Hi!! new to posting here, but I am sharing your frustration over GSTs. I just ordered 3 more from Shady Oaks, and two bit it by the time I got up this morning. I thought maybe a tiny spider was getting the one itty bitty, but I couldnt see too well, but it may have been another cat I saw balled up over him. Thinking it was a spider, I swatted it away. So I have one lone cat left, just like last time. The last one got really big, and I guess he finally wandered off to pupate. But he sure didnt move much. So I will watch the one ittbitty. I did get some really huge PVSTs. I have never seen one! I really hope they pupate alright. And after being so sad over not getting any BSTs on my very lush fennel, I ordered some along with this order, and presto! new hatched cats! Oh and GF when just hatched look like short little yellow strings. Then they get red. I watch them munching out my kitchen window.The funny thing also is my mom thought I was insane when I started getting into this, so that my then 5 yo son could see the lifecycle, after awhile, and taking her to Shady oaks for the tour, she absolutley loves it too now. This is addictive. They're like my little babies!!--Traci

Hey everyone, there are actually 2 very very simular looking caterpillars and they both feed on Hackberry..: the first one is the TAWNY EMPEROR caterpillar: it is mostly green and has 2 wide yellow stripes on its uppersides and straight yellow bands on its lower sides.The adult has a wingspan of about 2.5 inches. the second one is the HACKBERRY BUTTERFLY caterpillar:it looks very much like the first one mentioned,but this one has yellowish V-markings along the sides,the narrow bands on upper sides are more narrow.The knobs on the head are usually longer than the ones from the Tawny Emperor. This Butterfly is with his 2 inches wingspan a lil smaller than the T.E. and also the colors are a lil lighter. The Hackberry Butterfly is more common.. Butterfly-Greetings Susanne(SUE) Hackberry Butterfly: http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg284.html Here is a link that might be useful: Tawny Emperor

Hi Connie, You can dispose of the eggs any way you choose. There's really no wrong way as long as you get rid of them. You can squish them right there on the leaf, although I wouldn't do this if I weren't wearing disposable latex gloves. You can carry a bowl of soapy water out to the garden with you and scrape the eggs off the leaf and into the bowl using your fingernail, a dull butter knife, the edge of a trowel, etc. Even after they've been dumped into the soapy water, I'd pour them down the drain or flush them down just to ensure they don't hatch somewhere and make their way to the garden. You can remove the whole leaf if you want, put it into a tightly sealed bag and put it into the trash. You can tear off just the portion of the leaf that has the eggs on it, put it into a bag, seal it and throw it away. The main thing is to get rid of them and to get rid of them in such a way that they can't hatch somewhere....like in a trash can or whatever....and make their way to your garden. Dawn

Not an egg - a pupa. Could be a caterpillar...which may become a moth. See link below...guy thinks it might be a Gray Archips Moth. Here is a link that might be useful: Pupa within leaf shelter