, hosts? Otherwise, bye-bye ptelea, right?

That is just too funny!

Susan

Yes, I'll move them to the bigger GST host plants, Susan. Actually, I'll probably raise them myself in a cage and then I can feed them what I pick out for them.
Smidgeinthealley, I've found tiger swallowtail eggs on my pteleas several times - they don't like it as well as wild black cherry, but they do indeed use it.
I'm sure that you'll be getting giant swallowtails soon Mimidi. I'm not as sure that you'll get them, Cathy, but you might! You can always plant rue, and then if you don't get GSTs on it, the BSTs can use it.
MissSherry

Misssherry...Lucky,lucky,lucky girl!

I wish I got those beautiful giants up here. Guess I'll have to plan a trip down south in order to see them.

Do you think the GST liked the seedlings because the new growth was more tender?

Last year I found SBS eggs on little teeny Sasafrass shots that were growing from a stump that had been cut down. I found more eggs on that new growth than anywhere else.

I would watch as the female would hunt it out down low and collect the egg right after she deposited it..

They were so much fun to raise and sasafrass was so easy to find to feed them.

MissSherry, I honestly don't know if I ever saw a Giant Swallowtail in my entire life, and I've always lived in this area. Of course, I suppose that they could be around or that I saw them and didn't know what they were. You know how it is before you're into butterflies and you don't know one from the other really; at least that's the way it was with me. Now there's so many that I would like to try to get here that I'm going nuts wanting to plant so much. The GST is one that I really really want! I just planted some rue seeds inside a few days ago. I suppose that not many of my plants will be big enough to host butterflies this year yet. I also am trying to get the Black Swallowtail and have a lot of plants winter sown for them. My parsley is coming up from last year, and I'll sow my dill in another couple of weeks.
Cathy

Wowie! That is great, Miss Sherry. The lil Missy knew what the seedlings were.

how exciting Miss Sherry! That makes me want to plant some seedlings too! LOL

Elaine

The first monarchs to show up, usually in June, will generally lay eggs on the smallest, most tender, milkweed they can find in our yard. They don't seem to care if the plant is flowering or not. They are able to locate the young milkweed, even when the plant is hidden in tall grass.

Yes, I know what you mean, Eric - butterflies like to lay eggs on young, tender growth, but it's usually the new growth on an overall bigger plant than a seedling! When they use a seedling, they must be expecting big things to come! :)
I got on my ladder and found quite a few GST eggs on the new growth of my orange tree. It's absolutely COVERED with new growth, so I may have just missed them yesterday when I looked or she may have come back and laid some more.
I got my asclepias curassavica plant in the mail from Educational Science today, plus seeds for 3 different types of MW I'd like to try. The plant is really big! I planted it in almost full sun, gave it lots of space, and mixed a lot of chicken manure and slow-release fertilizer into the planting soil. I even staked it, figuring that it'll get real big under those conditions - I hope I'm right!
MissSherry

OMG, MissSherry, just one plant? You may be inundated by Monarchs who will eat your one plant to the ground. I had about 40 plants last year, and so many Monarchs that at one point I had to go buy more A. curassavica. Do you have seeds of A. curassavica to plant, too?

I used chicken manure in my mix last year of new compost, top soil, my ground soil, and the plants went crazy.

Susan

I don't usually get many visits from monarchs, Susan, but I definitely need more MW. I noticed this afternoon that one of last year's a. curassavicas is coming back from the root - this is the first time it's come back for me. I didn't order any a. curassavica seeds with my order, because I figured I could buy some from Walmart like I did last year. Well, wouldn't you know it, they didn't have any at Walmart or Lowe's in Hattiesburg! The three types I did get are:
a. sullivantii/prairie milkweed
a. syriaca/common MW
a. speciosa/showy MW
I've also got those a. physocarpa seeds planted that CalSherry sent me, also I think my a. viridiflora has come up - there are two seedlings that look like it.
I need to label my seeds!
The man that's been cutting down the last of our dead pines has finished up, and so I've got some open areas where I could plant milkweed - I'd like for some to naturalize, if that's possible this close to the Gulf!
And maybe one year I'll be able to get some seeds from the local a. lanceolata and/or a. pulcherra?sp. before they mow them down. I've never found a monarch cat on them, but I'd still like to have some growing on the wetter parts of my property.
MissSherry

Our milkweed plants come back every year, from the roots that survive the winter. We also get a few volunteers every spring, from seed. We have A. tuberosa, and A. incarnata. When you discover what species of Asclepias is happy in your soil & climate, it should come back in the spring reliably.

If I protect my a. tuberosa it stays green all winter. I have 2 plants that are in full bloom right now even though they stayed out in 25 degree weather.( my fountain froze) but the plants were next to the house. I also have to transplant all the volunteers I get when I let the seeds explode. I have some as far away as the opposite side of my two story house. I never knew there were so many kinds available I've only ever found the mexican( tuberosa)both seed and plants.I thought all the others were native wildflowers and not cultivated at all. I wonder why my wal-mart, lowes etc does not carry them. the nurseries around here have 3 gallon pots of a. tuberosa in bloom. I usually get impatient and "cheat" and ask them if I can have the monarch caterpillars that seem to arrive on the plants from whatever warmer climate they are overwintered in. otherwise I don't see Monarchs until mid April. but they do catch me on the return migration and I get them in September and somtimes october. speaking of milkweed there was a very strange butterfly or day flying moth on it the other afternoon. it did not stay long. but the best I can say is that it resembled a Janais Patch but the red was redder.( we don't get those here).and certainly not when our temps have still been pleasantly cool at night. it's wing span was about one inch. it was bordered with black and had red and white dots. the only other thing I could find in my books was the forester moth but it did not say if they were day flying. the antenae appeared clubbed but very delicately. it rested with its wings closed above its body. the wings had rounded margins. It flew in starts, like a skipperling. well it was exciting to see such a vibrant little thing.

That's great MissSherry! I love unexpected surprises like that!

Hmmm. I've never seen an eight-spotted forester with red in it, but they are day-flying moths. Their host plants are in the grape family, like Virginia Creeper and porcelain vine, etc. The caterpillars are very dramatically colored.

It could have been a newly emerged Janais. Sometimes the colors are much more striking in newsly emerged butterflies and moths.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Crimson or Janais Patch

The GST eggs are hatching!
Here's two of 'em - the one on the left is eating its egg shell -
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MissSherry

Oh, how awesome MissSherry!

Tonight it's cold rain here and 39 degrees. It's no wonder we have fewer species than you guys down there in the warm south. Waah! I want spring!

Congrats! Congrats! Miss Sherry. They are beautiful! What a wonderful story. Glad to hear that they came up from seeds so easily.

Oh, MissSherry - what cute little tykes! You are just so good with raising caterpillars. I aspire to be like you, and Linda, too - that is my goal. When you do it, everything just seems so easy and worthwhile, and I appreciate all the educational information you provide to us. Were you a teacher in this or a former life? LOL! Or, perhaps a guru? We always get positive input from you and believe me, it is very much appreciated.

Susan

Thanks so much for the kind words, Susan! I've never been a teacher, but my mother was for many years and my daddy was a teacher and football coach for a few years when I was a real little child - maybe I should have been!
Things aren't going so easily right now. I'm going to have to watch the weather closely - I hope it doesn't get cold enough the next few nights to hurt the hatchlings or kill back the new growth that their host plants have made. Last I heard, it was supposed to go into the upper 30's on Easter morning - talk about I Can Hardly Believe This! It's been down right summery for weeks! Even if it doesn't actually freeze, I'll be bringing as many of the hatchlings into my house as I can - I don't know how cold tolerant GST cats are, but upper 30's couldn't be good for them.
MissSherry

I wouldn't think it would be good for them either, Misssherry. I am actually thankful right now that I don't have any eggs or cats. I would be sorely concerned about them. But, I know that you guys will take particularly good care of yours. Keep us posted as we move thru this cold spell.

Susan

I keep finding more eggs on the orange tree, and this afternoon I saw my GST Mama fluttering around the tree - she's still at it!
MissSherry

All of the cats from my original spring time, GST Mama have either emerged as adults or they're in a cage as chrysalids, soon to emerge. Apparently, two of them got together, because now I'm finding eggs on my seedling ptelea trifoliatas again! After I saw the ptelea eggs this morning, I checked my other GST host plants, and I found eggs on the new growth on my orange tree and a few on a ptelea in my garden - I forgot to look on my rue. While I was in the garden looking for eggs, a GST showed up, probably the present egg-layer - she looked newly emerged, which is one reason I'm pretty sure she's one of mine. The PVSs, one of whom was laying more eggs on my pipevines and other aristolochias, ran her off! Her own Mama got run off by a pair of palamedes swallowtails earlier this year, and now she's being harassed by PVSs!
I think I may make my biggest Apogee cage my GST cage. There are others in it now, but if my GST population keeps expanding, I'll need it just for them.
By the way, I've got about 25? ptelea trifoliata seedlings in containers, and the 2 with GST eggs on them are the ones I recently potted up from 4" pots to quart pots - the others are all growing good, too! These make wonderful understory trees/shrubs - they love the shade!
MissSherry

That is too cute!

Edna

Your post grabbed my attention! Congradulations on your new additions. Pass the Virtual Cigars!
Kathy

Hehehe!! I will!
She's out laying more eggs - I got this picture of her in my garden nectaring between eggs -
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MissSherry

Another GST emerged this morning and this one was really big! She had a very narrow bar across her back and her abdomen was extra big, so I feel sure she's another female. I think there are already more than one females laying eggs on my GST host plants, because some of the eggs are typically orange, and some of them are pale green, somewhat like tiger swallowtail eggs. Hmmm.....now that I think about it, tigers have used my pteleas in the past, so I'll have to check and see if it's only the pteleas with the greenish eggs, although they have enough cream coloring in the green that I think they're probably GSTs.
I got this picture of her and a red-spotted purple before I released them - notice how, even though the RSP is closer to the camera, she still dwarfs it!
{{gwi:457383}}
MissSherry