Do buttonbushes grow near where you live? If so, perhaps you’ve found them to be butterfly magnets like I have…
Caterpillars
My Pursuit of the Baltimore Checkerspot
I was very pleased to see this butterfly after observing much of its life cycle. At least I thought I had…
Wintergreen’s Secret World
I had no idea what surprise awaited me…it flipped a switch in my mind from That’s neat! to WHAT ELSE HAVE I MISSED ABOUT WINTERGREEN?
In Which a Water Lily Leaf Blows Bubbles and We Meet a Very Shy Caterpillar
Bubbles? Did I just see a lily pad blowing bubbles?
In Which I Saw a Hole in a Lily Pad…
What made that hole? I wondered. There in the lily pad leaf was a quarter-sized hole. To satisfy my curiosity, I lifted an edge of the lily pad.
Flying Gems
On May 22, I saw it—a black swallowtail afloat on the breeze. Now was the time.
Christmas Decorations That Keep Giving
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive Photo © Dana Atkinson. Grandma got more than she bargained for when she brought in some greenery for Christmas. You might get some surprises too if you...
My Blue and Black Tale
View the full issue in the Magazine Archive My schoolteacher had explained to us that swallowtail butterfly caterpillars like carrot plants. Since I had a row of carrots in my garden, I thought I’d...
The Tachinid Fly Disaster
Photo © JjGouin/Dreamstime.com. I guess it started when a lady said she had a monarch caterpillar for us along with some milkweed to feed it. Although we didn’t know if it would turn out to be a he...
Mr. Spicebush
A close up of a 5th instar spicebush swallowtail caterpillar. Photo © iStock.com. The orange caterpillar inched along the stick. Every so often he paused to wave his head, looking around carefully...