Oh, lucky you! I would adore seeing one in person. Do you have a pic so that we can see it too? Your post inspired me to read up on them, and I did not remember that they will use Sedum as a host plant. I read that adults will overwinter in the South but not in the North. Maybe that means that yours will overwinter as a chrysalis and then eclose next spring? Someone here will know. Congrats!

I went to the Chesapeake Bay about a week ago. They were migrating along with the Monarchs and Buckeyes.

Scott ("Butterflies of North America...") said that they probably go south and do not winter over.

I've never had them use Sedum, but I'll have to check now. I've seen them use violets, pansies, and passifora.

I can't find any information as to how they overwinter. The ones I've raised in the past have all emerged, even the ones in the fall, so they probably overwinter as adults, in which case, they probably go to south Florida or south Texas. One mild winter, some gulf frits of mine overwintered outside as caterpillars, so that's possible, too.
Sherry

Is it any problem to post a link to another forum? I found where a person listed a bunch of butterflies and how each of them spend the winter.
Cathy

Thanks for the info. I did get a pic but have no idea how to upload to the computer. I finally have a good camera, Nikon DS5000, but have to read up on how to use it. My little digital was so easy but it died. Eventually I'll figure out what to do. lol

Cathy there shouldn't be a problem as long as you aren't trying to link from DG. That's a no no now which is too bad because there's a ton of info there.

I found these on a passiflora and thought they were GF's at first.

Karyn, Thanks for the info. I thought I remembered of someone saying about not linking from a forum but couldn't remember if it was that specific one or any forum. I'll include the link below. It's a post of someone on that forum who listed a bunch of butterflies and included how they overwinter. I don't know if it's from her personal experience or where the info came from.

Congrats on your new camera! We expect to see a lot of nice pictures now. ;-)
Cathy

Here is a link that might be useful: How Butterflies Survive the Winter

Thanks for that link. I was surprised to see how many varieties over-winter in the colder climates.

I finally figured out how to upload pics. Of course the pic of the chrysalis stinks. I went to take another last night but it's no longer metallic. It looks like it will eclose very soon.

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Here's unrelated pics after I figured out how to use the camera. I'm really happy with it but have a lot more to learn.

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