Pearl Crescent

The Pearl Crescent butterfly (Phyciodes tharos) is an abundant species of butterfly found throughout most of eastern North America. The species has a wingspan of 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 inches and is highly variable in color with several recognized variants.

The Pearl Crescent lays its eggs in clusters on the leaves of asters such as Hairy Aster (Aster pilosus), Smooth Blue Aster (Aster laevis) and Lance-leaved Aster (Aster lanceolatus). The larvae feed gregariously for their first few instars and can overwinter as third instar caterpillars.

In the south these butterflies can be found as a adults throughout most of the year are tend to prefer small wildflowers for nectar. I encountered a small colony of these butterflies on the banks of a spring-fed creek in Northern Florida. In just a few moments I observed more than thirty individuals in the colony going about their daily business of dining and courting.

What’s in a name?: The Genus Phyciodes is commonly known as Crescents and lists 18 species found in North and South America. Most species are highly spotted, variable in pattern and some are sexually dimorphic which means that males and females may have different markings or colors. The name Phyciodes may derive from the Greek word “phykos” which means painted or covered with cosmetics. The species name, tharos, comes from the Greek for strength.

Photo Credit: This specimen was photographed in Crawfordville, Fl on October 18th, 2009 by my friend Patricia Bauman who was unlucky enough to have a camera on hand when I started dashing around after butterflies. Thanks Patti!

Red Spotted Purple

The Red-spotted Purple butterfly (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) is so named for its iridescent purple-blue wings and brilliant red markings. This brush-footed butterfly is a mimic of the distasteful Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) and can be found throughout most of Florida.

Their larvae host on Wild cherry (Prunus serotina) and several other trees and shrubs such as wild cherry, apple (Malus spp.), pear (Pyrus spp.), hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum), and hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana). The adult butterflies will nectar on common butterfly garden flowers like pentas and buddleia but, like many other brush-footed butterflies, they are also drawn to rotting fruit, moist earth and other food sources.

Taxonomic fun and polytypic species:

Genus Limenitis: The genus Limenitis includes over 25 species of butterflies commonly known as Admirals, many of which are located in Asia. The North American species of the genus are known as the Group Basilarchia. Limenitis is New Latin for “of harbours” and derives from an ancient Greek term for haven or harbour.

Species Arthemis, a polytypic species: The species arthemis is polytyic which is a species that has more than one recognized sub-species or variation. The name arthemis derives from the name of Artemis, Greek goddess of the wilderness and the hunt.

• American White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis) has distintive white banding on its wings and is sometimes also classified by the scientific name of (Limenitis camilla)
• Western American White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis rubrofasciata) has no blue spots on its inferior wings.
• Red-spotted Purple and Red Spotted Admiral (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) and (Limenitis arthemis arizonensis) both lack the distinctive white bands that mark the other members of the species.

Sub-species Astyanax: Astyanax (Greek for “King of the City”) was the son of Trojan prince Hector and his wife Andromache who is reported to have either been killed in the siege of Troy or alternately survived to found Messina in Sicily and also the line that led to Charlemagne.

If you would like more information on this complex of sub-species, here are some additional and highly technical resources. A recent project at Cornell University spent over a year working to untangle the history of these sub-species including where and why they diverged from a single species. Also, a 2008 article in the journal Evolution looked into the mimicry complex that exists for these mimic sub-species in relation to their model species, the Pipevine Swallowtail

Photo Credit: This specimen was photographed in Crawfordville, Fl on October 18th, 2009 by my friend Patricia Bauman who was unlucky enough to have a camera on hand when I started dashing around after butterflies. Thanks Patti!

Spanish Needles

Known also as Romerillo or Beggar’s Tick, Spanish Needles (Bidens alba) produces small, yellow-centered daisy like flowers with white petals. Known mostly as a weed, Spanish needles are an admirable nectar flower that attract many small butterflies like hairstreaks and blues and even larger species. The blooms on each plant are profuse and continue blooming for a very long season.

Whenever I find a patch of these flowers I am generally captivated by the diversity of butterfly species that can be observed in just a few minutes. Last summer I found a roughly 30 foot by 30 foot patch of Spanish Needles growing in Northwest Florida around DeLeon Springs and within half an hour I noted 26 species of butterfly! In the MOSI butterfly gardens there are always Spanish Needles left to bloom not by accident, but rather by design. Although most consider these flowers a pesky weed, I see them as an important nectar source.

These flowers give way to seeds that have contributed to the many common names for this plant. Each seed has two hooks that jut out from the end of the seed and have an amazing ability to catch on just about everything. Clothing, hair, shoes, kids, wild animals and pets that come in contact with these seeds will help to spread the weedy flowers by taking their seeds to new and interesting places.

To keep this weed in the garden for your butterflies to enjoy and not make yourself crazy with weed-pulling the next year, just remove Spanish Needles before they start to go to seed. You’ll probably never have a garden entirely free of this common wildflower, so just go with it and invite some local butterflies to enjoy the buffet.

Fulvous Hairstreak

Fulvous Hairstreak (Electrostrymon angelia) is a resident of South Florida, the Keys and the West Indies that can sometimes be sighted further up to Florida coast. This butterfly hosts on members of the cashew family (Anacardiaceae) and also the invasive Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius).

This tiny butterfly has a wingspan of around 3/4 - 1 1/8 inches and likes to nectar on the flowers of Spanish Needles (Bidens alba), Brazilian pepper, and apparently also favors anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum). The butterfly was so transfixed with these flowers that I was able to get very close and snap some great close-up photos. Photographed 10/28/09

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Io Moth

The Io Moth (Automeris io) is a colorful North American moth with a rather toxic larvae. The adult moths are either yellow or reddish depending upon their sex. Males of the species are smaller in size and yellow is their dominant color. Females are much larger than the males and are a lovely reddish hue. Both sexes have large, brilliant eyespots on their under-wings that they flash when threatened.

The adults emerge from their pupae lacking mouth-parts and do not feed in this stage of their life. Subsisting only on stores of nutrients that were ingested as larvae, their adult life-spans are fairly short.

Eggs are laid in clusters on host plants and the larvae that emerge are brilliant green with a white lateral stripe and are covered in stinging spines. Caterpillars host on a variety of species including hackberry (Celtis), willow (Salix), mesquite (Prosopis), redbud (Cercis), currant (Ribes), blackberry (Rubus), and pear (Pyrus). Larvae of the Io Moth are extremely irritant to humans and all contact should be avoided. Larvae are at first gregarious feeders that move in long trains and only venture off to feed singly in later instars.

Sweet Potato

Ornamental sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are fast growing, twining vines that have been cultivated into a wonderful variety of colors. Two varieties were planted this year in the edible garden beneath the George Washington Carver Persimmon in an edible garden. Paired with tomatoes, peppers and ornamental peanut, these vines have done beautifully. We chose the varieties known as ‘Blackie’ with a rich purple variegated foliage and the chartreuse foliage of 'Margarita' to compliment each other in the garden bed. These vines are a beautiful compliment to each other.

In a warmer climate like ours, the potato tubers do not need to be removed from the ground each year and they will re-sprout in place. The tubers can be dug up yearly and divided into pieces and then replanted. Each section should have at least one potato ‘eye’ visible for the vine to sprout. The flowers of these vines can be found here and there but when they are found they are a real gem. The purple blooms have a deeper purple throat and a star shaped impression that is truly lovely.

Butterflies in Space!

A guest blog post by Jill Staake

One of the great advantages of being in the Tampa Bay area is that most of the shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral are easily visible here. Even in the bright afternoon sun, you can see the pinpoint of light followed by the massive contrail as the shuttle heads out into orbit.

Folks watching the the launch on Nov. 16 might not have realized that the crew weren't the only sentient beings on board: Atlantis mission STS-129 was carrying caterpillars!

The shuttle is carrying both monarch and painted lady caterpillars to the International Space Station (ISS). These lucky larvae are participating in the second of two experiments to learn about the effect of zero gravity on developing pupae. The first experiment took place a year ago, using only painted lady caterpillars, and resulted in the caterpillars pupating but never emerging from chrysalis.

Here are the details on the mission this time around:

The Caterpillars:

• Three third-instar Monarch Butterfly larvae
• Four 6-day-old Painted Lady butterfly larvae

The Habitat:
Specialized rearing chambers have been designed for the caterpillars in this project. Click here to learn more about these chambers. Scientists aboard the International Space Station will monitor the chambers and at designated times, expose food sources as needed. Click here to see the timeline.

The Experiment:
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the effect zero-gravity has on developing and emerging butterflies. Students across the country are observing their own caterpillars in control chambers in their own classrooms. The Monarch Watch "Monarchs in Space" Teachers' Guide has identified some of the questions students and scientists will work to answer, summarized below. For complete details, click here to view the guide.

• What will happen if a caterpillar loses its grip? Will it just float in the chamber or will it be able to propel its bodies back to contact with a chamber wall?
• When ready to pupate, will the caterpillars still form a "J" without gravity to help them drop into position? Will they form a "J" that floats sideways?
• How is gravity involved in shedding the final caterpillar skin? Will the caterpillars have difficulty in hooking their pupae to the silk pads? What happens if they fall at this stage?
• Do emerging butterflies rely on gravity when emerging from chrysalis and inflating their wings? Butterflies generally hang upside-down when they first emerge - does gravity help will the flow of fluid into their wings?

The Results:
There are a variety of places to follow this experiment online. Once the ISS experiment is underway, images will be sent back on a regular basis. Bookmark any of the links below and keep an eye on the Butterflies in Space!

• BioEd Online: Butterflies in Space
• Monarchs in Space photos
• Monarchs in Space videos
• Follow on Facebook
• Follow on Twitter

About the Author: Jill Staake is a volunteer at the MOSI BioWorks Butterfly garden who also writes the blog My Florida Backyard which is her story of transforming her suburban yard into a habitat for wildlife and her observations. Jill is also a regular contributor to the popular Tampa blog Sticks of Fire where she publishes posts about gardening in Tampa Bay.

Berry Good: Part 3

Camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) is an evergreen tree that is an alternative larval host for the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly. Camphor was widely used an an ornamental in Florida landscaping, the tree quickly proved to be incredibly invasive spreading both from the roots and also from the seeds within the berries. Camphor is named a Category I invasive exotic species by the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council, which means that it is known to be “invading and disrupting native plant communities in Florida." The berries of camphor ripen to blue-black and are attractive to native birds.

Lavender Golden Dewdrop (Duranta erecta) syn (Duranta repens) is an upright growing evergreen shrub that blooms purple, white, or white edged purple flowers in long, drooping fine steps. Native to Mexico, Central America and the Bahamas, Dewdrops are also found naturalized in Southern Florida. Dewdrops prefer full sun open location where they don’t have to compete with taller foliage. Tolerant of rocky and sandy soils, Durantas are drought tolerant and nearly constant bloomers. Blooms give way to long drooping stems laden with orange-yellow fruits by which the plant is especially noteworthy in the Fall. Dewdrop flowers are wonderfully attractive to butterflies and this plant just goes to show that so many excellent butterfly plants give way to being excellent bird plants in the next season.

Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica) is a low-growing evergreen hedge that blooms yearly in a profusion of pinkish-white flowers. A small hedge of this hawthorn is used as a low divider in the garden behind the BioWorks structure to ring three thorny plants (Hercules Club, Wild Lime, and a Lemon tree) and keep guests at a distance. Indian Hawthorn is native to Asia especially India and Southern China. The fruits are edible to fruit eating birds making this hedge not just a lovely show of Spring flowers but another wonderful addition to an Autumn garden gone to the birds.

Flameflower or Jewels of Opar (Talinum paniculatum) has a common name taken from the title of a novel by American author Edgar Rice Burroughs entitled Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. This plant reseeds readily within a garden bed and develops a long tuber that makes it hardy and difficult to remove. The tiny flowers and jewel-like fruits of Talinum bloom in a pinkish mist above the foliage and are wonderfully eye-catching. I have used this little gem with a mix of other hardy plants in a bed where no plants have done well in the past. We’ll see if this plant really proves to be as invasive as I am counting on since the garden bed along the circle drive of the museum has been a real challenge in previous years and with this planting I purposely chose plants that are crazy-tolerant of terrible conditions or are listed as being aggressively invasive.

Red Bay (Persea borbonia) Red bay is a gorgeous small evergreen tree of the Southeast United States. These fruits (drupe) ripen from green to a lovely shiny blue color. This tree has deliciously aromatic leaves that can be substituted for the leaves of bay laurel (Laurus nobilis). Although I featured this plant in Berry Good Part 1, I wanted to highlight it again now that it has some ripe berries. This is one of the trees that I push along with Simpson Stopper and Yaupon Holly as excellent choices for Florida landscapes that can use awesome native plants rather than non-native choices.

Berry Good: Part 2

Yellow Cestrum (Cestrum aurantiacum) is native to Guatemala and is attractive to both butterflies and hummingbirds. The flowers are orange-yellow and tubular blooming in lovely clusters. This shrub has an upright habit and can grow to about 10 feet in height. Although the fruits are toxic to humans, they are quite tasty to native birds. Yellow Cestrum will tolerate full to part sun and is excellent for creating some height in your garden space as well as providing a different type of nectar source. Also known as golden jasmine, yellow cestrum is a gorgeous evergreen shrub.

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is known by many names including poke, polk sallat, and inkberry. A tough perrennial herb, pokeweed is native to the eastern United States. The name poke comes from the Algonquian Indian word "pakon" or "puccoon," that refers to a dye plant used for staining. The fresh shoots and leaves of pokeweed can be cooked and eaten like spinach. Pokeweed can grow to over nine feet in height and blooms with long drooping racemes of flowers. After pollination they are replaced with green berries that ripen to a deep blue purple. The berries are toxic and should not be eaten and will stain skin a bright purple color if they burst.

Mt. Vernon American Holly (Ilex opaca) is a tree from our Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove. This tree is a scion from one of the American Holly trees located at the home of the first American President, George Washington. American Holly can be found from Massachusetts south to Florida and west to Missouri and eastern Texas. The green fruits are also known as drupes. Each contains four seeds and will ripen to a brilliant red color. Although toxic to humans, these berries are an important food for overwintering birds when other food sources become scarce. Holly has long been associated with merrymaking and is often connected with Winter holidays.

Lantana (Lantana sps) is a collection of over 150 flowering tropical plants native to the Americas and Africa. It has been imported and become invasive in many other regions including Australia. Lantana blooms in groups of flowers called umbels that vary in color from pale yellow to vibrant pinks, reds and oranges. These blossoms are very attractive to butterflies and lantana plants are quite popular with many species. Several varieties are trailing vines with purple or white blooms and other species tend to be more shrubby or upright. The blooms of lantana give way to groups of berries that are very attractive to birds. Once processed through the bird’s body and excreted, lantana seeds will grow wherever they have been deposited. Lantana is a larval host to the Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak Butterfly (Strymon bazochii) native to southern Texas, Baja California and areas of Mexico.

Creeping Cucumber (Melothria pendula) is a trailing vine that is related to the cucumber with which we are more familiar. This wild version of the cucumber blooms with tiny yellow flowers that strongly resemble other members of the squash family. The berry is considered edible by some and toxic by others, mainly because of its extremely strong laxative properties. The fruit has a strong cucumber flavor but a bitter tinge that makes it less palatable. This creeping vine can quickly overgrow so take care if you have it in your yard that it does not grow out of control.

Scorpion’s Tail

Scorpion’s Tail (Heliotropium Angiospermum) is also known as Butterfly Heliotrope. A diminutive Florida native, Scorpion’s Tail is a great nectar plant for smaller butterfly species like tiny Blue butterflies.

This plant does well in everything from sandy, rocky soil to soil that is compost rich. With a preference for sun to partial shade, this plant will still bloom in a mostly shaded garden. In the MOSI gardens a number of Scorpion’s Tails can be found growing behind the butterfly garden structure in the shade of a winged elm. There are dozens of Scorpion’s Tails beneath the tree that have all spread from seeds from an original six plants planted a few years ago. Scorpion’s Tail will re-seed readily and is a fairly drought tolerant, making it a great choice for Florida native butterfly gardens in the Tampa area.

Cotton

Wild Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is one of the most widely grown cultivated plants in world, but it is on the endangered species list in the state of Florida. Also known as Upland Cotton, Wild cotton is an ancestor of the domestic cotton widely grown in the United States and at one time was quite plentiful in Florida, especially in the Keys.

Cotton blooms with a pink flower bud that unfurls into a white flower with creamy pale yellow undertones and a bright yellow center. Once the flower has been pollinated and falls away, a green hardened capsule forms called a boll. Inside the bole, white fibers of cotton form as well as seeds of the cotton plant.

Cotton was a huge American industry at the turn of the last century, and much was done to protect the crops of the south from infestations of insects that could destroy crops. In about 1892 the boll weevil entered the US through southern Texas and began a rapid spread throughout the cotton belt. By 1922, 85% of the cotton crops of the cotton belt had been infected by the tiny insect that would bore into the unopened cotton bolls (where the cotton fibers form) and keep the fibers from proper development.

In 1932, when the pink boll weevil of the Caribbean was found in populations of Florida cotton, the government took quick action to eradicate cotton from Florida before the pink boll weevil could make its way north to the cultivated cotton crops of the deep south. As part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) was formed to help create jobs for Americans during the great depression. The WPA was dispatched to Florida and began employing locals. In the Keys, grids were cut into the islands so that the Cotton Gangs could better search for and totally destroy all cotton plants that were found.

In Florida, cotton can grow as a true perennial forming heavy woody branches and becoming a leggy shrub or even grown into a small tree. In the MOSI gardens we have two cotton plants that bloom with their gorgeous pale yellow flowers throughout the summer and then develop their cotton bolls which pop open in late fall to show the fluffy cotton that has grown inside.

The plants are currently still bearing flowers and also have bolls that are opening. The soft cotton fibers are fun for craft projects, testing fabric dyes, and are apparently fairly cozy. On damp mornings I have found frogs nestled into the opened bolls, because who couldn’t resist such a fluffy bed? I actually managed to get a photograph of one such frog who has been affectionately entitled ‘Snuggle, the cotton frog’.

Cotton is a larval host plant for several species of moth larvae such as the Cotton Moth (Alabama argillacea) and the Cotton Bollworm (Helicoverpa zea) which are considered agricultural pests in areas where cotton is grown commercially.

Although it has nothing to do with butterflies, Wild Cotton tells part of the story of Florida and its agricultural past that has always been intertwined with and perhaps at the mercy of so many tiny insects.

Warning Colors

In nature, prey animals tend to be difficult to see. Camouflage consisting of coloring that mimics their habitat helps to hide tasty prey animals from their predators. Spots or stripes can help to further conceal an animal by breaking up the overall shape of the animal and tricking the eyes to focusing on the smaller patterns. Some butterflies and caterpillars have large, obvious eyespots that mimic the eyes of larger, more dangerous creatures and may get the attention of their predators before the predators think too much about what they are seeing.

Another method of avoiding predation seems very opposite to hiding. Bright colors, strong aromas, and conspicuous noises are warning signals used by animals to ward away prey. By showing themselves so obviously and sometimes even calling attention to themselves, these animals show predators that it is best to avoid a meal made by something so conspicuous. Aposematic signals (from apo meaning away and sematic meaning sign or meaning) warn predators that there is something about the intended prey animal that will likely sicken the predator. Warning colors and other aposematic signals are often associated with toxicity or unpalatability. These signals are beneficial to both the predator and the prey as the predator avoids a potentially harmful meal and they prey gets to keep on keeping on.

Aposematic signals are powerful warning devices. In some areas species that are aposematic come to resemble each other in a mimicry complex known as Müllarian mimicry. This is where two species that are both noxious to predators have similar warning colors and patterns to help reinforce their unplatability to their predators. A predator that eats a distasteful Monarch butterfly will likely avoid the similar looking and also noxious Queen butterfly when looking for a future meal.

Another type of mimicry comes from species that are afforded protection by displaying aposematic signals of noxious species but are themselves harmless. This complex is called Batsian mimicry and it involves a model species that is known to be distasteful. Mimic species that display similar aposematic signals will be passed over by predators that have already had a run-in with the noxious model species. Here in Tampa Bay the female of the Tiger Swallowtail often does not resemble its flamboyant bright yellows mate and instead has a black overall coloring with a dusting of blue scales on the lower wing. To a predator, this distinctly looks like a noxious Pipevine Swallowtail and may help the female Tiger Swallowtail to live long enough to lay eggs and ensure another generation.

Today’s mystery bug: Schizura moth

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Today's mystery caterpillar was found by volunteers Jill and Naomi and is a member of the Schizura genus of moths, likely a Black Blotched Schizura (Schizura leptinoides). Schizura is a genus of the family Notodontidae which contains about 3,500 moth species around the world with most being located in the tropics of the New World.

Several species of Schizura larvae can shoot a stream of distasteful chemicals out a gland in their horn at an attacker if they are threatened. Schizuras grow up to be fairly plain brown and grey moths.

One neat fact about these caterpillars is that they chew out a notch in a leaf of their host plant and then hang out on the edge of that notch and look for all the world like a leaf going brown around the edge. Check out that camouflage when I put him back on a tree outside.

Zebra Longwings

Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonius) was designated the state butterfly for Florida in 1996 by Govenor Chiles. Easy to identify with its long wings and creamy yellow zebra stripes, this butterfly is certainly a favorite in the MOSI gardens. Zebra Longwing and other Heliconians host on passionvines. Instead of laying their eggs singly on the plant, Zebra Longwing females can be found laying their eggs in groups on the newest growth of the passion vines. The eggs are bright yellow and are generally found in clusters from just a few to several dozen.

The larvae of this species are bright white and with rows of branching black spikes that make it difficult for predators to swallow the caterpillars. Zebra Longwing chrysalis resemble a curled, dead leaf and have a section of reflective silver spots on their pupae which mimics water droplets caught on a stationary object.

The adult butterfly is a member of the Nymphalidae or brush-footed butterfly family and only appear to have 4 legs. The front two legs are very tiny and are located near the butterfly’s head. Zebra Longwing butterflies and a few other closely related species are fairly long lived for butterflies thank to their very specific and peculiar diets.

Most butterflies live entirely on nectar which is a sugary water substance found inside flowers. This nectar is the nutritional equivalent of a human attempting to subsist on on sugary soda. Although it is high in calories to power the butterfly through its short life-cycle, it is low in nutrients. Zebra Longwing butterflies collect pollen on the outside of their proboscis and excrete stomach acids through the proboscis onto the gathered pollen. After the process of external digestion is complete, the Zebra Longwing drinks down the liquefied pollen which is rich in nutrients. This special diet allows the Zebra Longwing butterfly to live six to nine months as an adult butterfly.

Climbing Aster

Climbing Carolina Aster (Symphotrichum carolinianum) syn (Aster carolinianus) is a late blooming fall favorite in the Richard T. Bowers Historic Tree Grove at MOSI. Spreading in the Flatwoods garden beneath the Olustee Longleaf Pine, the asters have added to the colors of the other native flowers blooming this Autumn. Each flower is about and inch across and as the Fall progresses it will bloom with profusion. The blossoms are fragrant and are attractive to bees and butterflies alike. By providing flowers that bloom at different times of year provides a constant nectar supply for the the wild butterflies in the area.

Climbing Aster, as the name implies, is more of a vine than a shrub. It does not have tendrils that wrap around support structures, rather it clambers up over shrubs or through low trees to spread. Fence lines or a few wooden supports can provide great structure for this plant and will become mostly hidden. This aster is deciduous but will keep blooming until the coldest part of the winter. After a freeze, expect climbing aster to be dormant.