There are several websites that list butterfly larval hosts. A good one is www.butterfliesandmoths.org You can do a species search or narrow it down to your state or county and it will show you what leps can be found. That site lists a descriptive identification, life history, flight periods, wing span, caterpillars hosts, adult food, habitat and range. Another website is my local NABA (North American Butterfly Association) website. http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabast/index.html Click on the gardening link then the 'nectar and foodplants' link. From there you will see a .pdf list of butterfly plants and caterpillar food plants. Both are excellent reference sources that are geared for the lower Rio Grande Valley but we get about 320 species here most are the same as from other states so it will be a useful guide to print and keep handy. (I xeroxed and reduced the page size of this list and keep a copy of it inside my Kaufamn Focus Guide - Butterflies of North America) - That is also one of the best butterfly guide books on the market. Another good sight with photos and great larval lists is the Dallas Butterfly site. www.dallasbutterflies.com Click on the 'butterfly gardening' link on that one and you can see a list of Host Plants listed by Butterfly, Host Plants listed by Common Plant Name, Host Plants listed by Botanical Name and Nectar Plants listed by Botanical Name. Excellent printable resources indeed!!! Hope those help you out :o) ~ Cat

Yes, the Variegated Frits do use Passiflora incarnata, which is our native passion vine, in addition to various species of violets. You might want to try Aristolochia macrophylla, which is another pipevine species that is native to certain parts of the U.S. It has large leaves. Sunlight Nursery sells this plant. I would also recommend Aristolochia clematitis, but it is not a native to the US. Many of us grow it because it produces more tender foliage that the pipevines really love. It is not a vine, gets about 2' tall and spreads by underground runners. Not really invasive, though. You may need to google to find a source for it. It is a herbaceous, deciduous perennial, hardy in your zone. Hope this helps some. Susan

Thanks everybody, I appreciate the pointers. We moved everybody into the sun porch. I have a huge brass planter out there. It's about 2 feet high with a 24" diameter. I placed the plastic milk crate down inside of it. There was also plenty of room for several small tree brances with nylon screen covering the top to keep them inside. The cat that I'm concerned about was also moved there. Honestly, last night I thought for sure the big cat was dead. Well, this morning he was still moving around. I did put some tender leaves inside for him but he wasn't interested in them. I also misted a few leaves with water in case he was thirsty. Should I be concerned about that? I thought about putting him back on the tree. He's not as big as he was when he left the tree...he looks shorter. Anyway, for the past 2 or 3 hours, he's been in the same spot. Keep your fingers crossed! I wish that our lime tree was huge. Unfortunately, we just purchased it this year. It's less than 5 feet tall. The inverted wire basket is a great idea (thanks for the photo). I have a couple of them in the garage. I also have some plastic broadcloth. I use it in the pond to keep the fish away from my plants. Honey, honey hush, Texaxpuddyprint, I never would have thought of that one! I'll certainly give it a try. I know that I need a better place to keep my cats. I'd sure like to see some pictures of your cat/butterfly homes. Perhaps you know of a website that tells you how to build a good, safe place to raise your cats. I'll let you all know what happens with Mr. On-The-Move. Thanks again, everybody. B

I have only done VF's out of those, and they will use violets and johnny-jump-ups,violas, pansies, etc. I only see eggs laid on violas, etc. (I have violas, etc. outside, but the violet is potted inside until it is big enough to plant out), but I did a test this year as follows: I decided to test different VF host plants that I have heard of using, specifically; violas, violets (I believe this specific kind has blue(?) flowers), stonecrop (Sedum spurium), and (I believe) Broadleaf Plantain (Plantago major). I only used 2 cats, but the verdict was that 1 cat ate the violet when I put it on the leaf (I only put 1 cat on that sample), but the plantain and stonecrop were shunned when a cat was put on those leaves (I forget whether I used 1 or 2 cats each on them). I already knew that all VF's I had ate violas, as the eggs and cats were on them when I found them. -Jmcat