I guess I have to "import" the Gulf Fritillaries

I grabbed 20+ GF cats from school about a week ago. They completely devoured the lone Passion vine that we had, so the cats ran out of food. I was collecting them as I could find them and brought them home with me. My side fence is already covered in Maypop/Passion vines and I've rarely seen any GFs this Spring in my yard.

The caged GF cats chowed down on MY nice, healthy, green, tasty Passion vine leaves and morphed into chrysalises. I have 21 with one cat still to go. And it looks like I am going to have to prune the dang PV. Now that beats it all!!! Where are all the GF cats that should be on these vines???? Not a clue, but you can bet I will be watching for cats after I release all the butterflies into my yard.

This sure has me stumped. I haven't seen any Zebra Longwings yet either. Rather perplexing, if I might say so. It really gets me .... that I have to prune those vines already and it isn't even summer. (sigh) What a waste of good host leaves. (sheesh!)

Welcome back Becky!!!! It's a little quiet without you : ]
I'm waiting for GFs to feed on my PV, haven't seen any yet.
That's a nice big group you have there!

I am having the same thing with my Maypop, no action!! I have GF come around but I search and search and can't see their eggs, cats, or chrystallis anywhere on my PV.

Thanks, Rox! I've been lurking. Been a bit overwhelmed lately. Can't wait for school to be out for the summer. Found out that they are moving us to another classroom for next year. (Which is a flipping nightmare to pack up all the stuff in our room..... AGAIN!) We've been doing a little each day. We've had to pack our room the past two years because of hurricane damage and then the A/C and ceiling tiles had to be replaced. I am really done moving!!!!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhh......... It's very interesting packing during school hours. The students just take it all in stride. LOL! I think they've gotten used to seeing boxes stacked up in the room every May. (sigh)

As for the GFs, I am hoping at least one or two of them stick around and use up some of my passion vines after they emerge and mate. Not sure why I haven't had hardly any in my yard. We had tons of them at the school which is just a few miles from where I live. Go figure. Maybe the butterflies like being around children. :-) We've had all kinds of butterflies in our school garden this month!

But ..... now that we are moving to a different classroom and building .... we will have to start a whole new butterfly garden. Luckily, the teacher I work with won a Teacher of the Year award and received money for our class, so we will have the funds! Yay! I will probably start some seeds in pots for the new garden. And we have already been talking about what "new" host plants to try! We want some new butterflies to grace our school! :-) So I shall be using up my seeds this summer! ;-)

Congrats!!!

Just curious...isn't it too early to prune your passion vine? The fall months are our peak butterfly season.

I haven't had very many GF in my yard this year either...but I did see a couple of 4th or 5th instar cats on my pv...perhaps it's just too hot here...but at least the reprieve gives my vine time to recuperate each year.

~ Cat

Cat - I really don't think it's the heat. I had a lot of GF last year during the dog days of summer. And believe me ..... it gets very hot here!

I have to prune my PV because they are HUGE again ...... even after pruning them back to the ground a couple months ago. I don't know about the rest of you ..... but the leaves on my vines are about the size of a man's hand! Seriously! They are LARGE leaves and the vine seems to grow 4-6 inches overnight. I am not doing anything to these vines. Not even fertilizing them. If some GF would come, they could raise several generations here in my backyard and still have PV left! I am serious! It's frustrating!!! :-/ (I feel the same way about the hummers too! I have plenty of nectar plants that they would like, but nary a single bird in sight! lol)

This is a photo taken the last day of March. It is twice as thick now. These vines were pruned to the ground in early February.

Becky,

Whoa...that is huge...looks very much like one I have here that literally takes over the west side of the house...but alas, no frits or longwings have ever used it.

What kind is your...the leaves and their size look so much like mine...and yes, he leaves on this one grow bigger than my hand too. They are very thick too. The trunk is about 2 or 3 inches in diameter and I've only had it a couple of years. Have to drastically prune it down each year...and have seriously thinking of digging it out and taking it to the ranch since the butterflies haven't used it...but am giving it one more fall season.

Guess if you have to prune yours you can always toss all the cuttings on the ground and throw some soil on top of them and pray for some of those 'come what may, let's hope they root' cuttings :o)

I know it pained me to cut mine back and waste so many good cuttings but they were just too many to deal with.

~ Cat

this is a photo of the blooms from mine...

This message was edited May 27, 2007 6:52 AM

Cat - My vines had lots of GF cats last year. Very few this year. This may sound crazy, but I am wondering if my watering it more this year might have something to do with the lack of GF. That is the only thing that has changed from last year. My vines are only a little over a year old. I grew them from seed in the winter of 2006. They have yet to get flowers. I was told they usually don't flower until the second year. So we'll see. They were called Maypop seeds. I was given a piece of fruit that had about 12 seeds in it. All but one seed sprouted. The vines were all planted along the inside of my two side fences in the backyard. The leaves are very thin, not thick at all. Kind of like Hibiscus leaves in texture. And as you can see, the established ones are ridiculously huge. I have to trim them back when these vines get too long .... which probably reduces the chance of flowers. But oh well .... they are monsters! So very lush and pretty! I do like these vines even without any flowers! But I would appreciate some cats on them to keep them pruned naturally. It bothers me to have to cut off perfectly good vines!!! They wilt very quickly once cut. I was wondering if I could freeze the leaves. LOL! I heard you could do that with Milkweed. LOL! Pack some freezer ziploc bags with leaves and freeze them for later. Sounds like a plan!!! LOL!

Do you think that the lack of flowers may be why they are going unoticed. Maybe they are drawn to the vines by the scent of the flowers? My vine is in heavy shade and doesn't flower too much. I know it would do so much better in a sunny spot, but too late to move it now.

Sheila - No, I don't think it has anything to do with the blooms. The one we have at the school never bloomed either. There is nothing left of it .... the GF cats ate it to the ground and it was also very lush and thick for just a single vine.

None of mine have ever bloomed. But I do know that full sun is the key for GF and partial shade is the key for Zebra Longwings. I saw that kind of activity last year. Though I never got any ZLW cats. But I had tons of GF cats on these same vines. I am wondering if there are predators I am not seeing who are eating the small cats. The more plants I have in my yard, the more predators. I am going nuts over the Milkweed bugs! They are everywhere. They are literally killing my plants. They must have some kind of mw herbicide in them that is actually causing my mw to wilt and die. I have never seen that happen before. I guess I am going to have to break down and spray all my plants with insecticide soap. I didn't want to do that because I have seen some Monarchs laying eggs on many of the plants. But the mw bugs are outta control now. Grrrrrrrrrrrr .....................!

This message was edited May 27, 2007 7:20 AM

I would go out everyday last year and go on a MW bug hunt. I kept a glass of soapy water in the garden and just thumped them off of the branches into the water, works great!

If you do end up pruning the pv Becky, stuff a bunch in an envie and ship em to me. I will try to root them.. My pv is getting devoured.. now 1/4 is almost bare. I'm still in good shape, yeah! I'm just a pv junkie I guess with all these customers I am getting.
Nice brood you have there girl! 21, very nice!!
:-D

Deb - Do you think the vine stems would survive time and transport in the mail? If so, I would be more than glad to ship to anyone who wants some. :-)

I think so, just cut them from the tip (tender new growth), about 12". I will trim them down when they arrive, so they will have fresh cuts. Won't hurt to try. Curl them in a box, and put the cut ends in wet paper towel in a baggie.


:-D

Hi Becky-
Sorry about your classroom! That is a nightmare!! Your Passion sounds like a dream...my Maypop doesn't grow like that at all! I've researched the shipping thing (cause I have that Corky that has to go to you this week) Do you have any Oasis? The floral foam? Thats good in a baggie with a rubber band around it. Then just ship it. I'll be sending yours out Tuesday that way and I'll probably send it overnight! I hope it's ok.

~Adrienne

Becky!
Sorry...I forgot to say...21!! Holy cow girlee!!

~Adrienne

I am so glad to know I am not the only person having any GFs this year. They are no where to be seen. There are worlds of Varitaged ones around. Right now the only swallowtail I am seeing is the Eastern Black. I wish I knew where the big guys were.

I was outside checking on my plants and found hundreds of these bugs eating my passion vines...they hit the one over my front walkway arch which is the one the GF always strip...and these bugs even hit the p. foetida! UGH!!! I didn't see any GF eggs or cats although I saw some big instars last week.

Oh well, hated to do it but had to soap down the vines. Any suggestions on how to kill these bugs? Will rinse off the vines in a few more minutes.

~ Cat

Hate to chime in and say, I don't have a difinitive answer for you Cat, that's just aweful!! How many camelians can you set loose on the vine? Are there any number of amphibians like that there that could eat the bugs for ya? Don't know what I'd do.

I know that Green Mama's uses Green Light Rose Defense when a plant needs to be treated for mold and some insects.. Guess they wash it off after the plant heals, so it can be used safely as a host plant. There are things to wash chemicals off after treating. I might end up buying a case of LOC from some Amway distributor. It is non toxic, organic and works as a surfactant to completely wash away any residues.
I haven't any extensive experience with killing bugs on the level you have yet though... Just thinking out loud.

What does 'bug' me is those sharp shooters.. If they are allowed to sling on the plant stems they spread diseases and viruses.. They like my many Hibiscus bushes. Might have to head them off at the pass this year, I've already seen a few of them.

:-D

Oh well, no need to wash off the soap. It is pouring outside. Woohoo!!! We needed the rain...hope it kills all those dratted bugs. I already moved my potted rue plants to the back porch to keep the BST cats safe :o)

~ Cat

I'll keep my eyes crossed for ya Cat..


:-

Cat - It looks like some sort of beetle. I have an invasion of beetles that eat my Bat Face Cupea plant. And it ate my cigar plant to the ground last year and killed it. Sort of like the Milkweed bugs. I think it's time to do the insecticidal soap squirt and wash. Can't do the bucket of death like Sheila does. I have way too many of them! And I can't reach all my mw without stepping on other plants. :-(

I sure wish those annoying wasps would eat those beetle bugs instead of my cats!!!! Wouldn't that be just peachy perfect?!!!! LOL!

Is it this guy Cat?

http://images.ask.com/fr?q=Striped+Cucumber+Beetle+pics&desturi=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lane-ag.org%2FOSU%2Fentomology%2FImages%2Fstriped%2520cucumber%2520beetle.htm&fm=i&ac=17&ftURI=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.ask.com%2Ffr%3Fq%3DStriped%2BCucumber%2BBeetle%2Bpics%26desturi%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.lane-ag.org%252FOSU%252Fentomology%252FImages%252Fstriped%252520cucumber%252520beetle.htm%26imagesrc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.lane-ag.org%252FOSU%252Fentomology%252Fimages%252FStriped_Cucumber_Beetle.jpg%26thumbsrc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252F65.214.37.88%252Fts%253Ft%253D10129062455884576197%26thumbuselocalisedstatic%3Dfalse%26fn%3DStriped_Cucumber_Beetle.jpg%26imagewidth%3D297%26imageheight%3D294%26fs%3D12%26ft%3Djpg%26f%3D2%26fm%3Di%26ftbURI%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ask.com%252Fweb%253Fq%253DStriped%252BCucumber%252BBeetle%252Bpics%2526page%253D1&qt=0

Thanks Deb...your reply on the Butterfly Smuggler post led me to this one.

It's a Passiflora Flea Beetle.
http://www.texasento.net/glabrata.htm

Will email Mike to ask him how to get rid of them without harming my plants or any present and furture frillaries.

I started a separate thread on it.

~ Cat

OMG You guys, I am inundated with GF's! I have 3 constance elliots, 1 blue bouquet, and 1 lavender lady- all completely decimated by the cats. GF's are the one butterfly in large supply around here, it's amazing how quickly these large vines disappear :( They seem to take a large part of the summer off around here (too hot I'm thinking) so that's a relief for the plants at least.

Our GFs are nowhere to be seen this year either. I have 3 pf vines that I planted and not an egg in sight. We were overrun with them last year. I think it's the weird, late, cold and wet spring we had. I bet once the rain stops for a good while adn the heat of summer really bakes in, they'll be back. My fingers are crossed anyway.

Same here...the GFs are scarce...eventhough I have seen a couple of butterflies...no sign of caterpillars anymore. I won't fret though...I know come the Fall season I will be overrun by them!

~ Cat

FYI Ladies,
Just had a Frit buzz through and she laid 5 eggs for me! Yay!

Adrienne

I collected about 10 chrysalids the last 2 days, and caught 4 crawling off to pupate, so I captured them in a critter cage til they pupate and I can hang them with the other 10 in the box. More coming right along. The vine is still pretty heavy with cats of all sizes... Getting close to half eaten too.

Here is a section of vine, showing how populated it is getting.. Yikes! Might have to cover it in a few weeks..


Deb

WOW!! That's awesome...unless you're the passion vine of course!

LOL greenie! I think the Passionvine likes having the frits.. They give it more purpose than just looking pretty..(A passionate purpose). Plus the little fellas leave a lot of fertilizer and it grows back in a flash!

Deb

Deb - I'm glad to see someone's PV is getting used as a host plant. Mine looks beautiful, but no cats! When I get ready to prune it back, I'll let ya know. :-)

Hey Debnes, I have a heavy foliage going on my vines, and not one cat have I seen. If you need to relocate a few, or come harvest some of my vine please don't hesitate. It is growing up into my neighbors Crepe Myrtle trees now.
I am off this week, go back to work Monday, so just give me a call before you come my way.

Thank you Sheila!
What a great offer...I will see what i can collect tomorrow and give you a call.

:-D

Deb - That was soooo nice of you to share a bunch of your cats with Sheila! She's going to have lots of orange butterflies soon! What a friend you are!!!

I've been releasing 2-3 a day now. The butterflies are emerging one after another. And they sure are happy to be free. They don't seem to be the most intelligent of the butterfly world ..... when I try to release them .... they fly right back at me and one got caught in my hair today! What was it thinking???!!! Dumb move!

I hope they stick around and mate and use my vines as a host plant. The vines are outta control. Once I get out of school for the summer, I'll be pruning the vines back. I'll send ya some cuttings that you can try to root, okay?

Sounds splindid Becky!!
This actually turned out to be something we can all do. Sheila did me a huge favor making a home for them. Furthermore, the scent of the GFs will be established, and all the passers by will find her real easy now.
Because of our associations here at DG we can solve most any (would be) problem. It was a perfect solution. Sheila is a lifesaver! Thanks back to you Sheila!! We loved the visit!

;-Deb

I enjoyed the visit too Debnes!
I will definately enjoy having the pleasure of seeing them all flying around the area. Hopefully as Deb's son Ben said " some of them may mate and lay more eggs!" He was such a big help in getting them all to attach to the new vine. I went out before sundown last night and counted at least 26 still on the vines munching away! We didn't count how many were transferred, but at least 30 for sure. That will be helpful to let Deb's vine re-coop. Also I will look forward to future cats there.

Debnes, maybe you can help me. I have 4 bst cats in their cat condo and i cannot keep them fed!! My gosh, they have gone through 5 dill plants and 2 parsley plants in less than a week! Now I'm taking cuttings from my herb garden but it's relatively new so I don't have very much. They already ate all the dill out of it so all I have left for them is parsley. They are really, really fat and we've had them over a week now. Any idea how much longer they'll eat before forming their chrysalis? I can run to lowe's and get a couple more plants if I need to. Boy, they sure go to the bathroom a lot. My monarchs were almost ready to 'J' by the time I found them so I didn't have that experience with them (eating) except to notice my milkweeds were nothing but stems. =) I don't mind continuing to feed them of course - I just had no idea how much they could eat!!

Hi Greenie I was writing your answer and decided to make a thread on Q & A Hosting and Rearing Butterflies. I have to find the url. LOL! . will post there.

Deb

edited to redirect the BST question to a new thread>

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/729602/

This message was edited Jun 1, 2007 12:42 PM