Hi KSOhio; I am in the Dayton, Ohio area. KC and I have had lots of conversations about butterflies. I also conduct a multitude of surveys down here. The literature states that swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) is the preference over three other native Asclepias species (Oviposition preference and larval performance of North American monarch butterflies on four Asclepias species Deborah T. Ladner & Sonia Altizer). In Florida A. curassavica is preferred over A. incarnata. (Malcolm SB & Brower LP (1986) Selective oviposition by monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.) in a mixed stand of Asclepias curassavica L. and A. incarnata). We find in practice that monarchs prefer A. incarnata to A. curassavica. It's just that currasavica is quick growing and can be managed easier at times because it is an annual. As to its preventing OE. Nope, we have fed it exclusively to Monarchs and gotten lots of OE. It might help the insect if a very low number of spores were consumed but I would not rely on it to prevent OE. Purchasing or importing Monarchs is a really bad idea. There are lots of reputable butterfly farms but some aren't. I volunteer at Cox Arboretum's butterfly house. We often get caterpillars from folks who have to go on vacation and "donate" their monarch caterpillar to us. The last batch was heavily infected with OE. Even so, your purchasing and raising Monarchs is not likely to help the population across the country or even in NW Ohio. The major issues for our monarchs in Ohio are as follows, 1) the condition and weather of the Mexican hibernation areas 2) the condition and weather of the first stopping over point along the gulf coast (the drought last year in Texas caused some of the lowest numbers yet) 3) the availability of nectar plants on migration (round-up ready crops have done a number on all butterflies as well as the suburbanization of farm lands). Be patient, get seed from local sources if possible and start plants this early spring and you will have all you need. In terms of the Giant Swallowtail. I would be interested in the citation for the white sapote. I have not found an article listing preferences for the GS. However, here is something to think about. You mentioned the hummingbird prefering local plants. This is very true of butterflies, with perhaps the exception of the Monarch (which makes sense since it migrates great distances). Sonia Altizer's study cites this; "Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies (Papilio glaucus) sampled along a latitudinal gradient showed greater oviposition preference and larval performance on tree species that were relatively more abundant at their collection sites (Bossart & Scriber, 1995)." On this board we have noted that a butterfly growing in Miss Sherry's backyard may prefer something different to mine. So, I would definately think that GS's here would prefer local plants. Can you tell me why you think the GS is "dwindling"? If anything we have seen an increase. The GS is not a hardy overwintering butterfly. It can take cold temps but not well. So, with the change in our weather patterns, we are actually seeing more of them (see The Role of Environmental Factors In the Northeastern Range Expansion of Papilio cresephontes. Susan D. Finkbeiner, 2011). So, if you plant the right plants, I suspect you will attract them. Good luck, Elisabeth

I have been following this thread with great interest since I'm a member of a community garden in Geoergia that is overrun with Mexican bean beetles. Inspired by your experience, we bought some Pediobius foveolaus which arrived July 3 as mummies, put into the garden July 4 (it was over 100 degrees for several days then, hope that didn'dt hurt). We've seen just a few new mummies since then, and have instructed fellow gardeners not to squish larvae since they could have wasp eggs inside. When anyone pulls up a devastated bean plant we pick off the MBB larvae and I'm currently saving them in jars in my house (only 3 are currently mummies,the rest we're watching for browning. Several have already molted into adults). So here's my questions: should I just return these mummies to the garden? Or are they delicate and should be held somewhere besides the wilds of a garden until they hatch out? When should we expect a hatch, 17 days or so from July 4? We're only hoping for a knockdown of a big MBB population, hope to start over next spring at the proper time. Any advice would be welcome!

Mary, I've never noticed much, if any, pollen puddling on the table underneath a bouquet of Teddy Bear sunflowers although it isn't a pollen-free type. One of the things I like about Teddy Bear is that the "fluffy" looking petals go almost to the very center of the flower head and there isn't a large round flat disc in the center of the flower. That might be why there seems to be little pollen. However, I know pollen is there because Teddy Bear does set seed. Susan, I don't know if sunflower pollen is a problem for folks who suffer from allergies. I've never heard of it being a serious allergen, but you never know. The pollenless sunflowers were developed for the cut-flower industry about, I guess, a decade back....or maybe 15 or more years back. It seems like they've been around quite a while now. Florists and their customers often prefer pollenless flowers because they are not messy. Sunflowers have become very popular in flower arrangements used for banquets, weddings, etc. and the pollenless ones don't make a mess of the tablecloths by dropping pollen everywhere. Dawn

Susan, If I knew then, what I knew now, I might have looked for property a tiny bit closer to town. I'm not sure if being a mile or two outside of town would be better than be further away though. I thought our biggest pests would be armadilloes, rabbits and deer, and in a way they are, but oh my, the caterpillars are driving me insane. It isn't just "me" either. I looked for Bt in the big box stores (Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's) in the larger towns to our north (Ardmore) and to our south (Gainesville, TX) and they were sold out, and have been for days. TSC was sold out when we were in there last week and this week. I finally found Bt at a small independent feed and seed store in Gainesville this morning, so I have it here sitting on the table, and I can/will use it if the levels of damage do not diminish. I also noticed big empty gaps in the synthetic pesticide section at the big box stores and I had to look to see what was sold out. It was all the various forms of Sevin. Tractor Supply's shelf was bare too, but there was a newly-opened case of powdered Sevin sitting on the floor by the bare shelf, so clearly they were in the midst of restocking the stores. This morning a white-lined sphinx flew into my greenhouse when I opened the door. I told it to go elsewhere to lay its eggs, but I suspect it will do whatever it pleases. Milkweed plants (the native green milkweed that we call Antelope Horns here) in the pasture that I couldn't even find 2 weeks ago are suddenly huge and beginning to bloom, so that's good news. Crane Flies have been horrible for about 6 weeks, but their numbers are dropping every day here no, so they have peaked. Ditto for the June bugs, which this year have been March bugs. I am seeing fewer moths this week than last but I don't know if that translates yet to less damage since the moths undoubtedly laid lots of eggs. This year, in an effort to draw the cabbage worms away from the broccoli and cabbage, I planted mustard because they love mustard and usually gobble it right up. So, guess which plants in my garden show virtually no damage while everything else is holey? Yep, the mustard. I have beautiful perfect mustard crops. Sometimes trap crops just don't work like they're supposed to, and I guess this is one of those years. Everything is accelerating here because of the early heat. Flowers have bloomed a month or two ahead of schedule, pests have made early appearances, etc. It is bizarre. I also think it partially explains the heavy insect damage because bugs that usually do damage in Feb and Mar, for example, have had the company of plenty of other insects that usually don't show up until Apr, May, Jun or Jul. I wish I could know what that means in terms of what the pests will do in the coming months. And, yes Susan, I think the cucumber beetles are likely to give you more trouble since you're growing more cucurbits. However, nothing in nature is predictable. Who would have predicted I wouldn't see a single squash bug in a hot year like we had last year? Or that the Colorado Potato Beetles would be totally absent this year (at least so far). Or that I wouldn't have squash bugs here but Kelly would have them up there in northern OK. Mother Nature likes to keep us on our toes by throwing surprises our way just about nonstop. One thing that's missing at our house this year is wasps. We had some swarm on the first really hot day, and then they were around a day or two and I haven't seen one since. Usually by now, they are everywhere. That's bad news. I haven't seen predatory wasps either, which probably helps explain all the caterpillar damage in the garden. I've order some wasps for delivery next week and I'll release them in an effort to restore some balance to the garden's ecosystem that it is sorely lacking right now. Dawn