Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: DAILY BUTTERFLIES page 8, 1 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
Lucy, it's getting so bad I'm trying to ID butterflies as I'm driving. Mostly on the back roads in my suburb where I drive slow, but yesterday on the interstate I had a few fly right in front of me.

I went outside today and got a picture of my Gulf Frit caterpillars. They're very small and I have a hard time holding still so the picture could be better. I felt kind of bad for them because it rained really hard today. Mom said we even had small hail! How ice can form when it's sooo hot outside is beyond me. One of these days I'll build a little butterfly house, but for now it's sink or swim in my garden. Besides, I'm leaving for vacation on Saturday so I wouldn't be here to care for them anyway.

Questions for the experts...the place where my caterpillars are is pretty protected. The wasps don't come near that area, but I do have a lot of ants that climb up and down the fence. Will they bother the cats? They're large ants that live in my oak tree. The bird feeder is at the extreme opposite corner of the yard so I don't fear birds too much, but are there any other predators I should be concerned with?