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Christmas Shopping? |
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Butterflies!
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November 17, 2008
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Happy Thanksgiving to all, whether you live in the US
or not. We give thanks for you, our butterfly friends, as
well as the many other blessings from God.
If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with your
friends. Every 100th new subscriber (and the person
who recommended Butterflies!) will receive a gift from
Shady Oak. The 1,000th subscriber wrote, "I received
my thank you gift for being the 1000th person to sign
up for the newsletter. It was way more than I
expected. THANK YOU."
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Gray Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars?
Well, mostly gray ...
Surrounded by thousands of maypop passionvine,
Gulf Fritillary larvae surround us. A walk through a
(frost-bitten)
passionvine patch last week brought the discovery of
more unusual colored Gulf Fritillary caterpillars.
Normally almost all orange, these were
more gray than orange. We suspect that they will
emerge as normal adults, unlike the 'albino' Gulf
Fritillaries from earlier in the year. (See bottom photos
of page linked below.)
See photos of unusual Gulf caterpillars
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Milkweed Sap
Milkweed sap is toxic. Most of us who raise butterflies
are fully aware of this fact. We're also aware of the
dangers of getting milkweed sap into our eyes.
We've been studying some about the toxicity of
milkweed and was interested in reading about how
many small larvae get literally 'stuck' in the sap and
die.
Larger caterpillars quite often actually cut the veins in
the leaves before eating them. Next time you see a
large caterpillar on a leaf that has 'fallen over' while
the plant is upright, look at the underside of the leaf.
You'll see where the caterpillar notched it.
Oleander moth caterpillars do the
same with
oleander; cut the leaf vein. Milkweed aphids are found
on both plants.
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Vine Support?
What do you use to support your vines? We've seen
some cute, some beautiful, some original ... just
about a bit of everything. We will be creating a
webpage with vine support ideas. If you have a
special item you use for support, from a tree to
a bicycle or ladder, please send us a photograph and
your description (and the name of the vine) if you
would allow us to use the photo and idea on the new
webpage.
It is time to plan for spring gardens; we'd like to have
this page filled with more ideas from YOU next month!
Please continue to email more photographs in the
coming years. The more we all share, the more we all
learn and enjoy our gardens.
New Page for YOUR photos
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Learn How to Release Butterflies ... and More!
Wedding and event planners, non-profit fundraiser,
and funeral professionals; learn how to add butterfly
releases to your or your client's events. Join us
Sunday, December 7, in Gainesville Florida. This
class ends with a butterfly release; each participant
will personally release a butterfly.
Nothing will or can be sold at the class. The
Association for Butterflies is a non-profit association
and does not sell butterflies or any other item.
More about the free class
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Inside or Outside; Odd Places Caterpillars Pupate
Have you seen the new photos that were submitted
for 'Odd Places to Pupate'? Check them out and send
in
your photos - we'll place them on this page and will
call for a vote in the January newsletter. (Vote for
caption contest will be in December.)
Send your photo to edith@buyabutterfly.com.
The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate from
Shady Oak.
Odd Pupation Contest
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Read Suggested Captions - And Suggest Your Own
Photo Caption Contest
The winner of the caption contest will receive a $20 gift
card from Shady Oak Butterfly Farm.
The new
photograph for the caption contest is of a
green frog that was hanging out in the butterfly patch.
If a frog could 'think', I wondered, what is it thinking?
Our first December newsletter will call for a vote on the
captions submitted. Please send in your submission
by November 30.
Current Caption Contest
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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,
Christina, Rachel, and the gang
phone:
877-485-2458
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