Haddam Meadows

ButterflyPR at comcast.net ButterflyPR at comcast.net
Wed Sep 19 21:41:59 EDT 2007


Stopped by Haddam Meadows this afternoon to get milkweed for my remaining caterpillars.  Yes, I still have early instar Monarch caterpillars!  I was keeping milkweed in the refrigerator for what I thought were my last caterpillars, when I discovered eggs...and they hatched after being refrigerated for several days!

Which leads me to a milkweed question.  I recognize common milkweed (a.syriaca), butterflyweed (a. tuberosa), and swamp milkweed (a.incarnata), but I'm not sure about some of the milkweed I've been getting lately.  The leaves are definitely thinner and pointier than the common milkweed, but the overall plant seems thinner than most of the swamp milkweed I've seen.  I haven't seen any of it flowering or making pods, so I can't ID it that way.  Any thoughts?

Anyway, I did find one Monarch egg, but I decided to leave it there!  I saw four adult Monarchs, and finally tagged one of them when I remembered I had the tags in the van!  Also saw a couple of little low-flying orange-brown skippers with definite black on the upper side of their wings.  Assuming they were Least.  And one worn Silver-Spotted Skipper, and two Pearl Crescents.  And a few Cabbage Whites.  All of these were gathered in a little triangle of flowers at the end of the loop, towards the dam.  I did see one other brown butterfly, but it disappeared into the far field to quickly to identify--it was definitely lighter colored than a Red Admiral and seemed to be flying like a Brown...

Diane


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