Hi, I hope someone can help me. I found a couple of Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars on a plant that is not a chelone. Later I found a smaller caterpillar on a different plant. I will post a picture later. I posted over on Native Plants forum. I'll link to that post with the photos so that I don't have to do the whole thing over again. Thank you in advance! http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/natives/msg0515523528206.html Here is a link that might be useful: Post about Balt Checkerspot cat host plant

Mary Ann, What a small world! Yes, we live an hour away from Bloomsburg, and that's where our daughter goes to college! Yes, they probably do have a lot of deer in that area. Of course, there are lots of places in our state with deer, I think. I was happy to see those five a few days ago because we don't usually get to see that many and it's not like they're here a whole lot. Oh goodness, if plantain is that invasive, I'm not sure if I want it. Actually, there is some kind of plantain in our yard. Would that be the same one? The thing is, since it's in our yard, it gets mowed down when the lawn gets mowed. I guess the BCs wouldn't come to our yard right here on this side of the road because it's not a marshy environment. I'm not even sure if they would go down in the field where I plan on planting the chelone. It's a damp area, but I wouldn't exactly call it a marsh. Right now it would be real soggy and you'd be having the mud suck the shoes off your feet if you tried to walk in there, but about June it's probably dry enough to walk in. So I'm really not sure if I can attract them to this small field or not. I also want to plant Swamp Milkweed there for the Monarchs if it comes up for me. That would be awful if the deer eat my chelone. I really want to get BCs here if it's a possibility. and have enough to feed them. The deer have so many other things that they can eat, like grass for one. Plenty of that around! Jeff, I wish the deer would leave the plants alone and go eat something that the butterfly cats don't like. Yes, that would be a good idea to put it inside fencing. If I could, I would. Can you plant chelone on your own land or are you trying to establish it elsewhere? I think that's nice that you're doing that.

Thanks for thinking of me as the resident BC "expert." Unfortunately, the only host plant I used for raising my BCs was english plantain. That is the host that they've adapted to here in the Northeast. And it's a good thing too because the high deer population has really decimated the wild turtlehead. Funny that this topic should come up. Saturday I went up scope out the place where I originally saw the Baltimore colony in 2006. I saw plenty of plantain, but no evidence of caterpillars. I hope I just missed them, but in 2006, there were nests literally everywhere. I went there with a student of Dave Wagner who's doing her thesis on Baltimore Checkerspots and their parasitism rates. She's trying to learn if their choice of host plant affords them some defense against predation and parasitism. Unfortunately, we found no caterpillars, but we'll keep in touch and I learned a lot of interesting info from a very smart young lady. Mona Miller from the Baltimore area has done a lot of work hoping to repopulate them there. Chelone does like moisture but plantain will grow in dry areas. This has helped somewhat to spead the range of BCs to dryer areas. Maryann

Nice photo Jeff! I am slowly working on a project here with them. However, there is permits involved, LOL! I was talking with someone out of state who also works with them and said that you can tell the difference between males and females. He said the female markings were not quite as crisp. Do you notice that? -Elisabeth