Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies have Deviant Females

One of the most common butterflies you’ll see in Virginia is the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus).  The adult female lays her eggs on sweetbay magnolia, black cherry or tulip trees, specific host plants that the caterpillars will feed on once the eggs hatch.   Several broods hatch during the summer.  When the last brood of caterpillars pupates in the fall, those chrysalises will overwinter until spring, when the adult butterflies will emerge. 

Aptly named, Tiger Swallowtails are yellow with black stripes.  However, there is a dimorphic form of the female, which is much darker -- same female butterfly, different color. 

 



Male Tiger Swallowtail


 

Female Tiger Swallowtail


 

Female Tiger Swallowtail -- Dimorphic form

Host Plants Enhance Butterfly Gardening

Gardening for nature, especially butterflies, can be very rewarding.   Planting zinnias, a butterfly bush or tall verbena to attract butterflies will result in beautiful photo opportunities. But, if you want an even closer look at nature, take butterfly gardening to the next level by adding a few host plants for butterflies.  Each species of butterfly requires a very specific plant to lay its eggs on, plants that will provide a food source for hungry caterpillars once those eggs hatch. 

Host plants for raising and feeding caterpillars:

Milkweed  (Asclepias spp.) is the host plant for Monarchs.

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Dill (Antheum graveolens) and Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) are the host plants for Eastern Black Swallowtails.

Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) is the host for Common Buckeyes.

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is the host for Spicebush Swallowtails.

Aster (Aster spp.) is the host for Pearl Cresents.

Artemisia  (Artemisia stelleriana) is the host for American Ladies.

Coneflower (Echinacea spp.) is the host for Silvery Checkerspots.

Elm trees (Ulmus spp.) are the host for Eastern Commas and Question Marks.

PawPaw trees (Asimina triloba) are the host for Zebra Swallowtails.

Tulip Poplar (Liriodentron tulipifera) and Sweet Bay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) trees are the hosts for Tiger Swallowtails.

            Hungry caterpillars eat a lot.  If you plan to plant milkweed for Monarchs, or parsley as a host plant for Eastern Black Swallowtails, plant extra.  Avoid using pesticides or herbicides in areas where you have butterflies or caterpillars. 

Research Project is for the Birds

One of the most interesting summer days I ever spent was working in a canoe with VCU professor and Prothonotary Warbler researcher Bob Reilly. We spent the day examining bird boxes at Dutch Gap Conservation Area in Chesterfield County, Virginia. There are 160 nesting boxes at Dutch Gap, and we visited quite a few of them that day to collect data for the local Prothonotary Warbler project.

“Prothonotary Warblers are on the watch list,” explained Reilly. “Much of the warbler decline comes from loss of habitat at their wintering grounds. The birds are losing mangrove shoreline habitat to shrimp farming in many small tropical countries.”

 Reilly spends several hours a day, multiple days a week from mid-April through July working on the project. He collects data to monitor conservation success and to support ongoing research on the breeding ecology of this species. In addition, the data he collects is provided to state wildlife agencies and the U.S. Department of the Interior, which issues the permit under which he operates.

Wintering grounds for the birds range from Costa Rica and Panama, to Columbia and Nicaragua. This means the small birds must cross the Gulf of Mexico to winter in the tropics, and then again in the summer to breed in the U.S.

 The birds require nesting cavities over water so all of the boxes at Dutch Gap sit on poles in shallow water near the shore, accessible for us only by canoe. The boxes we checked were all productive so we recorded the number of eggs or hatchlings present. This was done only after I learned to capture the female in a long net with an opening sized to cover the 1¼ inch hole in the nest box.

Once a bird was captured, Reilly deftly examined it, made measurements, weighed it and recorded information from its band before releasing it. He banded a few unbanded adult birds. To my surprise, information from the birds’ bands showed that many of the adults were hatched and banded at Dutch Gap last summer or in previous summers. Many even returned to the exact same box or a neighboring box to breed, some for several years in a row.

If hatchlings were present and mature enough, we removed them from the nest and Reilly gently banded their small legs. The young birds were far more cooperative about the research project than their parents.

We only captured three males out of four attempts throughout the day, and only then if conditions were just right. I say “we” but I was an untrained assistant simply following orders. We had to first visually spot the male with a mouthful of food en route to the nest. To capture the males, Reilly installed on the nesting box a remote control trap door he invented just for this purpose. Once that was in place, we moved away to watch for the male to enter the box to feed the young. At Reilly’s signal, I sprang the trap to catch the bird. The colorful yellow males were larger than the females, but weighed less because the females bulk up for the hard work of laying eggs and raising the young.

Warblers generally live two to three years, if they survive their first year, but we encountered one female that was five years old. Like most birds, young warblers only have a twenty percent or less chance of survival.

Reilly’s dedication and hard work are important to the warbler research project and the birds’ survival. While we can’t control what happens at the warblers’ wintering grounds, I hope the great accommodations and quality care here in Virginia will help contribute to a more stable future for the these beautiful birds.

Too small to band, based on wieght

 

Adults were weighed head-first

Windowsill Designs

 

 

Remember the old adage that good things come in small packages?  Recently I discovered creative inspiration in a little project that is ridiculously simple, yet tremendously rewarding.  The inspiration for my newly discovered delight is a new book by author Nancy Hugo Ross. 

 

 

Well-known for Remarkable Trees of Virginia, her latest book is called Windowsill Art: Create One-of-a-Kind Natural Arrangements to Celebrate the Season. Using her windowsill as a focal point, she adorns it with seasonal items of interest such as small gourds, leaves, seedpods and small vases of flowers from the garden.  This art form is so personal, anyone can successfully create beautiful images.  Less complicated than creating floral designs for your table, these vignettes highlight the beauty and simplicity of nature’s design – the shape, color or texture of a leaf or even a stem.  Natural sunlight is ideal for making small details in nature stand out.   Ross uses rose hips, okra, banana peppers, bark or combinations of these items, with or without flowers.  She seems to find gathering and collecting her materials as enjoyable as creating her simple arrangements. 

If you have a few minutes of time, several small vases, and a windowsill, you can instantly transform a bathroom or breakfast nook into a beautiful setting.  Landscape architects have known for years that great designs often blur the lines between indoors and outdoors. “Windowscapes” create a similar effect  by bringing specimens from your garden indoors. 

Nancy Hugo Ross is a talented writer, floral designer, gardener and educator.  For information and inspiration, check out her new book or visit her blog at windowsillarranging.blogspot.com.

 

Fall is for Chrysanthemums

What looks like a mum and smells like a mum but (in my opinion) is better than a mum?  A hardy mum.  Most of the plants that fill area garden centers in the fall are floral mums.   They are carefully grown to produce dense blooms for fall, devoting more energy to blooms than roots.  Slow to spread or naturalize, they will grow in our area but don’t always survive a harsh winter, although cultivars vary. Hardy mums, however, put out stolons, or runners, and spread year to year.  Hardy mums often appear more daisy-like and typically overwinter even in the coldest conditions.  “Sheffield Pink” and “Clara Curtis” are varieties of hardy mums commonly found in our area. 

Caring for Mums

Like most perennials, chrysanthemums begin to bloom in mid- to late summer.  Mums are photoperiodic, which means they bloom in response to the seasonal shorter days and longer nights.  For fall blooms, you should pinch back new growth in the spring, once the plant reaches about five inches, and continue to pinch back every two to three weeks until mid-July.  Many gardeners use July Fourth as the cutoff date for pinching because it is easy to remember.  Pinching creates fuller, less “leggy” plants.  Mums shouldn’t be fertilized after the end of July in order to prevent frost damage to new growth later on.  Mums require full sun and well-drained soil that has been enriched with compost.  Mums planted in the spring will have more time to become established than mums planted in fall. 

Other uses

Mums are native to Asia and northeastern Europe.  The plant was first cultivated as an herb in China in the 15^th Century B.C.  It remains significant in many Asian celebrations, including the Japanese Festival of Happiness.  Certain mums are used to make chrysanthemum tea.  The plant’s leaves are steamed or boiled as greens in Chinese cuisine. 

One member of the chrysanthemum family contains pyrethrum, an extract which contains insecticidal properties.  Soldiers in the Napoleonic Wars used the crushed flowers to control fleas and lice.  Today many products containing pyrethrum are sold as natural insecticides.  According to “ Mother Earth News,” pyrethrum is the strongest insecticide allowed under today’s National Organic Standards guidelines.  Caution should be taken to avoid use around honeybees and beneficial insects. 

Hardy mums are a good nectar source for butterflies in late fall when other flowers are scarce..

 

 

Why do leaves change color in the fall?

Leaves change color in the fall for the same reason you bring in your patio cushions – to prepare for winter.  All summer long, trees are busy at work converting sunlight into the chemical energy they need to thrive.  You know that process as photosynthesis.  Eventually trees will need a rest from all that light-converting work.  And besides, tender green leaves couldn’t handle damaging frost and freezing temperatures.  Winter dormancy is the time for trees to rest up and rely on stored energy, but first they must prepare defenses against the cold and freezing weather ahead.   

Leaves contain several color pigments all summer, but the green chlorophyll pigment hogs the spotlight because it is the main star in photosynthesis.  Therefore it masks the other colors, or pigments, while the tree is in its energy production process.  You can only see the green.  Shorter days of sunlight and cooler nights cue the trees to switch gears and begin preparation for winter.  This means it is time to shut down the photosynthesis process, so the 

need for green chlorophyll decreases.  As production of the green chlorophyll pigment grinds to a halt, it finally allows the red and yellow pigments that were there all along to outshine the green.  Carotenoid pigments (think carrot) are responsible for the orange and yellow leaf colors that take center stage after chlorophyll pigments step aside.  They are joined by anthocyanins pigments, responsible for the red and purple leaf colors you see. (They also give the red to apples.)  After the brilliant color change process is complete and the background pigments have stolen the show, a final chemical reaction produces cells to seal off the connection between the leaf stem and the tree, like a scab, which then forces the leaf to fall off.  Finally, energy production is put on hold and the tree can rest safely in dormancy.  But come spring, sunlight and temperature changes will signal the tree that it is time to awaken and ramp up the food and energy production once again for another green, shady summer.