I have been seeing several queens in the yard as of late. I hope to raise a few in protective custody. I did collect eggs when I saw a female laying them on the milkweed. However it's impossible to tell if I collected queen eggs or monarch eggs. Perhaps I got some of each. Regardless, I will know in a few days.

I wonder if the person that named the queens gave any thought to the fact that some of them would be boys. I am always calling all queens she and that goes for ladybugs too. I really don't know how to tell the difference between a boy and girl ladybug :)

With queens, like the monarch, you can tell the male from the female by the little raised dots (pheromone pouches) on the lower wings. Boys have the dot and girls don't.

Have a wonderful day and happy snapping.

An Over mature female Common Darter dragonfly

Meijer Gardens

Thanks for views, comments and favs:)

cabbage white in flight

A Male Emerald Damselfly perches on a reed stem as the sunlight sparkles on the waters surface.

A small flying insect stops to visit the delicate pink petals of a cransbill geranium blossom.

This is my idea of a perfect garden spice :) A spicebush swallowtail. No, they are not for eating, unless you are a bird of course. They certainly are one of the reasons that so many birds visit. Anyway, for me they are simply for spicing up the variety of butterflies that visit adding life and beauty to the yard. The spicebush is a beautiful medium sized swallowtail that has a beautiful pattern on the underside and a beautiful spray painted look on the lower wings on the top side.

The host plants in the yard are one of the bay trees and of course the actual spice bush. Ugh! Slugs also like the spice bush. I don't use poison in my backyard so slugs and other pests can be a problem. However, over the years I have learned to use coffee grinds and ash from the smoker around plants that slugs and other pests are attracted to. Slugs and many other pests really don't like coffee or ash but many plants do. The coffee grinds and the ash stimulate the plants growth while deterring pests so it's a win, win.

Drinking one cup of coffee a day simply does not provide enough to cover everything that needs covered. But honestly, if I have any caffeine after the noon hour; When night falls I will not sleep at all. Meaning that more than one cup a day is not my friend because I like to sleep. On the other hand, I did hear but have not confirmed that Starbucks is now putting their coffee grinds aside for gardeners. I believe I will look into that and see if my local Starbucks is participating. I sure hope so because slugs are trying to take over my backyard. If Starbucks is not participating, I guess I'll buy some cheap coffee and sprinkle it around.

Enjoy your day, happy snapping and thanks for stopping by.

This is one of my beautiful babies. So far this year I have been fortunate enough to have released 40 monarchs. Currently there are 27 in chrysalis stage and I have 51 monarch caterpillars munching away on milkweed in protective custody (screened lanai). That is all I can handle in protective custody at this time.

One would think that since I have roughly 200 milkweed plants in the yard and 40 on the lanai there would be enough milkweed to go around. That is not the case. One plant will feed three to four caterpillars then that plant needs to recover. Yikes, each outdoor plant has ten to thirty eggs at the moment and some tiny caterpillars. I'm in trouble! I thought I was ready for butterfly season but clearly I am not.

I need to put some more plants in protective custody to be used a food source only. Nurseries don't normally have milkweed at this time of year. Wish me luck in my quest for milkweed this weekend.

On the bright side of this situation, the birds will be happy.

A Common Darter dragonfly soaks up the warmth from the fleeting sunhine before continuing his search for a female.

Butterfly season is getting off to a great start. There are lots of monarchs, zebra longwings, gulf fritillaries and goldrims flitting about daily.

The giants have started visiting along with spicebush, tiger and Palamedes and zebra swallowtails. The giant in this image left one egg for me to collect and care for in protective custody. I shall do my best to make sure it becomes a beautiful butterfly. Giants are pretty easy to raise in comparison to monarchs. They don't eat as much and they are not as messy.

Have a wonderful Monday and happy snapping.

Haehnle Bird Sanctuary - Grass Lake, Michigan