Certainly looks identical to mine!

Bob

It does look like a buckeye and we've had tons of them this year.

Baltimore Checkerspots also use butterfly bush as a second year host plant. They also lay eggs on it some times, but it doesn't support the first year caterpillars.

Yes, it is a buckeye caterpillar - congrats!
Once every year or so, somebody posts that they've found a buckeye cat on their buddleia./butterfly bush. They used to say that buddleia was in the loganiaceae family with Carolina jesamine and Indian pinks, now they've changed it to the scrophulariaceae/figwort/snapdragon family, probably because people do occasionally find buckeye cats on it. The vervain/verbena family is also listed as one of the alternate host plants for buckeyes, and Geyata Ajilvsgi, in her book Butterfly Gardening for the South, lists buddleia as being in that family. I tend to agree with G.A. - the flowers certainly look like verbena flowers.
Anyway, it's good that buckeyes are so versatile!
Sherry

Yes, I see host plant lists sometimes include Buddleia as an LFP for Buckeyes, including the Dallas Butterflies website. The Buckeyes remind me of the generalist moths in a way because of the numerous LFPs they have been found to use. You can officially change that "mystery caterpillar" label in your photo album!

Sherry, I really have to try to find that book. It is probably out of print now, but sometimes I can find them at Abe Books or other book stores that carry used material.

Susan

It's really a good book, Susan - I refer to it often.
You can probably get a used one for a good price at Abe's or other used book sellers - you're probably right about it being out of print.
Sherry

Thanks to all! Wow! I am so excited!! We have had scads of Buckeyes in the yard this season, but I don't know what they are laying on here. Anyone have any idea? I am trying to provide as many host plants for as many species as possible, but I haven't yet done any intentional planting for these guys. There are not any snaps in the yard. There is some sort of broad leaf plantain growing in the yard , but I have checked it for cats and have never found any.

Lucky you for finding a buckeye cat! That's something I haven't gotten yet. I've seen one flying around in the garden this year (the butterfly, not caterpillar...ha), but I think only one found my garden and then left after several days. I saw one last year for the first time and was hoping that I'd get cats on my Verbena hastata, but no such luck. I told Dave that I think I'm tearing the plants out. They get about 7 or 8 feet tall and it's hard to keep them staked up...this old gray mare just ain't what she used to be.

Well, anyway, I'm really glad that they found you! I think I'm also jealous that you got SBST cats! ;-) I think this is the fourth year that my spicebushes have been here, but the butterflies have ignored them as far as I know.

Did you ever look at the forum's FAQ? You can look at the host plants that are listed for various species of butterflies. I'll include the link just in case you never saw the page. Scroll down the page until you find the Common Buckeye. Perhaps one or more of those plants are growing at or near your place. I hope you continue to have good luck with the butterflies. This year was a great butterfly year, huh! :)
Cathy

Here is a link that might be useful: GWBF Caterpillar Host Plants

The most commonly used host plant for buckeyes in my area and probably NW GA is Agalinis or Gerardia, depending on how a particular field guide names it - the type that grows here is A. fasciculata. It makes a pink snapdragon-looking flower in the fall, and when it's blooming, you can nearly always find buckeye cats on it. Here's a picture that shows the short, thick foliage on Agalinis - unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the flowers.
{{gwi:487525}}
You'll find Agalinis/Gerardia growing in sunny fields with native grasses - Agalinis, like many members of the snapdragon family, is partially parasitic on the roots of grasses.
I couldn't figure out what the local buckeyes were using in the spring for host plants, since the Agalinis, an annual, doesn't pop up until summer. The only possibility I could figure would be wild petunia/Ruellia caroliniensis, since it's a common roadside perennial that thrives in spring - the Acanthus family is another one buckeyes reportedly use. I planted some in my garden but no buckeyes have used them so far.
I plan to gather Agalinis seeds this fall and strew them in my new "meadow" which has wild grasses growing in it. Those buckeyes need more host plants! :)
Sherry

I also use the Dallas Lepidopterist Society's website a lot in regard to host plants, because it includes many that most sites do not. For the Buckeye, they list the following:

ACANTHACEAE: Snake-herb (Dyschoriste linearis), Violet Ruellia (Ruellia nudiflora)

PLANTAGINACEAE: English Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), Pale-Seed Plantain (P. virginica), Buck-Horn Plantain (P. coronopus), Dooryard Plantain (P. major), Common Plantain (P. rugelii), Cedar Plantain (P. helleri), Tallow-Weed (P. hookeriana)

SCROPHULARIACEAE: Beach Gerardia (Agalinis fasciculata), Flat-Flower Gerardia (Agalinis homalantha), Slender Gerardia (Agalinis tenuifolia), False Foxglove (Aureolaria grandifloria), American Bluehearts (Buchnera americana), Texas Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa), Prairie Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja purpurea), Butter and Eggs (Linaria vulgaris); Snapdragon Vine (Maurandya antirrhiniflora), Toad-Flax (Nuttallanthus canadensis)

VERBENACEAE: Common Frogfruit (Lippia nodiflora), Lance-Leaf Frogfruit (Lippia lanceolata), Brazilian Verbena (Verbena bonariensis).

They don't include Butterfly Bush, though, so I don't recall where I saw that. Hmmmmm. Last year, mine found my Diascia, a low-growing flowering groundcover in the Scrophulariaceae family. Check in the evening and early morning for caterpillars. I think they feed at night and hide out during the day.

Susan

What wonderful help you guys have provided!! Thanks a bunch. I will Google all of these plants and see if I have any growing in my yard. Not sure if the little Buckeye cat had been hosting on the butterfly bush or was just searching out a pupation location. I didn't see any others on the bush, so that causes me to lean towards pupation location.
Hello to my good friend Cathy!! Thanks for the link. I will check it out. Your Pawapaws are doing awesomely! It has been a GREAT butterfly season for me. I was thinking yesterday that there isn't much I haven't seen this year except for Zebras and Mourning Cloaks. I even had my very first Viceroy the other day! It was on my fruit. Had lots of "firsts" this year due to the drawing success of the fruit. I had to put my SBST cats out into the wild on some Sassafras. I ran out of Spicebush, and each time Rachel cut some of the Sassafras she had found and brought it to me, it withered and turned crispy almost immediately. I was sad, but there was no other option. I hope the 5 of them make it out there.~~Angie

Ok, I looked through the plants, and I am thinking that it must be the plantain here in my yard. I don't recognize the Agalinis or anything else on Susan's lists at all.
I also didn't know that they feed at night. Thanks!

Hi Angie, I'm glad to hear that the Pawpaws are doing well. Yours are bigger than mine because I didn't get mine in the ground as soon as I had wanted to, but at least they're living. I hope that if I do get ZSTs that they hold off until the trees are bigger. I'd hate to run out of food for the caterpillars. My trees are maybe 1-1/2 ft tall. I know that yours look great! I have 12 growing in our backyard and a bunch more growing in the woods. I get the idea that Pawpaws aren't very well known around here; I don't know of anyone who has planted them, but surely someone around the area besides me has planted some. I just never hear anyone talk about them.

Congrats on seeing your first Viceroy! I saw my first one last year, and I saw one here this year too. Thank goodness I had my phone in my pocket when I was outside or another picture opportunity would have been missed. It's not the greatest picture, but at least a person looking at it would be able to tell that it's a Viceroy and not a Monarch. Both times I saw one I had to do a double take. I think it's pretty easy to see right away that it's not a Monarch because I think something about the coloring is just a little bit off of that of the Monarch. Not much, but it's there.

I haven't seen Zebras yet at all, but I'll just be patient. I'm trusting that they'll find me someday. I think it's great that you got to see one last year, and I hope it won't be too long before you see them again. I've only even seen Mourning Cloaks here a few times and none this year. I gave up on the rotted fruit trick here because I don't have much success with it at all except for attracting lots of flies, yellow jackets and other undesirables. I did get a Question Mark on it one time a few years ago, but I can see them anyway when I raise them. Right now I have a cat on a hackberry tree. I hope it grows in time before it gets too cold here; it's not all that big yet. I wouldn't blame it if it thinks it has plenty of time; it was 91 deg. here yesterday, low 80's today, and 92 predicted for tomorrow. After that though it's supposed to go down to the seventies, which is what it usually is here this time of the year. This year has been really strange!

I'm sorry to hear that you ran out of food for the SBST cats, but thank goodness at least there was an alternative closeby. I still think it's neat how you and Rachel are both into butterfly gardening! It was nice to hear from you. Sorry I don't post much, but I read pretty many posts. I think about you a lot and hope that things are going well.

Cathy

I've been going through my pictures and deleting many of them. I found a picture of Agalinis fasciculata flowers. For whatever reason, this picture makes them look more purple than they really are -
{{gwi:534593}}
Sherry

Thanks Sherry for taking the time to post the pic. You can really see why they are known as False Foxglove! Very pretty little things. Wish I had them.