Hi. After this long it's not going to expand its wings fully I don't think. In most species the expanding process only takes a short time, they discard the fuids and set to drying the wings. There are lots of reaseons why an adult might fail to fully pump its wings, so you may not have done anything wrong. Might have carried an infection over from the cat stage (strong possibility as you mentioned mortality of the cats and pupae dying); might have ruptured a wing vien while trying to get out of the pupal case; might have been disrupted while trying to expand and stopped short; might have "perched" to expand too close to something that didn't let them unfold completely; may not have been enough humidity (also a strong reason for pupae desiccating/dying); etc, and the list goes on. Happens all the time in nature, so don't let it get you down and just keep trying. HTH (for misssherry - that's "hope this helps") ;-) L.

They are indeed beautiful! I still remember the first time I saw one and it was now many years ago because it was the first or second year into the butterfly gardening. I am sorry to say though that the pics I took were very blurry. I was in a hurry because i was afraid it would take off and the only thing about the shots is that they at least prove that it was a GF. I didn't see it again today but it might have been out there anyway because it was sooo hot outside that I couldn't take it myself. I heard a little girl walking by say to her mother, "Mommy, there are a ton of butterflies here." I was very happy to hear that. Murray

My gulf frit chrsyalids turn dark and die in the winter even without being parasitized. Oddly, they WILL overwinter as caterpillars - it happened a few years ago. I've still got lots of cats outside - if we have a real mild winter like we did then, maybe some of these or others to come will overwinter. I've already found a black, dead-looking chrysalis in one of my cages - we've had an early cold front, and it's been going down into the mid-forties at night, so I guess that was enough to do the chrsyalids in. The usual process is for gulf frit cats and/or chrysalids to die off completely and repopulate each year from the tropical areas to the south of here. MissSherry

Thanks Tom! I've been an avid sports and portrait photographer for 40 years and really want to spend more time photographing nature. I would love to see some pics from you of your butterflies :) Sherry posts some gorgeous ones. Other than the frits, this has probably been the best butterfly year for me as well. I haven't seen a monarch in my yard here a few years other the occasional migrating one even though I have always grown milkweed. In Ohio, I had them all summer. It probably doesn't help that I live in a rural farming area where I assume they use fertilizers and pesticides :( It sounds as if you and Sherry have butterfly havens. When I moved to Florida 8 years ago, instead of learning by reading and attending extension agent classes, I made the mistake of planting/replanting through trial and error. I was so excited to try new plants that I couldn't grow in Ohio and I also brought some plants from Ohio that I loved that perished in the heat and humidity here. And unfortunately the result is a mish-mash of plants. I have ripped out most non-natives and planted more native and if they're not native, they must serve a purpose as a host or nectar plant. My goal is to retire in 7 years (earlier if I can make that happen) and rip everything out and start over. Right now, I work 50 hours per week and over extend myself. So, my garden suffers. For example, this weekend I have to make great dents in completing a quilt for my nephew and his wife for the birth of their first born coming the end of September (a quilt that started as just a baby quilt has grown into a much larger keepsake). I also need to finish editing my niece's senior pictures (kids these days don't want just simple headshots and want fancy effects). I also had hoped to work in the yard planting more bottlebrush, several lantanas and a few others but Hermine didn't help. We were very lucky compared to others, so I can't complain too much. We didn't have electric for an entire day, so I lost a day to work on the quilt and senior pics. So, I thought I had the perfect opportunity to work outside and at least clean up debris and try to cut up a tree that fell. But then I remembered that we have well water which uses a pump, so after I got all hot and sweaty I wouldn't be able to shower. I'm glad to hear that your garden has matured and you're reaping the benefits and that you're healthy enough to work in the yard and enjoy it. As far as being mature, my body may eventually say it's mature but mentally, I'll consider it when I reach 85 or so....maybe :) Rhonda