jmcat - Pretty simple really once you begin to understand taxonomic nomenclature, genetics and natural evolution. Papilio polyxenes polyxenes is the nominate form... and Papilio polyxenes asterius is one of it's named subspecies. So some confusion is common when listings lump any bug into a generalized species name like this by not including the next subordinate level of classification if they are assigned - subspecies. Subspecies are named usually because they differ from the nominate form for any of several possible reasons (environment/habitat, isolation, distribution, etc) to where they have evolved into a slightly different bug than the nominate form. In this case the range of the nominate form is Cuba, and except for possible strays it probably doesn't intergrade naturally with the subspecies of it found in their own ranges outside of Cuba, while the subspecies who do have over-lapping ranges probably do intergrade naturally. Hmmm, maybe in better laymanÂs terms, the P. p. polyxenes nominate form is mostly isolated in Cuba. So the named subspecies of it are probably the result of strays of the nominate species that established new colonies outside Cuba or a result of ancestral land mass separations that isolated them from each other. Kind of a reverse isolation I guess in that those colonies not continually strengthened by the nominate form gene pool have evolved into subspecies that differ from the nominate species. Probably as clear as mud, but hopefully at least starts to answer your question. L.

MissSherry, Zebracats. The girls lay the eggs on the tops of leaves or near tips, but I have seen them lay on branches too. The cats are hard to spot, and often climb down the "trunk" at night. Here's how I find them....I take a flashlight at night and shite it from the gound up, and the little kitties stand out as a shadow through the leaves. last year, I let the cats outside, and when they got decent size, they got eaten, spiders or wasps. This year, I bring them in. In fact, I have more to go get tonight. I am using one of those flower water pick things to keep the foliage alive, and it lasts 2-3 days. They are stinky little kitties! Also, really neat, some are green, some are black. Next time you see a girl flitting through your paw paws, look for the eggs and gather the cats. You will be rewarded :)

Tdog, Thanks for sharing these precious pictures. Chelsea is so cute, esp. the picture of her awaiting her treat for completing the course. Glad you found a "stretch-link" to butterflies so you wouldn't be censored. MDN

BTW, you don't have to know latin at all to use a key, and without using a key, you might have to look at hundreds of pictures and descriptions on sites like "hortiplex on this gardenweb site, the plants database at usda, and NCSU plants database" to be able to identify a particular plant. Also, some of these sites (Dave's Garden is a good example) have a lot of errors that might throw you off even if you did find relating information. Using efloras is pretty easy once you go through it once. You just have to think of the entries as flowcharts. If you are interested in how to use it and need help, I'd be glad to answer questions. Basically, here's how it works: 1. Does the plant have characteristic A? If yes, go to 2. If not, go to 4. 2. Does the plant have characteristic B? If yes, the plant is Plant I. If not, go to 3. 3. Does the plant have characteristic C? If yes, the plant is Plant II. If not, it's Plant III. 4. Does the plant have characteristic D? If yes, it's Plant IV. If not, it's Plant V.