Diapause

A winter population of butterflies is really hard to upkeep, especially after 2 nights of hard freeze! This morning in the Flight Encounter I spotted 4 butterflies. Two monarchs, two polydamas swallowtails and a bonus Oleander moth. Luckily, my tank full of monarch caterpillars has mostly gone to chrysalis and should bolster the chilly population in 10-14 days. I will celebrate their hatching.

Surviving over winter is tough for butterflies since they are poikilotherms (of varying temperature) and are very much subject to outdoor temperatures. Butterflies and moths have some small ways they can help control their temperature like shivering their flight muscles to provide some warmth, but they are still very much subject to cold temperatures which make them sluggish or torpid.

Some butterflies will migrate to warmer areas in the winter, like the well described migration of monarchs to forests of Mexico. Others like the tortoiseshells and anglewings may overwinter as adults using man-made or natural crevice type structures in which to hibernate and shelter.

Some butterflies in various stages of development utilize diapause to overwinter. Diapause is a state of dormancy in which all development is suspended. Unlike hibernation where development and metabolism still occur at a slower rate, during diapause all cellular growth stops causing complete dormancy.

Triggered by a number of factors including length of daylight hours, temperature and possibly even the angle of sunlight which may indicate the approach of unfavorable conditions a butterfly may enter into the state of diapause.

A pupa entering diapause will cease development and the metamorphosis of the insect inside will halt until conditions become more favorable to the survival of the insect. The only energy used upkeeps the integrity of cells from breaking down, but does not cause cells to change, reproduce, or grow. A caterpillar in diapause will cease eating, growing, shedding or burning food-fuel that has been stored. They basically just stop.

Diapause is a true suspended animation.

Check out more on diapause:

Diapasure research foundation

and Longest Diapause among insects from IFAS

Chilly critters

Florida critters are not lovers of the cold. This squirrel stared balefully at me until I left him a small pile of seeds at the base of his tree. Free food seems to warm the hearts of small furry creatures. I think I saw him shiver.

Atop one of our walls of the garden, a hawk sat perched and puffed waiting for some mourning dove or other songbird to wait too long at the birdfeeder and become a fine breakfast.

My morning haiku on twitter yesterday was brought on by a brilliant red male cardinal perched in a shaft of sunlight, waiting for the world to warm up. He looked for all the world like he just wanted to keep flying south.

Songbird in winter

Scarlet feathers in sunlight

A puff of cardinal

Frost upon the blossoms

This morning at BioWorks was pale beneath the blue sky of Tampa. My world of garden was dressed in white and sparkle where a shimmer of frost lay across all the plants still in shadow. The usual riot of colors was far more subtle under the icy lace of frost.

The brilliant orange marigolds were dimmed. Purple petunias usually a rich and royal velvet took on a hue of lavender. Each red and gold trumpet of gallardia was filled to brimming with delicate crystals of ice that caught the sunlight and sent it a-scatter. Sunny yellows of beach sunflower were edged in a lacy white shimmer.

The frost is certain to give an end to these flowers, but it was a beautiful ending for each blossom. Such beauty does inspire me to add some poetry to these pictures.

Winter garden by Matsuo Basho
Winter garden,

the moon thinned to a thread,

insects singing.

Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii)

It is less than fun to weed around a Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii) since they are covered in fairly sharp spines and can basically be described as a thorn bush with flowers. However, they do have a payoff when they bloom.

This otherwise angry looking woody succulent can grow to six feet in height and has fairly remarkable blooms. Soft gradients of color from pink to green can be found in our winter-time gardens.

Other bushes have brilliant scarlet or yellow blooms marred with spots of blushing pinks. In a landscape that is mostly fallow, they really pop with color and a closer look is really worth the effort to appreciate the subtle beauty of these flowers.

However, I cannot reccomend touching this plant in any way since it is covered in spines and, when broken, a white sap of latex weeps from the branches and can cause some pretty hefty skin issues. I suggest enjoying this plant at a distance of a few feet.

From the OCC Biology Department:

Euphorbia - Euphorbus was the Greek physician of King Juba II (about 50 BC to 19 AD) of Numidia (present day Algeria). King Juba II was the first person to find a succulent-type Euphorbia, and he named it after his physician.

Milii - named for Baron Milius, once governor of the island of Bourbon, who introduced the species into cultivation in France in 1821.

Tasty Trees for Butterflies

Inspired by Florida Arbor Day, here is a listing of some great Florida trees that double as host plants for butterfly larvae:

• Citrus, most species: Giant Swallowtail larvae
• Wild Lime: Giant Swallowtail larvae (pictured)
• Hercules Club: Giant Swallowtail larvae
• Silk Bay: Tiger Swallowtail larvae
• Yellow Poplar: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
• Swamp Bay: Palamedes Swallowtails
• Tulip Tree: Tiger Swallowtail larvae
• Spicebush (shrub): Spicebush Swallowtail larvae
• Camphor: Spicebush Swallowtail larvae
• Red Bay: Spicebush Swallowtail, Palamedes Swallowtail
• Gumbo Limbo: Dingy Purplewing
• Locustberry: Florida Duskywing
• Bay Cedar: Mallow Scrub-Hairstreaks, Martial Scrub Hairstreaks
• Strangler Fig: Ruddy Daggerwing
• Wild Banyan Tree: Ruddy Daggerwing
• Desert Cassia: Senna polyphylla: Sulphurs
• Cassias: Sulphurs
• Yellowwood: Zanthoxylum falvum: Giant Swallowtail
• Southern red cedar: Sweadner’s Juniper Hairstreak
• Dogwood: Spring Azure
• Elms: Eastern Comma, Mourning Cloak, Question Mark
• Hackberry: Hackberry Emperor, Mouring Cloak, Question Mark, Snout, Tawny Emperor
• Dahoon holly: Henry’s Elfin, Striped Hairstreak
• Cherry: Red spotted purple
• Mangroves: Mangrove skippers
• Mallows: American Painted Lady, Grey Hairstreak, Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
• Mulberries: Red Admirals
• Ashes: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
• Oaks: Banded Hairstreak, Gray Hairstreak, Red-Banded Hairstreak, Red Spotted Purple, Southern Hairstreak, Striped Hairstreak, White M Hairstreak, King’s Hairstreak (nectar)
• Willow: Mourning Cloaks, Seminiole Texas Cresent, Striped Hairstreak, Viceroy

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New trees

Thanks to a grant the BioWorks Butterfly Garden will be getting 12 new trees, mostly Dahoon Holly (Ilex cassine) to replace a number of Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera) that have been slowly failing over the last few years.

To be ready for the big tree planting this Saturday, Florida's Arbor Day, meant that we had to remove the remaining eight Wax Myrtle trees. Removing 12 year old trees, even if they are half dead, either requires a great deal of digging or one very big truck. We choose the latter option.

One of our fabulous museum donors, TJ Couch, donated the services of his fairly remarkable restored military vehicle: a Kaiser-Jeep M35A2 6x6 2 1/2 ton cargo truck, affectionately known worldwide as the "deuce and a half". Mr Couch and his great big snarly vehicle made short work of the sickly trees.

Check out this spectacular video that shows the ease with which this truck can dislodge and move a tree. The wee human wandering through the frame is me (at about 5' tall for purposes of scale).


The video quality may not be fantastic, but it certainly gets the point across.

Come on out on this Saturday, January 10th 2009, to celebrate Florida's Arbor Day and help us plant some trees. 12 trees will be going into the grounds next to the BioWorks Butterfly Garden and a whole lot more will be planted in our forest preserve. Check out this link to The Longleaf for more information about Florida's Arbor Day celebration at MOSI and how you can volunteer to help.