Cathy, you can get a magnifying glass, which aren't very expensive, to use. I can't afford trifocals, so I just buy a pair of cheap reading glasses both for distance and for close-up. When I'm looking for eggs, I use the stronger lenses, like 3.25 or 3.50. It's easier to see them that way. I get mine at the Dollar Store, so I spend anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00 on them.

It is hard sometimes to see the eggs - they're so tiny. Guess I've just gotten used to finding them, too. Mama BST was back again yesterday and there are more eggs on the plants, but I'm not going to collect them this year.

Susan

Susan, I think I'll try that magnifying glass idea. If my eyes wouldn't be so bad, a cheap pair of reading glasses would suit my budget better than a $600 pair of glasses from the opthalmologist. As you might guess, I only go about every four or five years. I'd be lost without my glasses. I almost need an extra pair of glasses to find my glasses when I can't find them. I just hate the fact that I have to wear bifocals. I can't see right with them when I'm trying to look up close or find something small like those eggs. :( It's easier for me to find the Monarch eggs than it is the BST eggs. I think it's because they're on a big leave and it's easier to move the leaves around to see because they don't go every which way, whereas the rue leaves are much smaller and are arranged in such a way that they make my eyes bug out. lol

I hope that you get lots of BSTs there flying around in your yard. I don't blame you for not collecting them this year. It's almost like a person gets burnt out or something. I don't know if I'll do it every year either. I feel like that is my life when I'm collecting eggs and everything else goes by the wayside. Relax and enjoy them the way they are! You deserve a break and if you ever want to get back into it someday, I'm sure they'll be out there and you can pick it up again. :) A person shouldn't feel obligated to raise them, and I have to tell myself that this year. Best of luck with things!
Cathy

I don't have the energy, or eyesight, to worry about collecting the eggs! It's so much easier to wait for them to hatch, LOL. I looked at one of my reseeded parsley plants earlier and think I found about 15 BST cats; of course, they're still tiny and I'm going to google to get some images. I'm new to BST's so I haven't a clue as to what I'm looking at :(

Cathy, my problem is that I always misplace the magnifying glass! LOL! So, I keep the reading glasses on me all the time. I can see the eggs better. I have terrible vision, and I had that lasik surgery in 1998. My eyes are going bad again, but can't afford another surgery. Our insurance covered it at the time, and I had about 7 years of not having to wear anything but reading glasses. It was wonderful!

Susan

Susan, you need to get a lorgnette -- the kind that is a magnifying glass on a chain that you wear around your neck, not the opera glasses kind. If you google Joan Rivers lorgnette, you'll see what I mean. Actually, I need to get a lorgnette, too. Sometimes reading glasses just aren't strong enough for the fine print.

zee

I have trouble seeing them also. I wear reading glasses to see anything up close. I also bought a magnifying glass this year. I had it yesterday but can't find it today (lol). I just got home and saw a black swallowtail flying around my parsley. Then she went to my dill and fennel. I found some eggs on them in several places. I am going to collect the cats when they hatch. I out of school for the summer so I can check them daily.

Thanks for that info, Zee! I'll check into them asap.

If you find it hard to spot the eggs on Rue foliage, it is virtually impossible to find them on the zizia and fennel flowers, which is often where they lay the eggs, too. The buds look just like tiny eggs!

Susan

Tracey, I hear ya about the not having energy or eyesight to collect the eggs. I'm also pretty tempted to wait until they hatch. Even so, I probably wouldn't be able to see them until they're in their second stage (the next step up from teeny tiny lol). I'd say that those cats on your parsley are BSTs unless there is something else that eats it that I don't know about.
Susan, You sound exactly like me because I'd be misplacing it too. I misplace a lot of things! Sorry to hear about your eyes. So I guess lasik doesn't last forever then? Or maybe it's just with some people? We don't have insurance and I'd never be able to afford that. Even with the insurance that we did have when my DH had a job that included insurance, I don't think that it covered lasik surgery. Is it considered to be cosmetic? I'm so nearsighted it's not even funny. My husband had said years ago about getting it but I said for one thing, I don't trust any operation on my eyes unless it was a last resort, and for another thing, he would have had to pay for it. We couldn't and still can't afford something like that. Yeah, I bet that was great for you not having to wear anything but reading glasses for all that time. I wouldn't know how to act.

zebz, Thanks for that lorgnette recommendation. I'm going to google that. It might help both Susan and me. I really do have a time out there! :O

tdr4 (Sorry I forget your real name ha), From this thread I'm finding out that there are others out there like me who have trouble finding them. I really thought maybe it was just me because I don't remember anyone mentioning it before. It really does about make my eyes go buggy to look for those eggs. It's not as bad to look for the cats but still it's not very easy when they're just real little. It sounds like you'll be busy soon raising BST cats, and I bet you're relieved that you'll have all that time this summer since school will be out then.

Susan, Since you mentioned zizia, I wanted to mention something. I was saving a plant outside because I had googled zizia and thought what I had was a zizia but now I'm not so sure. My neigbhbor came over one day and saw it blooming and said something like, "Oh, what a pretty mustard plant you have!" Huh? I thought it was a zizia! Now I don't know what I have. Are zizias also known as mustard plants? If you don't know, I can try to look it up.
Thanks, everyone!
Cathy

Could be a common name that I'm not aware of, but zizias are in the apiaceae family and mustards are in the brassicaceae family. Mustards do attract some of the whites and other species of butterflies.

I'll try to get a photo to post for you of my zizia aptera.

Susan