Oh good, it must not be too common a problem then possibly. I just let my BSTs go and never saw them again, so I wouldn't have a clue if they made more butterflies or not. Reading this I see it doesn't mention the plants, I thought it did, sorry about that guys. I will keep looking for the names of the 2 plants mentioned, I can still check this article cited, but I can't do it from this computer, will have to look into it tomorrow: The structure and development of the hairpencil glands in males of the queen butterfly, Danaus gilippus berenice Thomas E. Pliske, Miriam M. Salpeter.1971. Journal of Morphology. Volume 134, Issue 2 , Pages 215 - 241. I realize the names don't match, I will have to look into that too. The book is: Insect Biology, a textbook of entomology by Howard E. Evans, 1984 by Addison-Wesley publishing company. The paragraph I mentioned is on page 123 and says generally (I don't know if I'm allowed to quote it or not with copyrights)... Jerrold Meinwald and his team at Cornell identified 2 chemicals in the secretion of the hair pencils of the male Queen butterfly (which are hairlike processes the male wiggles over the female's head and antennae during courtship). The 2 chemicals Meinwald's team found are released during this wiggling and contain a ketone and a diol. During this, the mixture is brushed onto the antennae of the female. This chemical mix on the antennae causes the female to land and fold her wings, which would allow the male to mate with her. Pliske and Eisner found that males raised in cages on cuttings of the major food plant failed to mate successfully, but that males raised outside mostly on that same food plant intact, mated successfully. They then showed that males from cages had the diol but not the ketone, and the outdoor males had both. They found the outdoor males got the chemical precursor which allowed them to make the ketone came from another host plant upon which they spent very little time and only ate a little. They found further that the aphrodisiac was the ketone, and the diol only helped the chemical stick to the female's antennae.

Common Checkered Skipper, Pyrgus communis. I don't think there is anything "common" about them, and that they are one of the prettiest skippers. Actually, I think it is called "Common" because it is one of the most often seen. I don't see them often in my garden at all, and love it when I do. The milkweed looks like Common Milkweed, or Asclepias syriaca. Could be one of the other broadleaf milkweeds, but since it is more common than other milkweeds, I'm gonna go with that until someone has a better idea. Susan

Here's a tip - you don't need to fan the rice. It's done to make it glossier for restaurant service, but when it comes down to it, it serves no purpose as far as taste goes. If you don't want to fuss with making rolls, an easy family dinner is Chirashi sushi: just the rice-vinegar-sugar served in bowls, with the various toppings added separately to each diner's tastes. Yes, sushi is very simple to make. It's one of the reasons I lost interest in it after a while - growing up it was picnic food, so I always think of it in relation to hot dogs and burgers, LOL! The only one I'm still very fond of is inarizushi: a fried tofu skin (aburaage) that's been cooked in a sweet-soy sauce based sauce, drained then stuffed with sushi rice. You can buy the aburaage ready-made in cans. A deluxe version is made with mixing chopped shiitake mushrooms, diced carrots, and baby peas into the rice. My husband is a sucker for the tamago, the egg roll/pancake. Easy to make in small amounts, when I'm being very nice to him! Here is a link that might be useful: A website for sushi rolls

It's a Pearly Crescentspot, and their caterpillars use Asters for host plants.