Blogging in Myrtle Glen

One morning on my daily garden walk, I see them. Beautiful caterpillars, snow-white with black dots and orange feet. They are munching on my Passiflora Incense vine 

The caterpillars feed only on the passion vines, the adult butterflies feed on nectar and pollen. Their most favorite flower in the garden is the Lantana but they also like the blue plumbago flowers and Pentas. Of course  they visit all other blooms as well. 

From the egg laid to the emerging butterfly can take as little as 3 weeks. Longer if the temperatures are cooler. 

So go ahead and plant a passion vine in your yard, the butterflies with thank you for it. Passion vine is also the host plant for the orange Gulf Fritillary butterfly’s caterpillar. 

Why do butterflies have two sets of wings?

It’s not to fly higher or faster, according to Smithsonian magazine (January 2009). The hindwings appear to be crucial to a butterfly’s ability to be agile in the air and to turn quickly – presumably to avoid predators like hungry birds.

Black Swallowtail, just hatched

“How does one become a butterfly?” she asked. ”You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”

[Trina Paulus]

Caterpillar of Cloudless Sulphur butterfly munching on a Popcorn Cassia flower.

Interesting, the caterpillars are yellow when eating the flowers, but green when eating the leaves.

Host plants for the caterpillar are plants in the bean family and all Cassias.

I planted the popcorn cassia to attract those lemon yellow butterflies. I decided on the variety Cassia didymobotrya since is not as cold sensitive as other Cassias and its leaves smell like freshly buttered popcorn. Yumm!