Yep, back home in Alabama for nearly a month now. This little green guy was the first butterfly I saw in my garden this year, although my first week back I found what I thought (hoped) were Eastern Black Swallowtail eggs on some fennel that survived the winter. If they were, they were most likely eaten because a few days later the eggs were gone and I never found any cats. I have seen a lot of Tiger Swallowtails around, but none in my yard. I have seen big, black butterflies in flight but I couldn't tell whether they were Tigers or Blacks. And I've seen a few Cabbage Whites and Eastern Tailed Blues. About the only things blooming in my yard are ground ivy and dandelions, so I don't blame the butterflies for not hanging around. Sue, I'll e-mail you a list of plants and seeds I have to trade. I think anything that grows here will also grow where you are, especially the ones that need dividing. Mexico was wonderful, but it's great to be back! geni

Sherry, These are the hardest to ID, almost as hard as skippers! Your photo matches the picture in Kaufman's guide. I think you nailed it! BTW, love all the pictures. sandy

These things are all cyclical and temperature dependent. We had a boom of parasitoids and predators this Spring due to the great year for bugs and butterflies last year. Someone mentioned birds. We had a spectacular spring with birds. Flocks of indigo buntings, many scarlet tanagers, etc. This is in response to all the bugs last year. So, combine that with the lousy wet and cold spring in the midwest, the drought in Texas and Florida and that makes for bad butterflying. One species always seems to do better than others. Many parasitoids and diseases are species specific. So, a few off years can lead to a boom. I think this is the case for Black Swallowtails. we were concerned with how few of them we saw two years ago. does anyone remember about four years ago when we had Zebra swallowtails out the wazoo? Then there were hardly any. However, now we are starting to see more as things equalize. All of those parasitoids cannot survive if few butterflies are around. Now we are starting to see things pick up. Hopefully, the folks in Texas and Florida will start getting some rain. That is what I worry about. -Elisabeth

The only one they've used in my yard (I'm south and west of Sandy in Oklahoma) is hibiscus coccineus (swamp hibiscus or Texas Star). The gray hairstreak uses it as a host plant, which is the only hairstreak I've seen in caterpillar form. I have other H. moscheutos cultivars, but have yet to find any on them. Also said to use Rose of Sharon, but have not "found" any on them. The host plant depends upon the hairstreak species. Susan