HELP!!

[mich]

Sunday afternoon I watched a giant swallowtail lay 16 eggs on my dictamnus (gas plant). It's a beautiful plant that, to my chagrin, has been terribly stunted the last two years. It is no where big enough to support even one caterpillar to maturity. I did some research and found that these cats will eat only dictamnus, common rue, citrus and prickly ash which is in the citrus family. I have no citrus of any kind, precious little dictamnus and the common rue I do have is in an area back by the creek that is inaccessible at this time of year. I don't belive there is much in any case.

I did collect the eggs and imagine they will hatch +/- Wednesday. I can probably feed them until next Tuesday with the little dictamnus I have, but after that they will starve.

I have called nurseries to see if employees have gardens with rue; I've called the local butterfly museum to see if they can support them; I've call the local conservation districts to see if they had any of these plants growing. I even tried a garden club. While everyone has been helpful, no one has these plants. The only possibility I came across was Kieffer (sp?) lime leaves on the internet - 6 lbs. for $102.00! I'm going to try a couple tree care places to see if the employees know of anyone in the area with prickly ash, but I don't know if that will come to anything either. In desperation, I may have to sprinkle them throughout the Botanical Garden...

I'm looking for help! I live in Lincolnshire, Illinois and would be happy to pick up foliage from/or deliver the eggs/cats to someone in the area if they can be fed.

[Mona Miller]

I'll post this to the garden forum (butterfly) and see if anyone can help you.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/butterfly/
This is the forum, in case anyone is interested.

[Mona Miller]

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load ... 161.html?2
There have been a couple of replies to my message. Check them out on the above website.

I wish I lived closer, I could send you some host plant.

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/butt ... 26161.html
SWALLOWTAILS
Giant Swallowtail
- Citrus family, Rutaceae
1. Ptelea trifoliata - hop tree, wafer ash
2. Zanthoxylum clava-herculis - hercules club
3. Zanthoxylum fagara - wild lime
4. Zanthoxylum americanum - prickly ash
5. Citrus spp. - various species, including cultivated
6. Murraya paniculata - orange jasmine
7. Ruta graveolens - rue

[mich]

Thank you, Mona. I followed your link, signed up and have been monitoring the posts. I've been checking my local nurseries for Ptelea trifoliata - I will definitely plant some for the future. And it sounds like a much friendlier option than the prickley ash! I have a friend who works for the park department checking with his workmates, too; you never know where help will come from. The problem with the park department is that they use pesticides/herbicides rather freely. Trees - if they don't have poison ivy crawling up into them - should be safe I would think. I have a strong feeling these guys will make it somehow...

[Mona Miller]

I hope you are following the Garden Forum messages:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load ... 161.html?7

There's someone on there that said that she can help you.

[mich]

Thank you - again - Mona. I made initial contact today and will be able to communicate better tomorrow. My home internet service is soooooooo slow that I rarely use it. I've been spoiled with the fast service at work and cannot stand the wait to use it here - need the time to sterilize some monarch equipment! Currently I have 220 cats and three mamas spreading eggs all over; one is so frantically dropping eggs that they're all on the tops of the leaves. I can see this being a 100+ egg day easy...

[NickiM]

I didn't see this post until today, but I have rue and an orange tree if you still need leaves. Or, I live in Hannibal, MO if you want to bring me the cats to raise, not sure how far away you are.

[mich]

Thank you, Niki - I live in the far northern suburbs of Chicago. Mona posted my plea on another forum which yielded an answer to my prayer from a wonderful woman in PA. This morning I received a box full o' rue! And other little surprises - I love gardeners!

Thanks, again, for the offer. Oh - and if this post shows up twice, I apologize. I have a bad habit of clicking on the wrong buttons...

[Mona Miller]

All the way from PA, that was a blessing. I'm so glad you got the help you needed.