lovek9, how big are they? Are they close to morphing?
If so, just give them a few more leaves and put some sticks in a container for them to hang on, but they would hang on the top or sides of anything also
jolana

They are pretty dang big -- but the problem is that I don't want to release the butterflies in my yard -- unless I am clueless on the whole butterfly reproductive process :-) Wouldn't those BFs just lay more eggs, making yet more cats?

Hahahaha, instead of driving to give them away, go somewhere close and buy one they can eat, lol
Or take them to a nursery, LOL

I can hardly get the many pipevine plants I have big enough to bloom to collect seeds from to plant more because the Pipevine swallowtail cats eat them down to a nub so quickly.

Actually that's okay with me, because it's why I planted them, but sometimes there are not enough leaves there to see them through to the pupating stage. Same with my little volunteer native passion vine and the Gulf fritillaries.

There is the Tropical giant pipevine that the more common Pipevine swallowtails will not eat although they will lay eggs on them (which I try to move to the tomentosa pipevine, the one with white veins.) There is a related butterfly that will use the Tropical giant, the Polydamas swallowtail but; they are not as common, at least not around my place.

The giant tropical dies back in winter, but grows back fast in spring. I got it at Rainbow Gardens in San Antonio. Here is a picture of the foliage and the link shows the flowers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tropical giant pipevine flowers

Wow that's gorgeous! I'm TRYING to attract butterflies!!! Just goes to show ya!PJ

Well, I went to Shoal Creek nursery here in Austin today (my last day off for 5 days -- so I will be picking cats with a flashlight this week) and bought two more PF vines and a Black Eyed Susan vine (don't you always leave with something you had no intention of buying?)I will be extremely diligent about picking the cats of off these tiny new ones, so that they can get established before too much damage occurs. That still leaves the question of what to do with the 9,000 cats I will have within a week :-) The guy at the nursery said that they also eat Grape Muscari vine (spelling?), I might take a walk on the green belt to see if I can find any growing wild. He also tried to sell me some stuff to kill them, but that doesn't seem fair. (What a quandary I'm in!)

pjtex, are you anywhere near my area?

My other thought is to plant another type of vine right next to the PFs that are not attractive to cats, so that it can do the job of helping to create some privacy in the yard until the cats get under control.

Lovek9, that was so sweet of you. If you are near a greenbelt, I bet you will find the grape. If not once you get the brunt of them, it will be easier.

lovek9,
You're in zone 9 so I doubt it. I'm in Benbrook (suburb Fort Worth)PJ

Is the Grape Muscari vine the one that grows wild in Texas??? There is one right across the fence in my neighbor's yard. I'm going to look and see if there are any cats on it.

lovek9, I just relocated about 50 cats from one of my beloved passion vines to one that I care less about. Now, I am trying to shoo the butterflies away to go lay their eggs on the "other" passi -----LOL. Not having a great deal of luck, I might add.

I've never seen or heard of any Gulf Fritillary cats using grapevines. We have lots of wild grapevines around here. I've seen them on wild passiflora foetida plants...but those are not real common in the wild. Then there is the wild P. lutea and P. affinis...they will use those plants. In my yard, with lots of passie vines, the GF population is booming. I've had these vines for many years...and I just don't worry about the vines that are eaten down...I have more. Wish I was close to you...I'd take some.

I was hoping to have a vine nearby to move cats to but there must have been a mixup. I don't see any grapevine listed as a larva food in the book "Butterfly Gardening for the South" by Geyata Ajilvsgi or on the FAQ section of the GW Butterfly Forum. Oh well ...

Here is a link that might be useful: Host plants for caterpillars

I hadn't either but being the gullible one again, I thought the nursery people knew moe than me, HA

I need to get more plants for the Gulf Frits and the Pipevine Swallowtails. I'll take this list from the FAQ section with me.

All I have now is the Aristolochia fimbriata - white-veined Duchman's pipe for the Pipevine Swallowtails and the Passiflora lutea - yellow passionflower for the Gulf Frits.

Neither has a chance to get large enough to support many cats. I had faster growing Passiflora caerulea - blue passionflower for a couple of years, but it died over the winter and I don't know why.

PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL
- Pipevine family, Aristolochia

1. Aristolochia macrophylla - big leaf pipevine
2. Aristolochia tomentosa - woolly pipevine
3. Aristolochia serpentaria - Virginia snakeroot
4. Aristolochia californica - California pipevine
5. Aristolochia fimbriata - white-veined Duchman's pipe

GULF FRITILLARY
- Passionvine family, passifloraceae

1. Passiflora incarnata - maypop
2. Passiflora suberosa - corky stemmed passionvine
3. Passiflora lutea - yellow passionflower
4. Passiflora alto - 'Amethyst'/'Lavender Lady'/'Star of Mikan'
5. Passiflora caerulea - blue passionflower

Roselee, I have an Passi incense I can send you
I'd like to know why your blue died, it's always been one of my hardiest

Jolana, I would like to know why it died too! It was large and had wound up from a trellis into a Kidneywood tree. For now I'm blaming it on so much rain.

Also you have mail IF it goes though using "My Page" -- often it doesn't. I tried to send myself an email through it and never got it.

My email is RAGNAA@aol.com

Well, we'll get you this one and when I get another baby blue, you can have that

I'm glad I didn't find any grape vine to move my cats to -- I was going on the advice of a guy who works at a very nice nursery here in Austin, but I guess anyone can be wrong. In any event, the cat population seems to have slowed down a little, but the butterflies are all around the yard, so I guess new ones will be coming soon. Maybe the slight respite will give my vines a chance to rebound a little. Now some little furry caterpillars are eating my Virginia Creeper -- I need to figure out to use my digital camera in such way that the picture isn't huge. The whole cat thing was a good excuse to buy a black eyed susan vine, since I've never had a problem with anything eating those. :-)