It's a cold wet or rainy day and you need butterfly eggs. Learn how to coax your butterfly into laying eggs indoors. This bit of information was shared by Dr. Jaret Daniels when we brought interns to the Butterfly Rainforest. We created a webpage with photos to illustrate (and you can see the eggs they laid) his methods and more. The last article in this newsletter is about 'indoor egg production'.

Introducing - Brain Teasers! These 'butterfly' questions aren't really about butterflies but are brain teasers adapted for the butterfly enthusiast. Put your brain cells to work with "Half A Caterpillar".

As promised, we introduce you to Leslie Gilson, a living example of the "Power of One" in the butterfly world. See photos of before and after she took on the restoration of Norma Gibbs Butterfly Park.

You asked and we listened! In response to your suggested topics for Butterflies, we have added several pages to our website. We introduce those pages in this newsletter. Included are topics such as growing pawpaw, what to do if a neighbor uses chemicals, how to protect butterflies in our yards and cages, and more.

Remember, every 100th subscriber AND the person who recommends Butterflies! to that subscriber receives a gift from Shady Oak Butterfly Farm. Click here to learn more about subscribing to Butterflies!

Shady Oak is blogging questions that were emailed to us and the answers. We wish we knew all the answers but we sure don't! Sometimes the person asking the questions receives an email stating that we are writing professionals for the answer. We appreciate your questions because we learn when you ask.

Lepidopterists, entomologists, pathologists, and other professionals are very generous with their time and knowledge, often answering when we send them your questions that puzzle us. We thank people at the Butterfly Rainforest and McGuire Center (Dr. Emmel, Dr. Daniels, Jeff Hanson, and more), Mississi State University (Dr. Frank Davis and Amanda Lawrence), Monarch Watch's Dr. Chip Taylor, Dr. Leellen Solter, and the many others who answer our questions so we can share thier answers with you.

Monarch caterpillars reacting to sound, like we showed author Peter Laufer and he wrote about in his recent book, The Dangerous World of Butterflies.

A Monarch caterpillar eating a Monarch butterfly egg.

A ladybug eating an aphid.

Hundreds of Painted Lady chrysalises wiggling.

Our website is growing! A new video section has been added. Within a few weeks we'll be adding more video clips with editing - these are unedited videos.

Visit our educational butterfly site often to view new video clips as they are uploaded.

We have a clear winner! Thanks to all of you who submitted captions and voted in the last contest. Kathy Nash won with "Drinks are on me". Visit our caption contest page to see the ladybug photo and suggested captions.

The current contest features two birds at one bird feeder.

Submit your caption suggestion either through the link on the page linked below or email them to edith@buyabutterfly.com. The link on the page may limit you to one suggestion. Just send additional suggestions to me via email.

Each winner will receive a $20 gift card from Shady Oak Butterfly Farm.

A few years ago Norma Gibbs Butterfly Park, in Huntington Beach California, was neglected and overgrown. There were 179 dead and dying eucalyptus trees. Monarchs had not overwintered at the park for seven years. Enter Leslie Gilson. Receiving permission to restore the park, she has worked miracles.

Seven years after Leslie started the restoration project, Monarchs are back in the park again.

We tip our hats to Leslie and her vision, dedication, and perseverance. We would like to be a bit more like Leslie.

The park is still in need of financial support to continue restoration project. If you would like to add your financial support, please contact:
Norma Gibbs Butterfly Park
c.o Leslie Gilson
6062 Summerdale Drive
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

We all seem to differ a bit on what we consider acceptable in our yards. What I may use, you may consider unacceptable. What my neighbor uses, I may consider unacceptable.

When our neighbors use chemicals that poison our butterfly caterpillars and adults, all us butterfly nuts are unhappy!

What can you do? We talked with a few people who have had this problem and put together suggestions that have made a difference in some situations. If you have had this experience and it worked for you, please email us with your story. We'd all like to make this world safer for butterflies (yet safe for humans).

Logic questions (without tricks) are fun. We're taking our favorite brain teasers and adapting them as butterfly related brain teasers.

Submit your answer via a form linked on this page or by sending an email to edith@buyabutterfly.com.

Our introductary question is an oldie, shared by a nephew over ten years ago. If you know the author of this question, please let us know. We would like to give proper credits for this brain teaser. Answers for each teaser will be revealed in the next newsletter.

The answer is a number. This is a simple math brain teaser.

A butterfly farmer has Monarch caterpillars and must leave her farm at daybreak in three days. No one is available to feed her caterpillars. She offers the caterpillars to gardener and butterfly enthusiast friends. One friend, Mary, arrives that afternoon at the farm and says, "I don't have enough milkweed to feed all your caterpillars but I can feed some of them". Mary takes home 1/2 of the caterpillars plus 1/2 a caterpillar. The next morning Brad arrives and says, "I'd like to take them all but I better only take some of them. Brad takes home 1/2 of the caterpillars plus 1/2 a caterpillar. After lunch, Ginny arrives and says she will be glad to take 1/2 of the remaining caterpillars plus 1/2 a caterpillar. She leaves with that amount. When Ginny leaves, the farmer has zero caterpillars left. No caterpillars were cut in half or harmed in any way. Question: How many caterpillars did the farmer have when her first friend, Mary, arrived? This is NOT a trick question and the answer is totally 100% logical.

What are the dangers butterflies face? There are many dangers. Only 1 or 2 out of 100 eggs laid become adult butterflies.

How can we protect caged cats from tiny predators?

·1. Use caution when treating buildings, yards, and gardens for pests.
·2. If possible, bring the caterpillars indoors to raise in a disinfected rearing container that is so secure that parasitoids (the size of extremely tiny gnats) cannot enter the container. Rearing containers can be purchased or made.
·3. Place a sleeve over the plant or branch of the plant if you cannot or would rather not bring the caterpillars indoors. A sleeve is easy to make. Sleeves should be made of material so fine that parasitoids cannot enter them. Both ends of the sleeve should be secure. (Sleeves are available from several online sources.) If they are placed in a cage outdoors, they can be protected to a certain degree by covering the cage with parasitoid proof net or material. If ants are a problem, the use of Amdro helps. In addition, the legs of the cage can be placed in containers of water. A bar of soap in the containers will prevent mosquitos from reproducing in the water.
·4. Disinfect everything that you use when raising caterpillars between every batch of caterpillars. Diseases can be contagious beyond our belief.
·5. Replant butterfly host and nectar plants when an area is developed. Development is not a bad thing; schools, hospitals, stores, and so forth are good things. Replacement of butterfly habitat is a wise step in any development project.

Paw paw plants can be hard to grow. One reader asked for more information. We've asked an expert who grows native Florida pawpaws, Terri Pietroburgo, to share information. Terri's paw paw nursery is in Leesburg, Florida.

Northern pawpaw, A. triloba, is grown for its fruit for use in the food industry. It's easier to find information about growing that particular species.

Zebra Swallowtail butterflies lay eggs on paw paw plants. Paw paw leaves is the food plant for Zebra Swallowtail caterpillars.

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. We do not subscribe any person unless they directly ask us to do so. Subscribers have subscribed to this newsletter from one of our websites or through another sign-up location.

Send this link to a friend to sign up for the newsletter.

Photo right: the Smith clan (missing four due to work and illness).

Shady Oak is pleased to offer one day seminars to one week internships at the butterfly farm.

Every aspect of butterfly breeding and farming is covered in this packed week. From breeding stock to egg production to larvae care to pupae care to emerging to adult care to predators to parasitoids to shipping and packing to marketing to plant production to plant pests to Lepidoptera disease to USDA permits to marketing to ....

A visit to the Butterfly Rainforest is included in a one week internship.

It's cold, wet, and/or cloudy. Your butterfly won't lay eggs outdoors and you need it to lay eggs. It's simple! Make it think that it is a bright warm sunny day.

Dr. Jaret Daniels shared tips to obtain eggs from a butterfly indoors. It works!

Until next time, Edith, Stephen, Ester, Michelle, Christina, Rachel, Charlotte, and the gang