Monarchs for Thanksgiving!
I hadn't really expected another round of monarchs this late in the year, but the butterflies have decided otherwise. Not a wasp in sight this late in the year (finally!), and the weather's been nice and warm. About four days ago I counted twenty caterpillars of varying sizes on the milkweed plants. Although I didn't have much time to spend in the backyard until yesterday afternoon, I did peek through the window (the big milkweed pot is right outside the bedroom, in a spot where it gets good sun this time of year), and saw ten cats that looked big enough to go a-wandering.
But today, at last, I got out there for a good look around -- and discovered three J-hooks and three chrysalises! There are still several small caterpillars - about ½ to 3/4” - left, which was a pleasant surprise, because the biggest ones usually eat all the leaves and any smaller caterpillars that can’t get out of the way. So maybe we'll even get a second wave of butterflies, as long as the good weather holds for a few more weeks.
Also, for the past month or so, I've been watching a mother green lynx spider looking after her brood in one of the backyard geranium forests. (There's a photo of an earlier spider mom and her babies -- and some of monarch caterpillars -- in this post from January of last year.) The spiderlings came out of the egg case earlier in the week and are huddled in the safety of a curled leaf, still being watched over by their mother, as they will be until they venture out on their own. They’re about the size of the millet seeds in commercial wild birdseed, and a dull orange color; in fact, they look a lot like red millet without the shine. I was pleased and surprised last week to see that Mama Spider had caught a honeybee (a favorite of green lynx spiders) and was feeding on it as she hung next to the egg case. I’d assumed that she’d fast as long as the babies needed protecting, but apparently not. Maybe the bee happened to fly in close on its way to a flower and the spider got lucky.
And then I was poking around the yard this afternoon and, on a whim, looked under a chunk of wood that was up against the fence (because you never know what you'll find). Underneath was a juvenile alligator lizard! I tried to catch it to show to B, but it snake-wriggled into the grass and was gone. I’m always happy to see the youngsters, since it means they’re still breeding in the area.
Getting back to the pesky wasps, I was doing a little research on green lynx spiders just now and came across this picture:
Hmmm. I wonder if I could get a few green lynxes to take up residence next to the milkweed plants next year?
But today, at last, I got out there for a good look around -- and discovered three J-hooks and three chrysalises! There are still several small caterpillars - about ½ to 3/4” - left, which was a pleasant surprise, because the biggest ones usually eat all the leaves and any smaller caterpillars that can’t get out of the way. So maybe we'll even get a second wave of butterflies, as long as the good weather holds for a few more weeks.
Also, for the past month or so, I've been watching a mother green lynx spider looking after her brood in one of the backyard geranium forests. (There's a photo of an earlier spider mom and her babies -- and some of monarch caterpillars -- in this post from January of last year.) The spiderlings came out of the egg case earlier in the week and are huddled in the safety of a curled leaf, still being watched over by their mother, as they will be until they venture out on their own. They’re about the size of the millet seeds in commercial wild birdseed, and a dull orange color; in fact, they look a lot like red millet without the shine. I was pleased and surprised last week to see that Mama Spider had caught a honeybee (a favorite of green lynx spiders) and was feeding on it as she hung next to the egg case. I’d assumed that she’d fast as long as the babies needed protecting, but apparently not. Maybe the bee happened to fly in close on its way to a flower and the spider got lucky.
And then I was poking around the yard this afternoon and, on a whim, looked under a chunk of wood that was up against the fence (because you never know what you'll find). Underneath was a juvenile alligator lizard! I tried to catch it to show to B, but it snake-wriggled into the grass and was gone. I’m always happy to see the youngsters, since it means they’re still breeding in the area.
Getting back to the pesky wasps, I was doing a little research on green lynx spiders just now and came across this picture:
Hmmm. I wonder if I could get a few green lynxes to take up residence next to the milkweed plants next year?