Thinking about...

It is a dreary day in mid-Ohio, our six inches of snow has melted into standing water and soggy lawn.  But have no fear!  We are reaching in to the grab-bag of photos I have been using to build some power-point programs I'll be giving in a month or so.  

  So prepare yourself for some sunshine from the Buckeye  State!

A Common Buckeye butterfly on Riddell's Goldenrod.

The pugnacious attitude and beautiful color-spots on the buckeye has always made it a special butterfly for me.  As a child, it was a real treat when we found them in the mid-late summer. But they were not guaranteed every year. I suspect they are more commonly found in the last decade, as the numbers of many southern migratory butterflies are on the rise.  

Don't think that is an indicator of climate change?  Try taking that up with the Buckeyes.

Buckeye Caterpillars- Ah, what could be cuter than baby pictures?!  These are baby buckeyes in the making.  And if you are having a hard time thinking that caterpillars are your "thing," think of them as butterflies or bird food.  Or, biodiversity.

Nature doesn't live in a vacuum.  We don't get to pick and choose.  Just as we can't have kittens without cats, we can't have butterflies without caterpillars.  And we won't have birds without caterpillars either, since they are a primary food for growing young birds.  

Hope you will be joining me at one or more of the programs this spring, I look forward to meeting new friends and catching up with nature lovers of all kinds.  Check the side panel for dates and locations of some wonderful gardening and birding events.  

Life and Death in Macro

My Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar farm continues to thrive, and the excitement is never ending. My life resembles Alice in Wonderland. A world shrunk down to the macro level...

where even the smallest of the caterpillars, rarely noted with the naked eye, are larger than life.

They feed and grow at a precipitous rate. Shown here molting, or shedding its old skin, and crawling off in a new color and style. Isn't he a big boy now? Only one more instar to go!

Another few days or a week of munching, and they will be ready to go into winter "storage" as chrysalis.
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Butterflies, and their larva, are highly dependant on the temperature and weather. Cool, cloudy days slow their metabolic processes and it may take up to 3 weeks or more to grow to maturity. Hot sunny days, like this summer, speed their growth rate. They mature more rapidly and therefore face fewer dangers. This year has been a fantastic butterfly weather- with exceptional numbers and varieties.

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Not all of them make it. The smallest of the caterpillars was found dead at the bottom of the enclosure. Death is reality. Most eggs laid never make it to winged maturity; these small creatures are a major player in the food web of life. They are on the bottom.

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Left on their own in the wild, they are subject to predation at every stage of life. Insects prey on the eggs and caterpillars, as well as the adult stage. Birds need caterpillars for protein, especially while feeding young. They also succumb to fungal diseases and a host of other maladies. I even suspect fratricide in crowded conditions. It is inevitable to have losses while rearing larva, the major reason I rarely take on a project of this sort. Butterflies face death at every stage in life, but I hate it when it happens on my watch.

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As mere human, I have no powers to control life and death, but if I did, we would have more butterflies.