I totally agree with your assessment of the photo. Very nice indeed. I am so hoping to get one to lay eggs here on my Passionvine. Do I recall reading that if there are already Gulf cats on the Passionvine, the Variegateds will tend to avoid laying on them?? I have seen Exactly one Gulf Frit this season. No Gulf eggs or cats here. Last year was a really good year for them here.
Angie

In the past, that was the way it was, Angie. If there were already a lot of gulf frit cats on the vines, they'd leave them alone and lay their eggs on common violets, but if not, they'd use the passionvines. I have a good many violets growing at the feet of plants in my garden. However, this year, my only VF eggs/cats were on the violets, even though the passionvines hadn't been used at all! Go figure!

I'm finding new gulf frit cats every day - there will continue to be more, because I've found more hatchlings that I've left out there. I'm raising a lot of them on the porch already, but I'll bring these in, too, eventually. So, I don't know if this VF would want to use the passionvines or the violets! :) All the cats I've brought in so far have been gulf frits, not variegated frits.

Sherry

I've found several tiny little cats on the passionvines that look a little different from the gulf frits - I'm pretty sure they're variegated frits. I've brought them in to raise myself. VFs are much less common here, and they never leave me many eggs. VFs don't grow as fast as GFs, either.

Sherry

Still a very nice shot!

Beautiful picture, Sherry! I haven't seen any VFs this year, and at this point I don't think I will. I don't have much to feed them though besides the wild violets that are in the yard. I had planted some "black" violas that they heartily ate a couple other years I raised them, but now the ones I started this year are pretty sad looking. I had gotten rid of my P. incarnata that was in the garden when I saw how it was trying to take over. I bought a Lady Margaret online but it got frozen out when somebody left the laundry room door open for a little while this past winter and left a lot of cold air in from the outside. I tried an 'Incense' outside in a big pot, but it didn't survive the winter. I'm glad that you have a chance to raise some cats. I love their pupae!
Cathy