October 2, 2007

We found a butterfly in the garden that We didn't recognize but thought it was a CUBAN CRESCENT.  We emailed the picture to Buck and Linda Cooper for help to identify it...

Sure enough, it is a Cuban Crescent and probably a stray as they are very rare in our area!

Lo and behold, we caught them breeding in the garden!!!  Obviously, more than one stray here!  (Must be because of their host plant DICLEPTERA in the garden, and sure enough, there is plenty here.)

They must be happy here, the female is laying eggs!!!

Now, we have caterpillars on the leaves.  We'll have to wait and see where they go from here...  We hope to have a happy ending in a few weeks!!! 

After watching and waiting we found a Chrysalis, captured it and after the tenth day it hatched and our butterfly circle is complete!

It is a miracle that we caught all this on camera!!!

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