Miss Sherry...thank you for responding. Do hope your Florida trip went well :o) I thought for sure you'd have seen communal roosts...guess that's something we'll all be looking out for now :o) What species of aristolochia do you raise your cats on? Linda...the CBs were reared on a native shrub/tree called fern acacia. We've got gobs of it growing all over the ranch but I only saw caterpillars on the shrubs that were growing by the pond. Susan...those Goatweeds are vibrant! Have you tried putting out butterfly bait? They come quickly to that as well as most rotting fruit - they have a fondness for watermelon out here. Mboston...you are lucky! Do hope you'll be able to spot some Polydamas Swallowtails roosting together and share photos. I've only seen one Polydamas Swallowtail in my yard...and that was about two years ago. I have since planted aristolochia elegans and aristolochia fimbriata in the hopes of attracting them to my yard. Thanks ya'll for responding!!! ~ Cat ps...gotta look into buying a golf cart or ATV for the ranch...can't see much when I'm driving the xterra and I surely don't want to walk through the tall grass this time of year.

Yes, Sandy, pipevine swallowtail cats are messy, and they have that odor (their poop) that's unique to them. When each one empties its bowels before pupating, I just HAVE to clean out the cage, even if I just did it! But they're fun, very active - I love those 'tentacles' or whatever they are - and they're such gorgeous butterflies! I also saw tiger swallowtails, palamedes swallowtails, spicebush swallowtails, lots of different types of skippers including some cute common checkered skippers, sleepy oranges and cloudless sulphurs, a giant swallowtail, and a few gulf frits. This isn't the peak of the butterfly season, however. The peak is usually in October. By the way, you probably don't remember it, but last year I got a picture of a southern pearly eye close to the house. I dug up a small roadside cane - pearly eye host plant - and planted in the most suitable spot on my property. This year has been dry, and I've forgotten to water it when I should have, so I thought it would die, but it hasn't, it's even growing a little. The recent rains probably helped. One day, I'd love to raise some pearly eyes. If this cane will continue to grow and spread, that might happen. Sherry

Elisabeth, It's good that you mentioned that or I probably would have been hyperventilating over that one. ;-) It is good to know what to watch for. They will have paper towels under them to soak up the liquid. Susan, Now, how would you remember that I have been trying for PVSs? ;-) Yes, it took a few years, but they're finally here. Yay! I'm going to report them for my county because they haven't been reported here yet. I just love raising these! Yes, they are very gregarious...I just love it! The first one pupated yesterday and I expect a few more will today because they have their harnesses made. I think almost all of them will pupate within the next few days. Ha, I think I'd be there at the butterfly doctor right there with you. I noticed that too about the Question Marks. I didn't panic too much, just a little though. I guess it was this black that scared me because of people on here mentioning their cats making messes kind of like that and dying. I think this butterfly raising is making my hair turn gray even faster than it was before. Ha. Sandy, Yeah, they do sort of have a funky odor to them, huh. Oh, I can hardly wait to see the butterflies when they eclose! When I got my first butterfly guide and my daughter looked through it, she said the PVS was her favorite. That's when I decided that I wanted to try to get them here someday. Someone was kind enough to send me two plants. I think that was in 2007. They didn't grow much the first year, but wow, they went like gangbusters this year! I'm glad that they held off until this year because if I'd have had tons of eggs and hardly any pipevine, I don't know what I'd have done. I didn't find these as eggs but as small cats. I just hope that they weren't parasitized before I brought them in. I'd really be upset about that. I guess I just didn't think I'd be lucky enough to get eggs and wasn't keep an eagle eye on the vine, but when I walked past it one day, something brown caught my eye (actually, I guess they're a rust color) and sure enough, there they were! There was a dozen in that first bunch. Then I looked higher up and saw some more. I climbed the ladder and got those too. I counted 22 in that second group. Then the next day I found a few more groups up further. I really hate climbing ladders, but I just had to bring them in. I'm sure I had at least 60. I just haven't done a head count yet. Whenever I open up the containers, some try to escape and they can move fast, so I decided to just wait until they've all pupated and get a count then. I'll post pics on here when I have more time. Raising them is so much fun! Cathy

It takes a long time (or at least mine did) for A. tomentosa to 'volunteer' as my mother-in-law used to say. If you don't want the volunteers, you can either mow over them or pull them up (as Mary suggested), cut them and feed them to your pipevine swallowtail caterpillars elsewhere (I do this), or you can dig them up and baby them in a pot until they get settled, then, either give them to friends or plant them somewhere else in your own garden. My first PVS butterflies from this year's crop emerged this morning, both females. These came from caterpillars I got from Rick in Alabama. It's so windy, I hate to release them today, and tomorrow we're supposed to have big rain, so I'm trying to decide when to release them, a good problem! :) Sherry