Giant Swallowtails

Something exciting happened in our yard this summer. In late August, as I sat, contemplating the garden and enjoying a sunny afternoon, I watched 2 Giant Swallowtail butterlies lay their eggs on our 3 small Hop Trees. We planted these trees the previous summer in the hopes of attracting this magnificent butterfly. Last summer we had a visit from an older worn Giant Swallowtail, our first in the garden!

This is the largest butterfly species in Ontario and it is expanding it’s range northward. The host plants for the larva in the northern part of its range are Hop Trees, Meadow Rue and Gas Plant. In the south it loves citrus trees.

I checked the Hop Trees and found the tiny eggs scattered about on the upper side of the Hop Tree leaves. They are around 2 mm in diameter and orange coloured.

After approx. 1 week the eggs turned dark, likely transluscent and showing the dark larva within.

One morning I noted that tiny 2-3 mm long dark brown and cream caterpillars had hatched. The first thing they do is eat the egg casing for nourishment, then they begin eating the leaves.

I watched them go through several instars, shedding their skin then turning around to systematically eat it. Again nothing wasted. They rested frequently for long periods in the daytime, immobile on a leaf, preferring to eat at night. The first instars look very convincingly like fresh shiny bird droppings, a deterrent to predation. 

The last instars looked rather like the head of a small snake. Most were approx. 5 cms long.

At one point after 2 weeks I noticed that 2 of the largest caterpillars (the first ones to hatch out) were gone, they likely left in the night to find a place to pupate. They will pupate on tree branches as a chrysalis.  We have 1.4 acres with many trees so it was impossible to find them. I found out that since these butterflies are at the northern limit of their range, it is not clear if they can survive overwintering in the pupal stage, without some protection from the elements. 

With that in mind I decided to collect them before they all left. Out of 8 adult caterpillars I  managed to collect 5 caterpillars before they left. The fate of the 3 who went off in the yard is unknown. Perhaps they will survive and hatch out in the spring.

Of the five caterpillars I rescued, 4 are now in the pupal stage on small branches in special wooden boxes with a mesh door. Sadly one died after feeding for 2 weeks on a daily diet of fresh Hop leaves, until the leaves turned yellow and dropped. It was in the last instar, but one morning it was dead.

Chrysalis looking like a broken bran

The 4 surviving pupae are in an outdoor shed, protected from the bitter winds, precipitation and rodents. Exposure to freezing temperatures will initiate diapause and they will hopefully overwinter in the chrysalis stage till spring when they should hatch out as butterflies!

More on that come spring. 

Amazing the wonders you come across when you just sit watching nature...

Enjoy the small pleasures.

Louise

A humble harvest of garlic

Two posts in a row! It was a rainy day yesterday so I devoted some time to my neglected blog. I’m excited about my little garlic harvest so I wanted to share the story.

Last fall I planted a couple rows of garlic in my small vegetable garden (we have lots of space but I don’t have the strength to do a big garden!). I did this just before November frosts hardened the ground. Unexpectedly we had a warm spell in late November and the garlic started to sprout and I feared it would die when winter set in. So when the snows came I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. In the spring, I was thrilled to see the garlic growing.





We left for a 6 week vacation at the end of May so the garlic was on its own to survive. My philosophy for gardening is that if a plant can survive on the rain and sun and fertility of the soil, then it was meant to be, otherwise it has no place in my garden. I don’t water anything except potted plants. I try to stick to native species and drought-resistant plants that can grow in dry sandy conditions as we live on a drumlin (glacial deposit) and the ground does not retain water. I’ve added mulch and compost but it has not made a huge impact.




 

When we returned home in early July, the garlic had grown but it was in sad shape competing with the weeds. Since no one had been around to prune the scapes, the tops were setting little garlic bulbs above ground. Usually this means the bulbs in the ground will be small.

I had no time to deal with them until the end of July by which time the green tops were drying up. I quickly dug them up before they disappeared completely. Most of the bulbs were tiny but it meant I had a lot of little cloves to plant in the fall.

I untangled the plants and left them to dry for several days in the hot dry sun, bringing them in at night to keep the dew off. After 1 week they were dry and ready to sort.

The tiny bulbs I reserved for planting in the fall and the bigger ones I put aside to braid. This was my first attempt at braiding. I set up a small table outside and on a lovely sunny day and made 3 full braids following instructions I found on the internet. It’s pretty easy if you are used to braiding hair.

 

 One braid has the largest bulbs and the other two are made up of smaller bulbs but I was pleased with the result.

 

 Last winter all I could find in the local grocery stores was garlic grown in China which I refuse to buy so I look forward to eating organic home grown garlic this winter and maybe next year the crop will be better!

Enjoy the harvests of summer!

Louise

Summer butterflies, moths and caterpillars

With the heat of summer come butterflies, moths and their caterpillars. They are found anywhere, from meadows to woods, roadsides and city gardens. Some are large and exotic like the Tiger Swallowtail, some plentiful and small like many Sulphurs and Whites.



Tiger Swallowtail on Chives

Most of you will be familiar with the orange and black Monarch butterfly. Several Monarchs have laid their eggs on Common Milkweed growing in our yard.



Monarch Butterfly



Pair of Monarchs mating



Milkweed is the host plant for the Monarch butterfly caterpillar.The caterpillars live and feed off the host plant until they are large enough to move on to a nearby shrub or plant to pupate.



Monarch buttercly caterpillar on Common Milkweed



Monarch early stage pupae




Monarch butterfly late stage pupae

These last fresh summer Monarchs to emerge will be the ones to migrate en masse on those gossamer wings all the way to the mountains of central Mexico where they will overwinter in an old growth forest. Those who survive winter in Mexico will start the journey north stopping to reproduce another generation along the way before they die. The offspring will carry on northwards stopping along the way to reproduce then die. It is the later generations of butterflies who finally reach us to complete the cycle. An amazing migration!




 

 I dare not pull out the precious Milkweed that has sprung up amongst the lilies and grasses in the garden. It is threatened by herbicide use, habitat loss and invasive species such as Dog-strangling vine. Milkweed flowers are one of my favorite summer wildflowers; the soft pink globular flower heads emit a heady sweet aroma that scents the air all around.  A small patch grows near our bedroom window and the delightful intoxicating fragrance permeates the room during warm summer evenings. No commercial air freshener can match that! The sweet nectar attracts a host of other insects too.  This late in the season, the flowers have faded and great big green seedpods have developed ready to burst out thousands of fluffy seeds to be borne on the breeze and hopefully settle elsewhere.

Another spectacular summer butterfly is the Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes, a large black butterfly with tail-like projections at the base of the wings with white, orange and blue markings. For a photo and more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swallowtail

 The host plants for the caterpillars are in the carrot family which includes Queen Anne’s Lace, Dill and Parsley. I am currently watching 2 Swallowtail caterpillars developing on my parsley plant. They started off as little black caterpillars with a white band across the middle, looking a bit like a bird dropping, this is the first instar (phase).

Within 2-3 days of munching on the plants the caterpillars shed their too-tight skin. With each shedding, the caterpillar is larger, colours more vivid and the pattern is more pronounced until it reaches in the final instar. Soon it will leave the parsley to find a suitable spot to pupate.

Black Swallowtail caterpillar second instar

Black swallowtail third instar



Polyphemous moth caterpillar



Yesterday a big green fat caterpillar came wandering by while I was sitting in a favorite chair on the front porch (having an organic wild untidy garden has its benefits). After snapping a few photos, I did a quick computer search to identify it and found it to be the caterpillar of a large silk moth: Polyphemous Moth Antheraea polyphemus.

The hosts for this species are trees such as Oak, Maple and Birch and we have plenty of these in our yard. For a photo and more information about this beautiful moth check out this site:    http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Antheraea-polyphemus.

Other recent caterpillar finds in the garden:

Toadflax Brocade Moth Calophasia lunula  caterpillar

 Several caterpillars were feeding on a large Toadflax plant. They are a species imported from Europe decades ago for control of this invasive plant. http://bugguide.net/node/view/76334/bgimage for a photo of the moth.




Toadfl



Pandorus Sphinx moth caterpillar



Pandorus Sphinx Moth Euphorma pandorus caterpillar

Final instar, found feeding on Virginia Creeper. I’ve also found one feeding on Wild Grapevine which we have in abundance. For photo of moth check this link http://bugguide.net/node/view/3937



a tangle of flowers



When reading about all these caterpillars, I found that many are considered pests. I suppose if you had enough of them they could wreak havoc on host plants but I have never found this to be the case. Perhaps the many birds and bats and other natural predators found in my wild tangled organic garden help keep these in check. I see Robins making trip after trip to the nest with beaks full of caterpillars, worms and other insects; Baltimore Orioles, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos pick insects and tiny caterpillars off leaves; Eastern Bluebirds, Phoebes, Pewees, Eastern Kingbirds flycatch from strategic perches and Big Brown Bats swoop through the yard at nightfall. They are surely helping to keep everything in balance….

Louise

Rabbits, Mantises, Stick Bugs

It’s been too long since my last post but I have a great excuse! We went on a 6 week journey of discovery this June from Ontario to British Columbia. We drove 12,000 kms, towing a trailer and along the way visited 9 National Parks and 7 Provincial Parks. We camped in most of these plus private campgrounds. We were overwhelmed by the beauty and diversity of our natural heritage. Since we drove to Nova Scotia for Easter, we have in fact crossed Canada from coast to coast this year, dipping our toes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. More on this journey later when I’ve sorted through the 1000-plus photos...

During our travels, back home summer had arrived; birds and other species of wild things mated and produced offspring that now grace us with their sweetness. I’ve delayed posting and instead have been busy enjoying every moment that I can outside, tending the garden but mostly exploring and making new discoveries each day. Reading a book while lazing under a shade tree, in a cozy Mayan Hammock Chair from the Yucatan peninsula, has also been a favorite lately when the temperature has soared to 39C (feeling much hotter with the high humidity!).

After an absence of 2 years, wild cottontail rabbits are back in the yard. Each morning and late afternoon a young one or an adult is seen nibbling on fresh grasses or the prolific clover growing in the “lawn” (our lawn is mostly mown weeds, dandelions and clover). The adults have a white spot between the eyes and so do the adorable young.




Recently Wild Turkey hens and their offspring have made an appearance in the surrounding fields. The chicks are now the size of small roasting chickens, the tips of their heads barely visible in the hayfield. The hens are huge and watchful, herding the flock when danger arises. The local coyotes would love to get their jaws on the little ones!

Fireflies appear to have been replaced by other species just now, but in July it was wonderful to watch the twinkling lights in the warm velvety black nights. Since we don’t use chemicals on our property, we have a huge diversity of insects which in turn has sustained many other species who feed on them.  Some of my favorite bugs are the Praying Mantis and the Northern Walking Stick (Diapheromera femorata).

The Walking Stick eats the foliage of deciduous trees and it is the only native “stick bug” species in Canada.  The males have a slightly smaller body at @ 3 inches and females @ 3.75 inches. The males are brown and females greenish brown. I’ve seen a few that are bright green and some with green legs with brown body. The antennae are 2/3 the length of the body. The females lay eggs in leaf litter where they overwinter and hatch in the spring. The adult insects only live 2-3 months. They blend right in with the plants they feed on.

One morning I was fortunate to witness a pair mating on the outside of a picture window facing southeast where I could take a photo from inside the house. They appear to be locked in a dance

move....the dance of life!



"the dance of life"



The Praying Mantis is a beautiful bright green shade with winds folded back and front legs folded in a “praying” stance. It has large compound eyes giving the head an “alien” appearance. It is well-camouflaged in the foliage where it waits in ambush for its insect prey. I love these large predators as they help keep insect pests under control. Mantises, like the Walking Stick show rocking behavior in which the insect makes rhythmic, repetitive side-to-side movements. This could be to aid their camouflage by imitating the movement of foliage swaying in the wind but it is not known for sure why they do this. After mating the female lays an egg mass attached to vegetation and the eggs hatch in late spring or early summer. Like stick bugs, the adults die in the cold winter.  

Last summer, a pretty Orb Spider built a large sturdy web near our front door. I left it undisturbed and the spider thrived all summer, shedding its exoskeleton several times as it grew larger. One morning, I noticed it had captured a small Mantis and wrapped it in silk. It hung it on the web, a future snack in waiting. Amazing what you can observe if you leave things be and not sweep them all away to keep things tidy. There is beauty and drama in a spider’s web.

Enjoy the warm summer days!

Louise