Very cool photos, Sherry!!! I think it's amazing that the GS cats start out with "hairs" and then lose them.

But 2 different chrysalides attached to one another, WOW! My FL butterfly book says I'm at the southern edge of the Red-Spotted Purple's range. I don't think I've ever seen one in my garden. The book says the host plant is wild cherry. Is that what you use?

I am thinking of planting some spice bushes this fall since the Spicebush Swallowtail is supposed to be all over FL. Or maybe Sassafras? Can it be kept as a bush?

Anna

Sassafras is one of the most difficult plants there is to grow on purpose. Where it grows wild on its own, it does fine, spreads itself, but transplanting it is almost impossible. I've also never been able to grow spicebush successfully, tried many times under many different soil, drainage and lighting conditions. In years past, posters would say they'd find spicebush cats on camphor tree. I know it's listed as an invasive, but at least you can purposely grow it. It grows here, too, dies back in winter if we have a hard freeze, but comes back from the roots. There is some growing wild down the street - I may sneak in and take a cutting and see if I can root it.

There are some spicebushes/Lindera native to Florida other than L. benzoin that might grow for you if you can just find them for sale or find some growing wild to take a cutting or seeds from.

Red-spotted purples use wild black cherry 95% of the time, occasionally use willow or wild crabapple. There are some WBCs coming up here in my town yard, and I'm letting them grow, I haven't found any cats on them yet, but I have seen the adults here occasionally. I found many in the country, raised them myself many times, also saw one on the new country property.

Sherry

The new Giant eggs are hatching today!!

I'm hoping all 8 hatch. They are soooooo tiny. :)

Anna

Great!

Sherry

So the 8 Giant cats have grown huge and the first one pupated last night. There are 2 other cats roaming the top of the enclosure this morning. Maybe they will be pupating later when they find to perfect location.

The 3 eggs I left on the tree hatched but were eaten. Also, about 7 additional eggs were laid on the tree a few days ago. They are all missing in action now. So it pays to bring them in away from predators.

I'm releasing the next to last Giant Butterfly today from the previous batch collected from a neighbors lemon tree. I showed 2 other neighbors with lime and lemon trees how to identify the eggs and caterpillars. They both texted over the weekend, all excited, that they now had them on their trees!!

There be Giants HERE!!

Anna

About the name : Have you ever heard /read it as "Great Swallowtail"? Today I did, in several sites. Although I am inclined to think that the writers simply are wrong, I do not know whether its scientific name assigner (Cramer) also assigned a common name, nor whether our American English conventional name is the only one ever used.

Are these Giant eggs OK? I found 3 Giant eggs on my neighbors lemon tree. 2 look kind of green. 1 looks like the orangey gold I'm used to seeing. Are the green ones infected with fly parasites or something?

Greenish color.

Normal orangey gold.

Anna

They all look fine. Giant swallowtail eggs range in color from nearly pure green, with just a hint of yellow to dark orangey gold. Like you, I'm more accustomed to the darker colored ones, but I've gotten the lighter ones off and on for years. Congrats on getting them!

Sherry