I had found a couple of eggs on one Hop Tree this past week, then another one a few days later. All Giant Swallowtail eggs...or so I thought. I checked a larger Hop Tree today and found 6 tiny cats. Two looked different than the Giants...dare I hope? I had noticed a large gorgeous butterfly flying by as I came back with the cats I collected today. Was it a Tiger or a Two-tailed Tiger? Perhaps the second one! I think I might have Two-tailed Tiger cats! And looking at the other three cats, one of them looks like a Two-tailed cat...that would make 3 of those. I've raised those before...one of my absolute favorites! And 6 GSTs! I've got just one Queen cat and the last one of the Monarch cats (all the others pupated). Every time I walk out in the yard I see butterflies all over...most of them are snout butterflies, but not all. Things are picking up around here!
I love Hop Trees!
Woohoo, sounds like a great find Linda!
~Sunny
Well, I've got 6 cats I've found that I think are Two-tailed Tiger Swallowtails. The best present I could get in the fall! Those make just the sweetest little cats. They take a long time to develop and then must overwinter as chrysalides.
Oh, the newspaper in San Antonio said that the peak migration period for Monarch migration is beginning in this area. And the front that's coming in this week should help them along, too. That should be fun! Lower temperatures and Monarchs, yea!