I see ants all the time on my passion vine, but they don't seem to bother the cats. Didn't someone once write on here that they had some kind of symbiotic relationship? I thought I heard that the ants defend the cats or something. I've seen ants crawl right past the cats and not care. But I do notice that the cats tend to stay near the tips of the vine while the ants stay on the main part.
Still pondering the spraying thing. I know my county sprays for mosquitos, not that I can tell. They still manage to land on me every day. I'm not sure if it's a seasonal thing or what, but you could probably call them and ask. I remember all the controversy when they were spraying malathion from the planes many years ago during that Medfly scare. I was pretty young at the time, but I'm sure now I'd be one of those people protesting.
Melanie
Passion vine
Now that's an interesting idea Becky! I've never thought about a scent that the cats might put out. (didn't know that about bees either) The females do have a hormone (pharmone?) that attracts those males. I knew that GF males waited nearby but I just learned recently that the LW's are notorious for mating with the female before she even fully ecloses!! Geez!
Last year I actually didn't see as many GF's as previous years. I occassionally found a cat on the vine and a couple of chrysalises, so a few survived, but the majority of the time it was empty other than spiders, assassin bugs and red wasps.
My vine is on a fence that gets very strong north winds. The GF's like to lay their eggs on the new growth tips, aren't strong fliers or a very good aim, so maybe the wind deters them? The neighbor's vine is sheltered from that same wind by a wall and is covered with cats. Just another thought...