I have found viceroy's on cottonwood tree. I wasn't sure at first if it was red-spotted purple or viceroy. But I have seen the viceroy laying eggs on the cottonwood tree since then. It is a small one growing in my bar-ditch in front of my house. If it was full grown I probably wouldn't notice. Hope

Yes, the narrow leaved Plantain that grows as a lawn weed up here seems to be a great host plant for the Baltimores in the area. However, just because you have the plant doesn't mean you'll get the butterfly. They seem to prefer open areas with some source of water, be in a marsh, poorly drained field, or adjacent pond. Perhaps because this is where the original host, turtlehead, is typically found. The use of Plantain as a host plant here in CT, could lead to the Baltimores expanding their range. My baltimore caterpillars fed readily on English plantain and Turtlehead, "Hot Lips." Although they overwintered last year and pupated and eclosed normally, I have yet to see evidence of a new generation, ie, eggs, cats or nest, in my yard this summer. Maryann

I ordered and planted some aster carolinias, hoping I'd get eggs/cats, but so far no takers. David Wagner, Mr. Caterpillar himself, says in his book that he's never seen a PC cat, even though PC adults are quite common where he is! If you think I post a lot of pictures now, wait until you see how many I post if I ever get PC cats! MissSherry

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