I made a big mistake showing my neighbor kids the cats on my rue. They were gone the next day, and I never knew if they made their chrysalises or got eaten by birds or what. Now, I have a bunch of eggs and babies hatching out daily. I just love looking at them multiple times a day. The kids were at our door this evening asking us to identify what they thought was a grasshopper. We think it was a katydid. They had containers with them, and wanted to look for caterpillars. I told them I watch them every day, and want to keep them on the plant. The parents walked over and wanted to visit about the flowers, then I saw the 4 year old girl swishing the rue leaves around looking for cats. I explained to the parents that I don't want them to take them. Hopefully they will leave them alone. When I went to look at them later, I didn't see the largest of them. I imagine it fell when she was swishing the leaves. Another neighbor girl, who is going into the 4th grade joined us, and told us there is a swallowtail on the butterfly bush, and proceeded to tell us a bunch of stuff she knows about butterflies and a number of other insects. The boy wanted to catch a bee, and she said it was mean. He said, "Well, you threw a rock at a butterfly." She said it's because she collects and mounts them for a science project. Maybe I'm going to have to have a visit with her parents. grrr. I told her not to catch butterflies in my yard. Who knows if any of them will respect my wishes. It's not just the birds that predate on the butterflies in my yard. Sue

Looking at that picture makes me soooo glad that I decided to do a lot more fennel this year. Last year was my granddaughter's first experience rearing Anise Swallowtail cats in her grade school classroom from cats she found in my yard. Now she is growing her own fennel to do it again this year. I love seeing kids get interested in the butterflies. I would like to start her on some Polyphemus moths too someday. Thanks again for that inspiring picture. What a master piece the butterfly is. Murray

Wow! That was one acrobatic gulf frit! I don't have any interesting stories, really, but I sure do raise a LOT of gulf frits! Right now I've got a very rare white gulf frit caterpillar - it's acting like it's about to pupate now. These white cats are supposed to make white-eyed adults - I'll see. Anyway, I've released nearly 100 gulf frits so far this year, plus I've got lots more on my vines and a lot more chrysalides about to emerge. They much prefer to lay their eggs on P. incarnata, but I've noticed them nectaring quite a bit lately on my (probable) 'Blue Bouquet'. Here's a recent picture of a typical cat - And here's a picture of my white cat - notice it's got blue legs and the typical orange head - Sherry

In the first pic, the caterpillar looks blue. They turn that color when they are getting ready to pupate. But the fact that the caterpillar did not attach itself to something first is weird. My suggestion is to place it in something with a smooth bottom. If it is going to pupate, it will be able to do it in there. I also suggest you cover the container with something. I suggest netting held on by a rubberband. This is because there is a chance something else besides a butterfly is going to emerge and you probably don't want a wasp flying around your house.