I just had a gorgeous PVS eclose today. I had some PVS that remained in diapause for OVER a year! Yep, these are known in my house as the freeloaders...I have never been able to determine WHEN they are going to eclose, Edna. This morning I separated out my little babies into small, medium, and large. One little guy was stinking me out, which had me giggling away. I am looking forward to taking the one cup that I've had at school with the four little ones that are busy eating and pooping...and having, hopefully, one 'stink out' Alexander, tomorrow! :) Am I a mean teacher or what? tee-hee! The kids are all hoping to see the osmeterium so let's hope they do the stinky thing... IF I can get around to it (I am really busy getting ready to do a parent training in math, babysitting the mother-in-law, and staying COOL as it is currently 98-degrees at 2:10 p.m.) I will take some new pics and add some new data to my butterfly guide blog.

Duh, I shudda know that. Those skipper cats are indeed cuties. I think I get the Tigers cause of the Cottonwood that we discussed earlier. They seem to like flying in among the trees - never see them out front, just in the backyard where I am surrounded by trees. My clematitis is in my backyard with shade, too, but it seems to be spreading. I wish I had know that pinching them would help a bit earlier in the season - I'd probably have some really full plants by now. I think I have seedlings of Amorpha canadense if I can find them.........sigh. My seedlings of Illinois Bundleflower are coming up! I forgot and left the packet in the fridge and when I got it out, I just planted a few in some pots around the garden. I hope they grow and I can "scoop" them out of the pots and plant them elsewhere. This plant's blooms remind me of button bush and it is supposed to be a real butterfly attractor. I am just in love with the Sleepy Oranges right now. I find joy in seeing their little velvety bodies on the sennas! I went out early today, after the rain stopped to lightly shake the water off the leaves - wanted to make sure they didn't drown! What they lack in color, they make up for in that velvety texture. Well, my QMs made their chrysalises today, so good thing I got a pic of the cats yesterday! I've got to call Edith this weekend to see if I can deliver the PV cats to her. Thanks so much for hooking me up with her. BTW, I mentioned the lack of PV at the zoo and she was going to take them some clematitis. Susan

From the looks of things, I think a spider may've gotten at least one of them. I know birds tend to avoid them because of the toxins they ingest, but we've had a population boom of various spiders here lately (mostly wolf spiders and other wandering kinds) and I suspect a couple of the cats made a nice dinner for one. I'm really looking forward to them getting bigger. The PVS are (at least IMHO) one of the most striking cats of the swallowtail species. I'll probably leave any more that I find on the vine, but I wanted these so I could show my friends' kids the butterfly life cycle.

It had hardened when I checked this morning, but it just looks so strange - like it's levitating! LOL! I've never seen anything like that before. I am going to have to move it MissSherry. I usually pull up the silk and tape it to the windowsill where the chrysalis can hang properly. People I'm sure think it's weird to see lines of chrysalis's on the top of my windowsill! LOL! Gwynne, sometimes when they fall, it does damage them internally, but then again, sometimes it doesn't. I hope your BST is okay! Thanks for the information everyone! Susan