Another explanation is the unnatural transfer of monarch butterflies that are shipped all over the United States of America and Canada by butterfly farmers. I've been told by someone in Mexico that monarchs are widely sold for many occasions within their country, too. Many Midwestern states (those to the east of the continential divide) including Texas allow the transfer of monarchs into Florida by permit from the USDA/APHIS. Up to 200 monarchs can be transferred and released with this permit. Exceptions are given for larger releases. Right now monarchs are transferred to Arizona from CA and released. This has been going on since 2004. Another source may be people who vacation in FL from those states who have native A. asperula. Some people take their butterflies on vacation with them and then release them in a warmer area. You might try posting a message to Monarch Watch to ask this question, too.

What beautiful close-up pictures, Stan! I, too, work on the NY Times crossword every Sunday - I haven't done much on it today, because I've been busy with other things, but I really enjoy it. I can't tell how big the cocoon of the parasitic wasp is, but if it's real tiny, it may be the same !%#!%* insect that parasitizes red admiral cats. I think KC let one live and got a picture of the wasp, which is, not surprisingly, very tiny. I'm presently raising two red admirals from eggs, and both of them are continuing to grow and thrive, so I guess the wasp gets into the nest and injects its egg into the tiny caterpillar - they apparently do this early on, so yours were undoubtedly parasitized when you got them. It's interesting that your butterfly didn't have the white spot in the orange field on top and the pink on the underside. I vaguely remember a poster from Wisconsin saying once that not all American ladies had the white dot - all mine have it, so maybe it's a northern characteristic? I agree that American ladies have some of the most beautiful colors and underside patterns of any butterfly - how many butterflies do we have with pink? And I, too, call them "she" - they are ladies, aren't they? :) Sherry

Hi Bill, you posted back in June of 07' about an animal eating your butterfly bush. Did you ever figure out what it was. I have a 2 year old beautiful butterfly bush that is being mutilated a little at a time every night. I set out a cage trap with apples in it and this critter manages to eat the fruit with out setting the trap every time. I'm thinking it is a very light animal. The bush is 5 ft high and it climbs the branches and strips them and then cuts off the branch and hauls it away. Would love to know if you had any luck finding out what it was eating yours. Thanks Lilia Poway

have two pics....this is the first.