Cabbage White Chrysalis

The caterpillar became a chrysalis. Can you tell which part is the chrysalis and which part is the leaf? Again, really great camouflage! The white is the wing, as seen through the pupal case. When it is that easy to see, it means the butterfly is about to emerge. It will probably be a butterfly tomorrow.

Cabbage White Caterpillar

Cabbage White caterpillars are so well camouflaged! I love the way that they lay themselves right down along a vein, as if pretending to be a part of the leaf. When I want to find live specimens, I have discovered that it is easier to find eggs than caterpillars. Even thought the eggs are much smaller, they are white and stand out against the green leaves.

Cabbage White caterpillars eat nasturtiums, as pictured here, but they also eat cabbages and other plants in the cabbage family like kale and cauliflower. They can be quite a pest in the veggie garden. But I love them because they are easy to find and have a long season. Cabbage Whites are some of the first butterflies I see in the spring.

Anise Swallowtail

There was an anise swallowtail in my yard today, sunning and nectaring. I have a big red coat on the line drying, and it was faked out over and over again, thinking that it was a flower. It flew over, checked it out, and departed over and over in the twenty minutes that I was watching. I guess it looks like a flower from far away, but not close up.

My butterfly walks started at the UC Botanical Garden on Tuesday. I had a crowd of people. So many things were in bloom, I talked about the flowers more than the butterflies. We did see a ringlet. And the pipevine swallowtails put on a show for us. We found no eggs or caterpillars, though.

Not an Earwig Insect Encounter

I know that is a really lousy pic. You can blame my camera. Anyway, it is a moth. I had to go to the doctor to get it removed from my ear. Who gets a moth in their ear anyway?

So, I think it was Monday night, I was falling asleep, when this flutter noise IN MY EAR woke me up. I tried to shake it out. It fluttered more. Then stopped. I shined a light in their. It fluttered more, then stopped.

Other people said that wax rolling around in our year sometimes seems fluttery. I really thought that it was not wax.

I don't know why it wanted to fly out. It had six legs. Couldn't it just walk out? Maybe there was not enough room to turn around and it couldn't back out... Maybe moths never use their legs, like dragonflies; I have never seen a dragonfly walk anyplace. They just use their legs for perching or catching insects. Meanwhile, it fluttered less and less, then finally quit.

Why did I have to make an appointment with the doctor and wait two days to figure out what it was? Luckily, the doctor had come across this problem before and didn't think I was crazy. I really wanted to know what it was. And now I know.

Puddling Papercraft

I realized today that I didn't post about the puddling papercraft after I completed it. So I took a picture. The craft illustrates a bunch of sulfurs sipping moisture near a rivulet. I think it came out great! Much better than my prototype.

Butterfly Sunning Papercraft

I decided to do a popup of a butterfly sunning on a rock. This is my first try. I wanted the two triangular pieces to look like one rock. This looks like two rocks or a split rock. I guess I need to try again.

Butterflies generally sit out in the sun in the morning to warm up before they fly. They like a nice warm rock for basking. I should put some rocks in my garden. Do you have rocks in your garden?

Garden Planning Session at Shorebird Nature Center

I was invited to a planning session at the Shorebird Nature Center in Berkeley. We met this morning to talk about goals and see the site. Interns, staff, and volunteers attended. The interns were students from Albany High School. Monarchs were flying and I found a lady caterpillar in the cheeseweed. As usual, I emphasized the need for host plants. I also encouraged everyone to watch "In the Company of Wild Butterflies." I hope the project goes well. I'll have to go back when they are finished.