mellielong said:Sure, torment me with your Echinacea and your other species of Fritillaries! No, it's cool to see something that I don't get down here. Although, I have to say I didn't think Giant Swallowtails went as far north as Connecticut. What do they host on up there? Also, love the picture of the Tussock Moths...don't care for the real life ones. I don't know much about the different species, but I thought those might be Milkweed Tussock Moths because the thing in the left of the picture sort of looks like the seed pods of the big milkweed that grows up north. Is that milkweed they were on?
And a 
to Jason. And if I had a nickel for every time time I messed up something on my computer - I could buy another computer! Like the time in college where I was trying to write an email to my mom and posted it to my class' list serve instead. And who hasn't hit the "reply all" button by mistake! Yikes! But hopefully you've got things figured out so don't be a stranger. We love butterflies here. We like to see them and talk about them. Personally, I find petting caterpillars to be great therapy. I'm allergic to cats and dogs and pretty much anything with fur so I have to pet something! 
Yes glad to have the giant swallowtail here!! Now if we could get some more monarch action that would be great! Only seen one monarch anywhere in CT over the past couple years, in my garden this past summer, and i work outside as a house painter so i'm outdoors ALOT!
The giant swallowtail's main wild host is the Northern Prickly Ash and also lays eggs on two non-native garden plants, garden rue (Ruta graveolens) and the closely related Gas Plant or Dittany (Dictamnus albus) (
http://www.butterfliesofmassac...) It also uses the native Wafer Ash or Hop Tree (Ptelea trifoliata) "In addition to garden rue and gas plant, Giant Swallowtail has adopted cultivated non-native Citrus (e.g. oranges) as a host plant, and is therefore listed on Table 3 as among the “Switchers." In southern states, one of Giant Swallowtail’s main habitats is citrus groves. In northern states it is found in semi-open areas, including gardens. "
