Little American Lady Nests........
on Helichrysum italicum -
Sherry
Comments (20)
MissSherry
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoHere's a picture of the rabbit's tobacco/Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium, that's growing on the south side of the house. When I lived in the country, these plants never got over about a foot tall, because American ladies would start making nests on them and eating the leaves long before they got any bigger. This one is about three feet and still growing -
SherryRelated Discussions
Little American Lady Cat
Comments (3)I had some cardinal vines growing in a pot in a planter for vines, but the vines, which never looked good or bloomed much, died without returning this spring. A small cudweed plant came up in the pot, and I decided to leave it there. I've transferred some AL cats that were in bad spots (like where they might get stepped on) or on pitifully small cudweed. Then I put a mesh covering over it, which I secure with clothes pins - it looks funny, but it's working! :) Here's one of the cats, which has grown to pupating size - I plan on leaving the cudweed in the pot for next year. Sherry...See MoreAmerican Ladies Everywhere!
Comments (7)I will, Mike! The first of the ALs I'm raising in a cage has successfully pupated - what cute chrysalids they make! It doesn't take them long to emerge from the chrysalis, so I should be seeing the adult butterflies soon. My first RSP has wandered off as if to pupate, so I should be getting a chrysalid (with a knob) soon - I've still got a lot of smaller cats in the cage, and I keep finding more early instar RSP cats and eggs. The last three GST cats have gotten big, probably 4th and/or 5th instar, so they should all be chrysalids soon, too, also my one palamedes swallowtail cat has curled up a leaf and stayed there a while, the way they do when they change from brown to green - it won't be long before it's pupating. I found another palamedes cat on a pitiful looking little redbay, so I'll bring that one in tomorrow to raise myself on some good redbay leaves. I love to have a lot of chrysalids, because then I can have the pleasure of releasing butterflies just about every day! MissSherry...See MoreAmerican Lady chrysalis and butterfly
Comments (7)What beautiful close-up pictures, Stan! I, too, work on the NY Times crossword every Sunday - I haven't done much on it today, because I've been busy with other things, but I really enjoy it. I can't tell how big the cocoon of the parasitic wasp is, but if it's real tiny, it may be the same !%#!%* insect that parasitizes red admiral cats. I think KC let one live and got a picture of the wasp, which is, not surprisingly, very tiny. I'm presently raising two red admirals from eggs, and both of them are continuing to grow and thrive, so I guess the wasp gets into the nest and injects its egg into the tiny caterpillar - they apparently do this early on, so yours were undoubtedly parasitized when you got them. It's interesting that your butterfly didn't have the white spot in the orange field on top and the pink on the underside. I vaguely remember a poster from Wisconsin saying once that not all American ladies had the white dot - all mine have it, so maybe it's a northern characteristic? I agree that American ladies have some of the most beautiful colors and underside patterns of any butterfly - how many butterflies do we have with pink? And I, too, call them "she" - they are ladies, aren't they? :) Sherry...See MoreSilver-Spotted Skipper and American Lady? Caterpillar Nests
Comments (8)Whoo - hoo! Yep - does look like an AL nest to me, MissSherry. I'm seeing a lot of them here right now, so you may get more of them. Is your gnaphalium pennsylvanica also referred to as "cudweed"? I don't know if mine will come back or not, since the mowers got to mine that sprouted without any effort on my part. Must have dropped some seed I had. Right now, I don't have any gnaphalium. I'm like Sandy. Had a lot of nests in spring, but never saw them make it to maturity. Think something must have gotten them, but don't know what. Grasshoppers are a real problem for me this year, and don't know if they eat the foliage, and consume the caterpillars incidentally. They are on their way toward you, though! Susan...See MoreMissSherry
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoAnna, technically pearly everlasting/Anaphalis margaritacea is different, but it's also known as western rabbit's tobacco, which sounds like they recognize how much it's like the eastern version. I've ordered and planted it, and it looks just like our eastern version, but it doesn't grow quite as well here. ALs lay their eggs on it just like they do rabbit's tobacco/ Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium. I would think it (Helichrysum) would be perfect for you in Zone 9B - they may not come back next spring for me here in Zone 8B. Many plants that don't overwinter here die because it stays too wet all winter, and the roots rot, but these are in a raised bed with fast drainage, so maybe they will come back. This is my first year to grow Helichrysum - I had read somewhere that ALs will use it, so I've been wanting to try it.
The only bad thing about having these caterpillars is that I won't get to see the cute little yellow Helichrysum flowers that look something like a yellow version of our rabbit's tobacco flowers. I'll take the loss for the cats, though!
During the cloudy morning, two of the cats ventured out a little bit from their nests. I was able to get this not so good picture -
Sherry
Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
4 years agoGreat pictures! Love to learn from you! Today, I saw little nests on my Illinois bundle flower. I got all exited. Closer look showed just more broom moth caterpillars ready to pupate. They are showing up everywhere. There are a lot of their cocoons on my fig. At least I learned what that looks like.
On the bundleflower.
on the fig.
MissSherry
4 years agoIris S (SC, Zone 7b)
4 years agoMissSherry
4 years agoIris S (SC, Zone 7b)
4 years ago
annabananaflzone9b
4 years agoMissSherry
4 years agoIris S (SC, Zone 7b)
4 years agoI have a question, please. Thought I posted this half an hour ago, so I hope it is not showing up twice eventually. Found this one today, munching away out in the open. Why is it not in a nest? It’s in the lawn, so the plants are short. Is that the reason maybe?
MissSherry
4 years agoannabananaflzone9b
4 years agoIris S (SC, Zone 7b)
4 years agoHa ha, Anna. This one missed the message to go pupate. He was still eating this morning. I am always so curious what is in these leaf rolls or pockets. Often I never find out. Last Summer I went out well after dark 3 days in a row to figure out what is rolling the leaves on the Canna.
annabananaflzone9b
4 years agoMissSherry
4 years agoCongrats, Anna! Sometimes they come outside the nest, especially on cloudy days. I found an old picture of one -
And I found a picture of a more common gray chrysalis -
They also make a beautiful yellow/green one, but they're not nearly as common.
SherryMissSherry
4 years agoIris S (SC, Zone 7b)
4 years agoMissSherry
4 years agoannabananaflzone9b
4 years ago
annabananaflzone9b