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Most of us are now past the 2009 butterfly season and some of us have already had our first freeze and our first snow. In north Florida, we are in the tail end of our butterfly and moth season.

It's the Christmas Season! Shop with a 15% off coupon on all home and garden decor. See the coupon code NLV9 at the bottom of this newsletter for your discount code.

If you're past your season, it's time to research butterflies and moths in your area and plan for new plants for the spring. What species are in your area of your state but not in your garden? Why aren't they in your garden? Do you need to work with neighbors and encourage them to plant host plants for that butterfly also? Are you able to share plants and seed with your neighbors?

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!

Oak trees are covered with a wide assortment of caterpillar species. Scads of moths and a few butterflies use oak as a host plant. In this slower season, we've been searching oak trees to determine which species are in our neck of the woods.

The photo bar at the top of this newsletter features the Skiff moth caterpillar. The photo to the right is of the spiny oak slug. It stings!. What cute little rascals they are, creatures that we normally would not notice.

Although the oak caterpillar webpage isn't finished, it has at least 55 photos on it to date. We're working on identification at this time.

Updating the winter butterfly page was fun! We added new photos to the webpage about how butterflies spend the winter. Some spend the winter in their hibernacula - winter nests that caterpillars build. Others spend the winter as eggs. Others spend the winter as adults. And of course, others spend the winter as pupae.

The best-known overwintering adult butterfly is the Monarch that migrates every fall. Adult Monarchs in diapause can survive temperatures below freezing!

The current contest features two birds at one bird feeder.

Submit your caption suggestion via email to edith@buyabutterfly.com.

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

Ectoparasitoids - a new word for us - entered our life this year. While walking at the side of the road we found a moth caterpillar with what looked like a clump of eggs on its head. NOT!

Soon the caterpillar was an empty skin and there were parasitoid pupae underneath that skin. They 'drank' the caterpillar dry.

Since this experience, we've seen several more dry skins covering ecto- parasitoid pupae. For those of us who enjoy raising all species of moths, we may run into these off and on. Yuck.

It's the White-marked Tussock Moth female - wingless, as are all females of this species and many other moth species.

When we think of butterflies and moths, we always think wings. This female cannot grow wings and fly. The male must come to her to mate.

The caterpillar is found in the wild quite often. We find them on willow and oak more than other plants. Of course, it could be that we're looking on those plants more!

The female's skin is so transparent that her eggs are clearly visible through her abdomen in the photo above.

You can become a 'fan' of Shady Oak Butterfly Farm on facebook. Some (but not all) of our new web pages are now announced first on facebook.

Simply click on the link below and click to read our new announcements as they appear on Facebook!

We're adding video clips over the winter. Although we have a few uploaded (see link below) we have many more to upload this winter.

Once the microphone is set up, we'll be able to do much more with our upcoming videos.

Do you have something you'd like to see illustrated with a video? Send your request to edith@buyabutterfly.com.

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.

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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.

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