Lin, I am very surprised to hear that the nurseries in Florida sell invasive plants. This can't be legal can it?
The Gulf Fritillary is larger and has different colorations than the Mexican Fritillary. I think maybe it was a person in southwest Texas that hosted Mexican Fritillaries...I have a tendency to think that what is in SW Texas is also in S Florida and i know i really need to get out of the habit of making that assumption. The caterpillars are similar though. In fact not long after my Turnera (whatever sp) had grown to maturity, i found a small caterpillar wandering around on the ground. It was clearly not looking for a place to pupate. I thought it was a Gulf Frit and tried to put it back on the Passiflora, but it wasn't having anything to do with that plant. So i tried putting it on the Turnera and immediately it started chomping away. This is when i discovered my first brood of Mexican Frits...it was so exciting.
I have started working on the ID on our Turnera. Specifically, i have found written descriptions from good sources that detail the characteristics of the ulmifolia. So i think i am getting close. It is very possibly umifolia but i need collaborating scientific descriptions which i expect to find. I hope to have an answer in a couple of days. Then i will send to you and to
@JRsbugs the links that i found convincing and if you both agree to the conclusion, then i think that is solid enough to proceed to add or not to add...that is the question
How does that sound to you?
