Now that might sound crazy, but lets talk about Aphids for a minuet. It’s really important to leave the Aphids alone when they get on your plants. Why you ask? It’s best to just leave them alone because

It has taken 41 days for this butterfly to go through its complete lifecycle. Eleven (11) days ago, Lux-Mil formed his chrysalis. So he is pretty much right on time. On average, it take 7-14 days for a

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) eggs were laid 3/10/18 on Aristochia tomentosa (Woolly Pipevine), and are now hatched on 3/18/18. Fifteen eggs were laid, and all have hatched & are healthy.

It has been exactly one month since this Gulf Fritillarys egg was laid, and today we have a chrysalis. It has been quite the journey this little one has taken us on. Lux-Mil ended up being completely camera

Lux-Mil is now 3/4 of an inch long!! Growing fast and chowing down. Caterpillars increase their body growth by as much as 1,000 percent or more during their life cycle. The caterpillar stage of butterflies

We have a nice clutch of eggs in the garden today!! This Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor), has laid the second set of eggs for the 2018 season today. 3/10/18 and we have a clutch count of 15 eggs.

Look at that face-cap about to come off! This is one of the ways I can tell when they are going to shed. I have come to the conclusion that, Lux-Mil is camera shy. This is twice now that I set up the camera,

Lux-Mil has shed for the first time. From hatching on 2-25-18, to now shedding an becoming a second instar caterpillar on 1-1-18. This is Lux-Mil's measurement on 1-1-18. After shedding, caterpillars then

Lux-Mil is getting close to shedding. Half of today was spent wondering about the plant, looking for the "perfect spot". I was checking in and cleaning the cage, so I thought I would get a little

Our little baby is 1 day old!! I think we need a name for it. As a caterpillar we won't be able to tell the sex. So maybe something unisex? Hmmmmmm, What do y'all think? Lets figure out a name for this

Did you know that the very first meal a caterpillar eats is its egg shell!? When a butterfly larva (caterpillar) first hatches from its egg, it is very small! This young caterpillar is referred to as a

Our baby is here!! Welcome to the world little one!! This Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) egg was laid on February 18, 2018. And exactly 8 days later (2/25/18), it is now hatched. This is the first

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am right now!! It is 6:30PM on Sunday, February 25, 2018, and I can see movement in the egg shell of this Gulf Fritillary egg. I'd write more y'all, but its

Last fall, say about Novembers end, many of our butterflies went into diapause. This just means they went into hibernation so they could overwinter until Spring. Here in South Texas we had an early, and

We may have a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar & Butterfly in the morning!! I’m hoping for the at least the butterfly, and the egg waits until Sunday. I have a class I'm giving in the morning that would

Passionflora is a beautiful vining plant that is a climbing herbaceous perennial, producing alluring flowers that will tantalize you with their scent, and will later produce edible fruit. These stems scramble

Today was a damp, but beautiful Sunday. It's Febuary 18th, and I was pleasantly surprised with this beauty. She is a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), and she has laid the first egg of 2018. I barely

Who loves butterflies!? I do, I do!! This is my favorite video on @daddykierbs youtube channel. @daddykirbs wants to know what your favorite is too. We did a 3 part series, but this one is my favorite

What is a Puddle Patch? When thinking about how to attract wildlife to your garden, a great place to start planning is with butterflies. Butterflies are attracted to many different nectar and host plants

Hi guys, Drake here, founder of The Nectar Bar. And I have finally decided to take the plunge and start a blog. So first a little back story on how it all started. I began raising butterflies six years