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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Aug 3, 2019 17:42:44 GMT -5
lisaann , oh, they're soooo beautiful! wheelgarden1 , do the bananas attract flies, and possibly critters?
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Post by ahntjudy on Aug 6, 2019 18:44:41 GMT -5
They love the tithonia plants. They do indeed...
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Post by Wheelgarden on Aug 6, 2019 20:05:48 GMT -5
do the bananas attract flies, and possibly critters? I had read somewhere that hanging an old banana would attract butterflies. Gave it a try, didn't work --- birds dealt with it quickly.
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Post by Mumsey on Aug 9, 2019 6:00:43 GMT -5
Yellow swallowtail, loves even the least perfect coneflower!
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Post by tom 🕊 on Aug 9, 2019 9:43:23 GMT -5
I am as confused about butterflies as I am about everything else. There appears to be six kinds of butterflies. Is this correct? Hesperiidae skippers Lycaenidae gossamer-wings Nymphalidae brushfoots Papilionidae swallowtails Pieridae sulphurs and whites Riodinidae metal-marks Adapted from butterfly.ucdavis.edu/butterfly/commonIt should be possible to talk about butterflies -- and everything else -- without the imposition of Latin. The monarch, for example, would be a brushfoot. Brushfoots are named for their characteristically reduced forelegs, which are frequently hairy and resemble brushes.
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Post by binnylou on Aug 9, 2019 10:33:01 GMT -5
I want to share an example of real stupidity. When I was a freshman in high school...go back to 1960...our biology teacher gave us an assignment during the first week of school.
We were to catch 50 different butterflies and display them on a piece of styrofoam board. We had to label them, and there could be no duplicates on our display board. This project was an assignment. It was not optional.
Thinking back on this, I’m wondering why there wasn’t anybody asking the question why 55+ freshman kids were catching and killing butterflies. Why were our parents not up in arms about this project? Why didn’t we students just tell him we’re not doing that? Did that project prepare me for adulthood?
Think back to when you were this age...would you have rebelled against this assignment?
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Post by gardendmpls on Aug 9, 2019 18:31:26 GMT -5
No. Helping my sister with an insect collection for school is what drew me into science. I don't think we put much more of a dent in the insect population than a bird or frog would. They have plenty of videos of insects today, but nothing draws students in like hands on. They were killed humanely, otherwise they couldn't be preserved. Those were different times, also, and science was learned by studying specimens directly. You couldn't google; had to know how to search for answers. It laid the groundwork for today.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 14, 2019 14:39:14 GMT -5
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Post by lisaann on Aug 14, 2019 16:24:09 GMT -5
pepperhead212, I have those and years ago restless told me they were skipperjacks. She has them in Philly. They are out there right now, but not as many as those yellow swallowtails.
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Post by lisaann on Aug 14, 2019 16:26:17 GMT -5
Yellow swallowtail, loves even the least perfect coneflower! Heck, they must not care what they land on!
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 14, 2019 17:11:33 GMT -5
I was out there to trim back that overgrown basil, which I did (you should see the huge pile on the lawn, under that pot!), but I left all the flowers on that Everleaf basil, that I don't really use, so the bugs still have something to come to.
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Post by Mumsey on Aug 18, 2019 6:11:25 GMT -5
pepperhead212, it's a job to remove all those basil blooms! I have never had basil so huge. It is probably the only thing that bounced back from the near dead this year. The Serrata gets more attention since it's on the deck in a pot.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Aug 18, 2019 16:39:06 GMT -5
The numerous swallowtails are getting a little scale-bare and bird-picked now, at this time of the year and toward the end of their life-cycle. The skippers are everywhere, as are the fritillaries. The fritillaries are scolding me for not planting marigolds this year. Duly scolded.
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Post by binnylou on Aug 21, 2019 12:25:31 GMT -5
This has been a big year for butterflies. last evening in the garden, I spotted what I thought was a black swallowtail. Its presence was so brief, I really only got a glimpse of it, Then it flitted away, in search of blossoms. I hope it returns.
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Post by Mumsey on Aug 23, 2019 3:39:37 GMT -5
binnylou, Starting to see those here now too. They are my favorite butterfly.
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