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misssherryg

Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillars, with Palamedes on the Way!

MissSherry
9 years ago

I brought in three, I think it was, spicebush caterpillars in their little shelters today to raise in a cage on the porch. I also brought in an extra leaf to feed them, and noticed an egg on it! When I put the leaves in their slots in the left overs container, I noticed that one leaf had an additional egg on it. I thought that was odd - spicebush swallowtails don't usually put two eggs on one leaf. Then I looked under another sassafras leaf, and found this -

{{gwi:462821}}

They keep surprising me!

I also saw a palamedes swallowtail in the act of laying an egg on a redbay, and I found another egg on the redbay I've got growing in a pot. So, they should be hatching pretty soon, giving me more swallowtails to raise - YAY!

Sherry

Comments (14)

  • bernergrrl
    9 years ago

    Oh my goodness! You will be a busy lady!

  • Leafhead
    9 years ago

    I just special ordered a native Wild Black Cherry tree (Prunus serotina), no easy task. With quite a bit of calling around, I finally located one at a nursery that deals in natives. This will complete an important cornerstone of the garden.
    Everyone else carries hybrids and cultivars of many varieties, but not many people have Wild Cherry in stock. I hope to be raising some Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and some Red Spotted Purples. And if I'm not mistaken, there's a Hairstreak associated c Prunus serotina.
    I also look forward to the many birds I'll be seeing as well when it fruits.
    I also planted some Florence Fennel, but I'm going to have to move them into high planters. Oh the joys of planting and Spring...

    John

  • Leafhead
    9 years ago

    Sherry, is that a hatchling to the left of the upper egg and directly above the lower egg?
    Or is that an artifact on the leaf I'm seeing?

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I'm not sure, John, what it is, maybe a small bug, maybe a piece of debris, but I don't think it's a hatchling.

    Wild black cherry is the most versatile and most used host plant that grows wild here. And you're right, local nurseries don't carry it, you have to get one from the wild or order one from a nursery that carries natives. It's a fast grower, so you may see results soon!

    Sherry

  • Leafhead
    9 years ago

    Good to know, Sherry.
    Thank you for the info, and good luck with those eggs.
    Keep us posted :)

    John

  • Tom
    9 years ago

    Sherry, there is a beetle that is killing the red bays in Florida and Georgia. I cut down two in my yard after they died all of a sudden.

    I have small ones sprouting up in different places, but I don't expect that they will live long.

    I have two spicebush trees growing, but now I think I'm going to look for a camphor, even though I know it can be invasive. I don't think it will be invasive in a developed neighborhood.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Red Bay Trees are Dying

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yes, I'm well aware of that horrible disease, Tom. The disease is caused by the ambrosia beetle, not native, but from Asia somewhere. It started on the East coast, and I'm SO worried that nothing will or can be done to stop its spread. So far - knock on wood! - the redbays here don't have it.

    As I recall, plenty of Florida gardeners have found spicebush swallowtail cats on camphor trees. It grows here, and I've examined the ones I know of for spicebush eggs/cats but haven't found any so far. That may be because sassafras is so plentiful here, though.

    Sherry

  • Tom
    9 years ago

    Anyone have cuttings of camphor trees or bushes? I'd like to have some on the property and I can't find any for sale here.

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I'll check the one on the property where the lady that does my hair works, Tom. Camphor trees are cold sensitive, so it might have been killed back by the record cold weather last January that killed by orange tree outright. Usually, camphor trees come back from the root after a hard freeze, though. If I can get some cuttings, I'll take several and try to root them myself. If they take, I'll play mail order nursery woman and send you one. I'd like one for myself, if I can find a place to plant it.

    Sherry

  • Tom
    9 years ago

    Thanks so much, Sherry. I keep thinking that I will find a few leaves of one of my passion vines loaded with zebra longwing cats that I will overnight to you. I have some of the butterflies now, but there will be many more soon.

  • molanic
    9 years ago

    You sure are finding tons of good stuff so far! I hope I have even a fraction of your finds, because last year was terrible. I love seeing all your pictures.

    Maybe OT, but since you mentioned them... Last year I wintersowed some wild black cherry from seed and they grew to almost 2 feet tall in one season! So they definitely grow fast. I overwintered them in pots sunk in the ground. Some of the leaves hung on all winter and they have broken dormancy now, but I think I have some die back to snip off some of them. Everything I've read said they aren't good for small areas due to size, weak wood, and mess. I'm growing them anyways for the wildlife even though I may have to take them out at some point. I may try a couple in containers for a bit and keeping any in the ground smaller with hard pruning. They do grow well from seed though if you guys need any more.

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yes, they must grow well from seed - jillions of them come up every spring underneath mature trees. Most don't mature, but the ones that come up at a decent distance from the mother plant will grow and make a big tree.

    Tom, I checked the spot where the camphor tree used to be, and it's completely gone. I guess the big freeze last January killed it completely. There are a few nurseries that sell it, but all but one say they can't send them to Florida (and many other southern states) because they're supposed to be so invasive. So you could probably find some in a field somewhere, if they're indeed that invasive. Mississippi is listed as one of the states they're not allowed to send them to, but I live in the southern part of the state, and we regularly have freezes that cut them back, and the last one apparently killed them outright. So, probably, they're only REALLY invasive in south Florida.

    Maybe this nursery will send you one anyway.

    Sherry

    Here is a link that might be useful: Ohio Nursery Selling Camphor Tree

  • Tom
    9 years ago

    Thanks so much, Sherry. I ordered two of them. I will keep them in pots and trim them if they get too big.

    Wonderful morning for me. Saw a big Tiger. I think it was a female. She was yellow and black on top and had some blue on her tail.

    Also, I have at least one Eastern Black Swallowtail visiting. I have a bunch of cats on my fennel.

    It's hot here, perfect butterfly weather in the mornings and late afternoons. I have a lot of sulphurs now---saw a big white one today and three or four big yellows. I don't know what kind they are. Also, I saw a Fritillary, a number of monarchs, some Polydamas and Zebra Longwings.

    A male hummingbird flashed his colors after he had to take off when the sprinkler hit him.

    Very little pain from my recent back operation. It has been a great morning.

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    That's good, Tom!

    If your tiger had blue on her lower hindwings, she was a female.

    I've still got plenty of hummingbirds, and, happily I heard the identifying 'wood ball bouncing on a wood floor' call of a cuckoo yesterday. I didn't hear one last year, and I was worried they weren't showing up any more.

    And it's great that your back operation isn't giving you any pain!

    Sherry