In This Red Hot Weather......

13 years ago

the red admiral caterpillars have gotten even redder!

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I noticed a red admiral flitting around the nectar plants in my front yard, so I checked the false nettles later on, only to find her there laying an egg. I came back later and couldn't find the egg/s, not surprising since the plants are covered with those flower/seed things that drop little egg looking things all over the plants - like my scientific way of describing this? :) I looked for cats and found several, all in two's - two for each stem where I found them, except one was dead. I brought them in, along with the big one in the picture. This one is REALLY red - maybe it's the hot weather?

Speaking of the weather, it's been unbearably hot and humid - rains for the past three days have cooled down the temps, but it still feels like a sauna out there. I'm down to just luna moth cats, so I was glad to find these red admirals. I've released quite a few giant, black and pipevine swallowtails lately, though, so maybe I'll be getting some eggs from them. Speaking of pipevine swallowtails, the ones I've recently released are considerably bigger than the spring groups and MUCH bigger than the overwintering group - these were as big, maybe a little bigger, than spicebush swallowtails! Again, maybe the heat has something to do with this? I didn't get any pictures, because they all flew out of the cage too fast, and didn't land nearby and pose for me.

It's better that I'm not raising too many caterpillars, since I'm still raising babies of the canine sort. When I was taking the picture of the red admiral cat, my 3-month-old-today cavalier watched me intently - forgive me, but I think she's darling!

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How are things where you are? Hot, probably!

Sherry

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Comments (14)

christie_sw_mo
13 years ago
That's a cool looking caterpillar but the puppy is much cuter. : ) She has such a sweet face. I hope she doesn't do anything wrong because there's no way you're going to be able to scold her.

It's been hot and humid here too but we got a light rain this morning and it cooled things off for awhile. It's funny how 90 can feel so cool after it's been up over 100 for a couple days.

I've never found a red admiral cat and wouldn't have known what to watch for. Let us know if that one turns out to be something special.
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fighting8r
13 years ago
HOT as hades!! And the rain keeps going around us!

That puppy is soooo sweet. Looks like one of those calendar pics!
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I can't even whittle my own list down to a reasonable amount, so how in the world do you expect that I'll be any help with yours? I'm laughing at myself when I say that because I have been trying really hard to reduce, reduce, reduce the number of both varieties and total plants that I grow, and despite my efforts we keep ending up with far too many tomatoes every year. Oh, and for the record, in my most wild-and-crazy-I-want-to-grow-them-all year, I planted 600 plants representing roughly 150 varieties. It was the best of years (so many plants, so many tomatoes, so many options) and it was the worst of years (all I did was pick fruit and give it away, over and over, every single day), and that was the first year the deer found plants growing outside the fenced garden and ate them all down to the ground at mid-summer, which at that point was sort of a relief. Having learned my lesson that year, I cut back to ony 300 plants the following year, and I think I've been cutting back each year, more or less, since then. I've grown and likeg many of the varieties you listed, so rather than comment on the ones I thought were worthwhile, I'll list the ones I can't comment on because I haven't grown them: Grandma Suzy's, Lithuanian, Maya & Sion's, McKinley KY, Not Purple Strawberry, Purple Dog Creek, Defiance, and all the dwarf's except Czech Bush Dwarf, which produced zero fruit in a very cold, rainy spring when I grew it and only a handful of fruit the next year when it was hotter and drier. I don't grow many determinates but always have liked the determinate form of Rutgers. Of the boars, Black and Brown Boar produced better for me than the other boars, but I have a lot of blacks that produce better-flavored fruit so don't grow it much any more. You already know which ones on your list I regularly grow and adore, so I'll just add that when I do my own list, I aim for a wide range of colors and DTMs. For that reason, I no longer grow Cherokee Purple, Cherokee Chocolate and Indian Stripe all in the same year very often because they are pretty much the same tomato with only very minor variations. Some years I grow both CP and IS, though, because we love them so much that it is hard to choose between them. Early Girl is valuable as an early sacrificial plant, but then I leave it alone for as long as it thrives, and some years it is the only tomato setting fruit well in July and August. That makes it a plant well worth having. I rarely see much mention by people of the fact that EG produces really well in the heat, but it does. My own list tends to lean heavily towards pinks, purples and blacks, so this year I really made an effort to grow more reds and to grow Tim's favorite tomato, which is Nebraska Wedding. My dad always grew Big Boy and I usually buy one as an early sacrificial plant, but as soon as other varieties are producing , I just give its fruit away. I grew up eating them and like them fine, but there's a lot I like more. We learned what we like and don't like merely by growing them, and I try to grow a mix. While I prefer plants that produce heavily, some varieties (like Brandywine, for example) produce such superbly-flavored fruit that I will plant them even though their production is poor in our typical summer weather. Other gardeners can tell you what does or doesn't produce well for them, but no one but you can determine if a given tomato appeals to your taste buds. Each person's taste buds are just as individual as they are, so all of us perceive flavor differenty. Even productivity can vary wildly depending on the sort of weather we have in any given year. About the only consistent factor that I have found affects my plants' productivity is getting them planted early. The earlier I plant, the more they produce, as long as I'm not putting plants into soil that is too cold for them (below 50-55 degrees). I probably get twice the yields from plants put in the ground in March than from plants put in the ground in April. so the timing of the planting seems to matter more than the variety up to a point. However, productivity isn't everything. In my 600-plant year, I had 6 plants of a variety called Super Boy, and each plant produced about a million tomatoes each, and we didn't think they had good flavor, so we gave them all away. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to grow only one or two varieties, because it would simplify life so much. However, I don't think I could do it. For me, one thing that helps me make decisions is knowing what I like. For example, since I liked Black Krim and Cherokee Purple, I went looking for varieties with similar flavor and that's how I found all the other blacks and some really good purples.
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MissSherry
Original Author
13 years ago
It was actually somewhat pleasant outside this morning! I wish you'd get some rain, Kelly - seems like the rain has been dodging you for months!
Christie, RA cats are known for being variably colored, so I think the adult will be normal. I found another cat this morning, a smallish one that was almost completely black. Usually, they're redder when small than they are in their later instars.
Sherry
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bernergrrl
13 years ago
Amazing that you still have your sense of humor in that heat down there--mine is gone, and we are no where near your temps. Today is nice, but it's been really hot and dry for us here.

Love your puppy--what a face. Cavaliers are one of my fav small dogs. You must keep her busy with all of your comings and goings.
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runmede
13 years ago
Instead of a lap dog, your dogs will be lep dogs. She's watching because she's learning. Hopefully, she'll be able to help later.
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runmede
13 years ago
This website shows even more colors of the caterpillars. I use the net trick at the bottom of the page, but I put in a snack size container of applesauce for them to snack on. Make sure you have a female.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Admiral Butterfly, Vanessa atalanta
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MissSherry
Original Author
13 years ago
Those cats have some interesting colors, runmede!
My cats are all various shades of red, orange and black, usually with yellow dashed spots, but sometimes white. I've never had a green one or pale one like in the picture.
Sherry
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siam_cannas
13 years ago
Thats a RED caterpillar!!! really nice. I loveeeee ur doggie, how cute!!!
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jeanner
13 years ago
What a heart throb (and yes I mean the puppy!)
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susanlynne48
13 years ago
OMG, MissSherry - I love those King Cavalier's. Their faces make you melt don't they. What a sweetie.

I've only had the black with some maroon spot - the caterpillars, that is! How funny you have paired the Red Admirals with the King Cavalier Spaniel - both are sooooo cute, IMO. I love the way the RAs always curl up their fat little bodies.

This heat is gonna get me if something doesn't break soon. The hot temps and humidity started in mid May here in Oklahoma, and we have just had so few breaks since then. People don't realize that we get all that humidity from Texas, and it feels as tropical here as it does on the coast. Then humidity pushes the heat index way up there, too. It's just been miserable all summer this year. And next year, we're in for a drought! Yuck....

Susan
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MissSherry
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the compliments on my puppy, y'all - I agree with you! :)
Susan, I think Oklahoma probably has the toughest weather in the entire country. I mean, you may not get hurricanes, but all those tornadoes, huge hail, high heat and humidity in summer, freezing ice storms in winter, floods and a lot of drought - Oklahomans must be as tough as the weather!
It's "cooled" down to normal levels, better than that hellish oven that was over us for a while, but it's still hot!
Sherry
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tiffy_z5_6_can
13 years ago
I cannot imagine your heat and count my blessings every day when I turn on CNN to see if the heat in the USA has cooled. Just amazing. It would be way too much for me.

I like the cat, but the puppy is so sweet!! What did you name her? She has beautiful markings and looks so soft and cuddly!
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MissSherry
Original Author
13 years ago
Tiffy, we named her Dixie, and yes, indeed, she's sweet and cuddly! We got a Blenheim (red and white) cavalier last November, her half sister Sookie, and they play together very well. Dixie is a tri-color - black and white with red/chestnut points.
Here's a picture of Sookie and Dixe, taken when Dixie was about ?7weeks old -
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All the red admirals are eating and pooping, like they haven't been parasitized - 'keeping my fingers crossed!
Sherry
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susanlynne48
13 years ago
Oh, I have dreamed of having a cavalier, and your photos reflect that you have a pair of beauties!

Yes, we do have weather extremes, is the way we Okies put it. This year has been especially strange. First, we had 14" of snow on Xmas Eve Day; followed by the spring tornados; then the floods in OKC; then the enormous hail storm with softball size hail; then the extreme heat and humidity that has plagued us since mid-May. I am getting a new roof on the house, as are all the neighbors in my area! The auto repair shops are STILL backed up on repairing all the vehicles damaged by the hail. But, that means jobs in this down economy, so we're trying to look at it positively. Do you know that it hailed so hard it knocked the numbers off my house? Weird! Not to mention the roof, window, lattice, carport, car, and I had numerous "potholes" in the yard for weeks, and lots of plant damage. The plants have recuperated, but it was just wild. A storm I'll never forget.

Susan
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