My shifts in the Roston Native Butterfly House in July were hotter; maybe not as pleasant for people but the butterflies and caterpillars were very active. I’ve learned to take more water – and wear a neck fan! The caterpillars included large cecropia moth caterpillars (that can get as big as a hotdog) as well as tussock moths and red spotted purple caterpillars that look like bird poop. There were still plenty of spicebush swallowtail caterpillars around too, but I somehow didn’t take any pictures of them; I was too busy trying to get them into the cage as they opted to leave the plant to find a good place to make their chrysalis.

The giant swallowtail is laying eggs on the wafer ash and there are all stages from egg to varying sizes of caterpillars on the tree. Based on the number of eggs, some of the caterpillars will have to be moved to another tree (i.e. outside the house) so that the tree will keep at least a few leaves!

The pawpaws are still green. It will be a month or more before they ripen. The thistles that were the big nectar source in June have been replaced with other plants that are smaller but must have plenty of nectar.

The butterflies and big moths are still the big show!

I decided to document the trees in the Roston Native Butterfly House during one of my recent shifts. All of them are there to provide food for certain caterpillars. So here is a tree tour of the house…starting on the right side as you enter the trees are