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Butterfly of the Month Club |
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Butterflies!
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April 16, 2008
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Butterfly Gardening Class at Shady Oak; April 26
Zebra Longwing butterflies are helicopters in the
butterfly world.
Butterfly cocoons? No such animal!
Buy one get one free plant sale!
Discovering butterflies in your yard and neighborhood
is a delightful way to spend the afternoon. As spring
moves in and buttterflies start laying eggs, caterpillars
are all over the place. When you learn where to look,
the game of hide-and-seek is easier to win.
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Butterfly Cocoon? NO such thing!
Most of us grew up saying 'butterfly cocoon' and most
people will never realize that butterflies do not make
cocoons.
Some species of moths make cocoons.
Butterflies and moths go through four stages; egg,
larva (caterpillar), pupa, and adult. A butterfly pupa is
called a chrysalis. Some species of moth caterpillars
make a covering (cocoon) and inside that covering, it
pupates. A cocoon is somewhat like a sleeping bag.
Right now, our Polyphemus Moth eggs are hatching. If you live in Florida and are
interested in purchasing caterpillars or cocoons, please send us an email.
The caterpillars eat maple, oaks, and willow. Be aware; they eat tons of leaves and grow for
weeks before becoming a pupa.
Read more and see more cocoon photos here!
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This is a beautiful butterfly ...
... the Florida State Butterfly!
Yes, that critter that looks like it has pinchers and
knows how to use them is the Zebra Longwing
butterfly.
Laying her eggs on passionvine that grows in the shade, this
beautiful species hovers in the air like a helicopter.
The caterpillar is white with soft black spikes, unless it
has freshly molted.
While still drying after molting, its hairs are
clear/white.
Read more about Zebra Longwings here ....
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Looking for Caterpillars?
Look in the right places!
In the spring, several butterflies are playing hide-and-
seek in your yard and neighborhood. Amoung them
are American Ladies,
Red Admirals, and
Buckeyes.
American Lady butterflies; host plant is
cudweed. (We're out of stock of cudweed at the
time.)
The caterpillars make a nest of plant material and hide
much of the time. When not hiding, they often crawl to
another cudweed plant and eat the leaves. Early in the morning is the
best time to search for these caterpillars. Just as spiderwebs shine in the early morning
sunlight, so do caterpillar nests (sewed together with webbing)
in cudweed.
Red Admiral caterpillars eat either pellitory
, false
nettle, or other nettle plants. They fold the leaves
and hide in their little 'nest'. Look for folded leaves in
pellitory and false nettle to find these caterpillars.
Buckeye caterpillars do not make nests; they
spend the
night on stems of thier host plants or
something very near the plant. In the spring in our
area, blue toadflax is the spring host plant.
Toward fall (and some in the spring and summer)
they use false foxglove in this area. They also use
many other species of host plants! Blue Toadflax is
an annual that reseeds readily. We have four inch
pots of Blue Toadflax available at this time!
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Buy One Get One Free Plant Sale!
Buy one of these plants and receive another of the same species free!
We have several species of plants that are on special
if you add the code NLAHP in the comment box when
you place your order. If you place your order by phone
(877-485-2458) be sure to mention the special to
Ester or Michelle
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Butterfly Gardening Class - April 26 � 10 AM - 12 Noon
Email or phone to register for the course!
Please join us Saturday, April 26, for our Butterfly
Gardening Course at the farm.
$35 each person; husband/wife teams are
considered 'one person'.
If you'd like,
bring a
packed lunch. the course 'ends' at 12 but feel free to
stick around and eat lunch in the exhibit after the
course. Although food is not allowed in the exhibit, for
this course we will make an exception.
�60 minute sit down course with powerpoint
photography to demonstrate points
�Garden Plan Outline
�3 Host/Nectar Plants
�Butterfly Plan List
�45 min. Butterfly Farm Tour
�How-to Handouts
�Annual Exhibit Pass
�And Much More!
The garden has not been replanted this spring.
Perennials are growing but the frost this morning
nipped the fresh growth again.
During the
course,
we will share one reason why our spring garden is a
bit weedy every spring. We do not fully weed our
garden until May.
Please preregister for the course via phone 877-485-
2458 or email [email protected].
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What would you like to see in the next issue of
Butterflies? Please send us your
suggestions.
Until next time, Edith, Stephen, Ester, Michelle, and the
gang
phone:
877-485-2458
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