August 11th, 2006
black swallowtail caterpillar
Yesterday, while out for my afternoon insect walk, I came across a Black Swallowtail caterpillar (Papilio polyxenes) feeding on Queen Anne’s Lace flowers. This summer, we’ve seen more Black Swallowtail butterflies than in all previous years combined. Once again, I’m sure this must come down to excellent growing conditions for caterpillar food plants and perhaps ideal weather conditions for survival of the butterflies.
Unlike the Monarch caterpillars that look pretty much alike from hatching through to pupating, the Black Swallowtail cats differ greatly at each instar stage. The image below is of a third instar caterpillar photographed in my garden a couple of summers ago. The one above, would be a fifth and final instar.
Well, the weekend is almost here and we’ll probably be off canoeing or hiking as the weather is supposed to be excellent. I’m not sure if I’ll be around much over the next couple of days, but will post if I encounter anything of interest. However, speaking of good weather, I hope everyone has clear skies for the next couple of nights. As Wayne reminds us at Niches, the Perseids should be visible this weekend. Check out his post for more viewing tips.
August 11th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
That is a remarkable difference in their instar stages. I really don’t know anything about butterfly development (except what I have learned here!), so this question may seem ridiculous, but here goes: I am assuming that the instar stage is the form that emerges after a “molting” and that there are a series of stages that the caterpillar goes through before it is ready to pupate. Will each swallowtail look the same at each instar stage?
I just thought I’d share this private note: I dreamed of caterpillars last night.
August 11th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Robin - Regarding the instars, yes, any Swallowtails that I’ve seen look pretty much alike at each instar - but each instar stage differs from the others. The first time I found a third instar Black Swallowtail, I thought, “What is this?!” and couldn’t find any similar caterpillars in one of my guides. A couple of days later, I found the fourth instar of this caterpillar on the same plant in the garden. It looked similar but not quite the same. I suddenly realized that it must be the same caterpillar, but at a different stage of development. Some more looking around ont he net revealed that I had seen both the third and fourth instars of the Black Swallowtail. I kept watching, and before long, I saw the final instar that is commonly seen in field guide illustrations. That’s one of the “problems” when trying to ID caterpillars. Often, each instar is different enough from the final instar that we may not be able to find it in a field guide to do an ID. If we can keep the caterpillar around and feed it its preferred food, in a few days, we may find out that it’s a familiar species.
By the way, I think that’s cool that you dreamed of caterpillars. Hope it was a nice dream!
August 17th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
I need advise regarding Black Swallowtail caterpillars. As I was pulling up my spent Dill last Friday, I saw 6 small caterpillars that I identified a Black Swallowtail. Wanting to save them, I called all my friends to see if they had any parsley or dill that I could put the caterpillars on. Over the next few days, found that all the people I contacted had nothing. Today I was down to 2 caterpillars. Went to Wal-Mart & bought some fresh cut Dill. Have now put the caterpillars on the Dill in my garage, but so far, they don’t seem to be doing anything. Is this going to work?? What do I do now? Would appreciate any help/ advise. THANKS
August 17th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
linda - I think it may depend on how long it will be before the caterpillars pupate. If they have a long time to go, they may not do well. If they are at the final stage before pupating, you may find they will pupate in the next couple of days and you won’t have to worry about feeding them. Do you have Queen Anne’s Lace wildflowers in your area. They are quite widespread around North America. The caterpillar that I found was on Queen Anne’s Lace and that’s what I fed it for several days. It is now beginning to pupate. Just do a Google image search for that flower if you don’t know what it looks like. Maybe you have some growing in fields right around your place.
August 18th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
THANKS. Actually, there is Queen Ann’s Lace close by, but I need to wait awhile to see if someone is going to mow it down again. If not, I will move the caterpillars to them. In the meantime, they appear to be eating the cut Dill (I have the stems in water). They are only about 1 inch long. How can you tell when they are ready to pupate? If I did try to keep them after pupating, will they winter over in my garage, or do they need to be outside? THANKS
August 18th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
Linda - If you can keep them supplied with Dill and they’ll eat it, then it sounds like you don’t have a problem. I think that caterpillar should really grow to a couple of inches in length before pupating. I just checked “The Butterflies of Canada” by Layberry, Hall & Lafontaine, and it looks like larvae that pupate in August would overwinter before emerging around mid-May (Main flights of this species occur in mid-May to late June, and then mid-July into August). I haven’t found much on rearing Black Swallowtail butterflies, but there is a little on this page down near the bottom. They have to be kept in a place that is about the same as the normal outdoor temperature - so an unheated garage would probably be okay if you’re somewhere in the north such as I am.
August 27th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Just giving you an update on the two Black Swallowtail caterpillars that I brought into my garage and put on Dill weed from the store. One just stopped eating, went into a vegative state, then appeared to petrify, without pupating. So, he was discarded. The second one became about 2 inches long in about 9 - 10 days, actually crawled out of the box and went several feet into the garage before I found him and put him back on the Dill. He never ate anymore; thought he was probably going to die. Then, over night, he dropped off the dill, and was fully pulpated the next morning, lying in the bottom of the box. I’m not sure if he got off the Dil and crawled around looking for a place to pulpate or not. Anyway, at this point, since he is not attached to anything, do you think I could attach him to a board with a straight pin? What part do you put the pin into??? THANKS
August 27th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Linda - I’ve had that “petrified” state happen to 4 of the Monarch caterpillars out of about 50 or so. They actually started to look at bit moldy (kind of dark fuzz around the legs), so I quickly discarded them in case they infected the healthier ones). I suspect that the ones that can’t transform well may actually have parasites or some other problem. As for what to do about the chrysalis that is just sitting there unattached, you might be able to attach the pointed end (the one that comes to a single point and not the end with two prongs on it) to something. I’d probably be inclined to see if I could get it to “stick” to a little piece of screen rather than pinning it onto something, as I’d be a little worried about damaging some part of the developing butterfly. You might find that there’s a bit of silk on the outside of the chrysalis and that it will adhere to something textured (such as the screen).
August 27th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
I just found this website and boy am I excited. We’ve have several Swallowtail caterpillars (who sadly didn’t make it) long after I got emotionally involved because my 3yr old and I think they are just so cute! They’ve eaten all of our parsley and dill (which is fine - it’s been fun watching them grow) BUT…one survived the growing season and eating fest, ate all the parsley and just in the last 24 hours of this posting, cocooned on the underside edge of the big pot our parsely is in.
My question is WHAT do we do now to insure as best as possible his/her survival thru the winter? When should we move the pot into the unheated/uninsulated garage? We really want this little green sweetie to have a chance….
Any tips would be greatly appreciated by my whole family.
Do the cocoons ever get eaten by predators? Should we move it now? All other caterpillars seem to be ‘gone’ and no other cocoons on our plants…nothing left of the plants now either. It’s attached nicely to the under rim of the pot and has a little swing movement to it.
August 28th, 2006 at 12:03 am
Terese - I would think the Swallowtail pupa would be fine just left where it is and perhaps moved into the unheated garage around the time of the first frosts. I don’t know if there are any particular predators to watch out for. In truth, the whole insect world is filled with predators, so I suppose anything could happen as yet. Also, sometimes certain flies and wasps lay eggs on caterpillars and those will hatch and parasitize the caterpillar even after it has made a cocoon or chrysalis. Unfortunately, there’s usually no way of knowing for sure until the butterfly or moth either emerges or doesn’t. Anyhow, sounds like things are going okay with your caterpillar, so I’d just hope for the best and with any luck, you’ll get to see a butterfly emerge in the spring.
September 1st, 2006 at 1:33 pm
My daughter and I have successfully raised multiple swallowtail butterflies from the parsley and carrot tops in our garden. This year we had up to 30 caterpillars at one time. We have released 15 or so that have matured into butterflies and have several crysalis(sic), but we have had a severe problem in the last few days. Due to the increased numbers I had to resort to purchasing parsley from the grocery store. I have lost all the caterpillars and I’m wondering if it is due to a pesticide on the food supply. I did rinse the parsley, but I did not soak it. I suppose it could have also been some kind of bacteria? I just don’t know. I’m still going to look only for organic vegetables in the future. And increase my garden vegetation.
We have had many great experiences though and have been able to share the wonder with many friends.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
Thank you so much for your site. I found a Swallowtail caterpillar yesterday on some queen anne’s lace and I brought it in. It eats on and off, seems to perfer the dill over the lace, but it eats slowly, nothing like a monarch caterpillar. It looks to be healthy, but very calm. I hope this is normal. Do all swallowtails winterover? I read on one site that they could emerge before winter, but most sites say they winterover? Your site has been so helpful already, thanks!
September 5th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
Misty - According to The Butterflies of Canada, by Layberry, Hall & Lafontaine, there are supposed to be two flights of these butterflies per season. The first flight emerges from overwintering pupae in mid-to late May and fly until the end of June. The next brood emerges in mid-July and flies throughout August. The second brood would be the offspring of the first butterflies that overwintered as pupae. The caterpillars we are finding now would be the offspring of the summer brood of butterflies, so it’s likely that any we find now, would need to overwinter before emerging. In my area (eastern Ontario), the weather will soon be too cold for butterflies, so most caterpillars that we are seeing now won’t become moths or butterflies until next spring. If you live much further south, the natural history of your butterflies might be quite different.
September 14th, 2006 at 1:14 am
Sad ending to my Black Swallowtail caterpillar saga. I incidentially looked at the wire cage I had placed the pupa in a couple of weeks ago. Found the butterfly had emerged and, of course, could not get out, so had died. I live in Kentucky (USA), much futher south, so, guess they don’t winter over here. I plan to try again next year if I have any caterpillars on my dill, and based on this year’s experience, try to avoid the same mistakes. Thanks to Jean regarding buying things for them to eat…. I agree organic would be best.
September 16th, 2006 at 2:55 am
What a great website! My students and I successfully raised a minute Black Swallowtail larva that came into our classroom on a bouquet of wildflowers (Queen Anne’s Lace) on the first day of school, many years ago. We learned that swallowtails which overwinter form brown pupae, rather than green ones–better camouflage. Our little guy (we named him Chowhound) formed a brown pupa, which looked very much like the stick he was attached to. We put him in a screened cage in the school courtyard, checked on him faithfully, and he emerged on the last day of school in June. It was a wonderful experience. But if you have a green pupa, don’t plan on it overwintering–keep checking on it frequently. Good luck!
September 20th, 2006 at 2:40 am
linda - thanks for posting the follow-up to your caterpillar and chrysalis story. I’ve also thought about how you have to keep watch for moths or butterflies eclosing if you’re going to keep the chrysalis or cocoon in an enclosed space as it might go unnoticed for awhile.
-
fran - Thanks for your comments and the tip about the colour of the chrysalis. I’ve only seen the late summer ones but will have to watch for an early season one.
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:36 am
Help. I’m a complete novice and know little about caterpillars/butterflies except what I learned in Jr. High and High School Science. We are located in SE South Dakota (it’s starting to get down to the 40’s at night). Last week I found a load of, what I found from the internet to be Black Swallowtail Caterpillars on the Parsley in my herb garden. I do enjoy nature and animals, so brought a couple in the house in a container…I also took a couple to the classroom at school I work in, and my son too a couple to his classroom. One at school has gone into a chrysalis…but it is brown and somewhat fuzzy looking. One in my house has gone into a chrysalis…but it is a greenish color and you can see it moving around. From what I am reading, should I expect the brown one at school to need to overwinter and not come out til spring, but the one at home will emerge yet this fall? In my container at home, I still have a lg. caterpillar and a sm. caterpillar. What should I expect?
Thanks for any advice! I’m hoping to see butterflies emerge - rather this fall or next spring…and also to see more caterpillars in the herbs next year!
September 24th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Hey Kim ….. good luck with your caterpillars! The caterpillar I had turned into a brown chrysalis, but still hatched within 2 weeks, so I’m not sure brown - vs - green always means they winter over or emerge quickly. My advise would be to check daily, or leave an opening so it can fly out. I would assume it needs something to obtain nectar from immediately and or to migrate almost as soon as it emerges. I wish you luck and a happy ending.
November 25th, 2006 at 4:00 am
Hello. We are currently raising 3 Black Swallowtails, and they have all ‘cocooned.’ However, due to the heating system, the oldest pupae has hatched without overwintering. To tell the truth, it’s flying around crazily, trying to get out of the large fish tank we have set up for it. How will we ensure that it will survive in the harsh winter? Set it free while there are still warm autumn days? I really need your assistance.
November 25th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
Laiku - I can imagine that it must be frustrating to have a Swallowtail emerge at this time of the year. You didn’t say what area you’re from, but I’m guessing that it must be somewhere in Canada or the northeast part of the U.S.
Swallowtails normally emerge in two groups during the year — the first flight is in June from pupae that overwintered, and the second group emerges around late July or August from pupae that develop in summer. I don’t quite know what to tell you to do about the butterfly. If you’re in an area where it’s still warm and insects are flying, you could just let it go. It won’t mate or be able to lay eggs as there wouldn’t be others of its kind flying, but if there are flowers still in bloom, it could probably find enough food for survival. However, if you’re in an area like mine (eastern Ontario, Canada), there’s really nothing remaining for butterflies to feed on, and it’s very cold up here now, so the butterfly wouldn’t survive for long. I think the best you can do is to keep the butterfly indoors - and if you don’t mind having a butterfly flying loose in your house, you could release it indoors. If you’ve got flowering plants, it may be attracted to those. You can also try mixing up some nectar for it, the same as how we make sugar water to feed to hummingbirds. I checked the web and found a couple of references for how to feed butterflies. Here are the links. Hope that’s some help to you.
http://www.wastatelaser.org/_resources/toolkits/stc/butterflies/lesson10.asp
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/NectarFeedingFink.html
November 25th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
Thank you. We do live in New York. I don’t think my dad will like the idea of letting the butterfly loose in the house. My older sister already suggested this, and he firmly said the powder would end up in our eyes. I don’t believe this, but I don’t think I can budge my parent. We did buy and collect some flowers(red clover and African violet) but I don’t see it drinking with its proboscis uncurled. It also does not drink the sugar water we gave it on cotton balls. I think the best choice is to set it free, since the weather says it will be warm this week. *sigh*
November 25th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
By the way- One cocoon is brown and one is green. :)
November 25th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
Also, we fed it a little. How many times should you feed it a day? My mom broke part of the wing by accident when she held it too firmly. Will it be okay? We’re in the decision of setting it free this week because it’s warm. But they don’t really migrate, do they? If we give it a week, will it survive, or will it stay in the same area?
November 26th, 2006 at 4:20 am
Laiku - I’m not sure how many times to feed it a day, but I would think you could feed it 3 or 4 times a day and that would probably been enough. The butterfly wouldn’t be expending as much energy to feed as it would require to fly around looking for nectar in a bunch of different flowers. I wouldn’t worry about the broken part of a wing. I have photographed butterflies that have big pieces broken off of their wings — probably from attacks from birds — and they are still flying well. I don’t think it hurts the much (if at all) when a piece of a wing is broken away. In fact, I’ll post a photo of a Tiger Swallowtail that I photographed that had a big piece of wing missing and it could still fly well (see below).
You’re correct about the Black Swallowtail not migrating. Unlike the Monarch, I think it would stay close to where it is released. I can’t say for sure what will happen to it, but I can tell you that butterflies and many other insects can tolerate cold and just become torpid when they are cold. One of the websites that I read for information about Monarchs said that, if you couldn’t release your Monarchs raised from cocoons immediately, you could store them in the refrigerator until you were ready to release them. It didn’t say for how long, but I’m assuming that a few days wouldn’t harm them. Just going by that, I would think that the Black Swallowtail butterflies can probably survive some cool weather — they will probably just find a sheltered place as the weather cools in the evening, and sleep until it warms up again. I think that, until it becomes very cold, it would survive and fly around during the day. I’m not sure how it would obtain food without flowers to visit, but I also think it could last awhile. After all, some of the large moths like the Luna moth can’t feed and they manage to stay alive for quite awhile. Someone on a listserv that I belong to had a Luna moth in their gazebo for about 4 or 5 weeks and it was still flying even though it could not feed. Anyhow, here is that photo of the Tiger Swallowtail with the damaged wings.
November 26th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
My older sister says the place where it falls off the most is the eyespot-the place most attacked because predators are fooled by it.Thank you much for the abundant information, it has helped me a lot. The butterfly is okay, we might set it free soon in the Botanical Garden near the New York Hospital. Once again, thanks.
November 26th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Laiku - It would be neat if you can release the butterfly into a garden or a greenhouse where there might be some flowers!
December 2nd, 2006 at 11:44 pm
We released it two weeks ago. We didn’t release it near the Botanical Garden, but in our neighborhood there are flowers. It should be able to survive. ;) Thanks!
December 3rd, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Oh my goodness! We found a wasp-looking thing in the fish tank today. I found out that the insect laid the egg in the caterpillar when it was still young before we kept it captive, and it hatched today or yesterday, even! It also ATE the caterpillar. How sad. Oh well, we still have our green cocoon. That means two caterpillars died(one died a longggg time ago). Still, isn’t it horrifying to find a visible hole in the chrysalis, with the chrysalis empty? I am apalled. :(
December 3rd, 2006 at 5:44 pm
At least the wasp-thingamajig didn’t get out.
December 3rd, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Laiku - Well, that’s very interesting and I guess that explains why the one cocoon was green and the other was brown! Unfortunately parasitoids that lay eggs on caterpillars are quite common and very deadly. However, it seems as though you are getting a lot of experience at raising caterpillars and learning about the various factors that have an effect on their survival!
December 4th, 2006 at 10:47 pm
Well, the brown/green concept is contreversial, since the other one that hatched was brown, and it survived. What do you mean by what you said about the cocoons?
December 4th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Laiku - That’s interesting. We had green and brown Monarch cocoons and all of the brown (more like tan-coloured) ones turned out to be no good, while the green ones were almost always good and a butterfly emerged. So, the brown Swallowtail hatched okay, did it? What was the colour of the one that seemed to have a parasitic wasp emerge from it? It would be interesting to know such a thing.
December 5th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
The parasitic wasp one was an intense wood brown. But the one above it, the one that hatched sucessfully, was almost the exact same color. So the brown/green contreversy is getting even more complicated. Great news, though. The last green one hatched! I just fed it, and it looks very pretty. Maybe a little smaller than the released one, though. It’s beautiful and elegant. I’m so happy! We have decided to keep this one and see what happens…
December 6th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
We have actually decided to free the butterfly soon at a flowery place. We will keep it for a little more though…
December 7th, 2006 at 2:52 am
Laiku - It seems that you’ve had very good results from the Swallowtails! It’s nice that there is somewhere that you can release the butterfly so that it will have some freedom to fly around. Thanks for posting the updates on the butterflies!
December 7th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
No problem.
December 20th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
Hello? I’m afraid the butterfly has lost a section of it’s left back leg. It will be okay, right? (I’m still raising the butterfly.)
December 20th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Laiku - I don’t think it will bother the butterfly at all to have a piece of the leg missing. I quite often see insects with missing legs and I don’t think they really notice it.
December 21st, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Thank you. I really appreciate your help. By the way, happy holidays! I think we might release the butterfly in the spring. Also, I heard that Black Swallowtails(most of them) live only for two weeks in the wild!
December 26th, 2006 at 2:02 am
hello. a sad ending to the story of the black swallowtail. it went to butterfly heaven. may it rest in peace. it wouldn’t eat yesterday. it died overnight. thanks for your help. merry christimas.
December 26th, 2006 at 2:03 am
*christmas
December 26th, 2006 at 2:47 am
Laiku - Sorry to hear that the butterfly died. However, they are not long lived under the best of circumstances, and it sounds like yours did very well. You must have found it interesting to learn more about butterflies including how to feed them in captivity. Spring is not really so far away, so not too long until we can begin butterfly watching once more.
Merry Christmas to you too and best wishes in the coming year!
January 13th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Just checking by-I hope you had a very happy New Year! I cannnot wait for new pets. By the way, here in New York, it was unusually warm before. Maybe the caterpillars will come early! ^^
January 26th, 2007 at 2:43 am
It snowed today, but just a little. Do you think we’ll get caterpillars by at least near the beginning of February? This is kind of a pathetic winter. I think we New Yorkers are just lucky that we don’t have feet of snow. Wed on’t even have an inch of snow, though? JUst chilly or frigid weather. I think we will have caterpillars early this spring season, like unripe fruit.
January 26th, 2007 at 2:44 am
*we don’t
*Just
January 26th, 2007 at 3:06 am
Hi Laiku - Early February seems like it might be too soon - at least, it would be up where I live. My farm is about 40 miles north of the Canada-US border north-east of Syracuse, NY. We didn’t have any snow until about 10 days ago, which is absolutely weird for this area at this time of the year. However, we have about 6 inches of snow now - and it has turned cold. The temperature tonight is a bit below 0 F. I did actually find a caterpillar on the snow one day last week — I sometimes find caterpillars or other insects out on the snow. If you’re curious to see what is out and about on the snow, check out this gallery of my photos from last winter. I think most of the caterpillars I find on the snow are species of Noctuidae (a family of moths). You may be right about the caterpillars appearing early this year. It would be interesting to record the first date for seeing various kinds as, if we did that each year, we might see some change in response to climate.
January 31st, 2007 at 9:23 pm
The springtails are so tiny! I didn’t know THAT many insects were kinda snow-dwellers. For New Yorkers, there’s really not that much snow. Barely a centimeter fell overnight. And the temperatures isn’t really that cold, you just need to bundle up a little.
February 2nd, 2007 at 2:04 am
i have a black swallowtail cocoon that is close to hatching. It is very cold here in Iowa, what should I do for caring for it once it hatches. Planning to let it free in the spring, when it is warmer.
February 2nd, 2007 at 3:01 am
Laiku - Yes, the springtails are very tiny! Most people don’t seem to know that they exist. There are quite a few insects that are active in winter. Last winter I found quite a few.
-
Courtney - I guess it will be awhile until you get spring weather, right? I hope the swallowtail doesn’t hatch emerge for awhile yet as it’s really too soon. Most butterflies don’t live all that long after emerging — just a few weeks — so it will be better if stays put for now. If it isn’t in a cool spot, you could try moving the cocoon to a cooler place for a couple of weeks. I’m not sure what would be safe right now though. Also, I do know that some people who tag Monarchs keep the butterflies a cool place (like inside a refrigerator) if they can’t tag and release them immediately. I’m not sure how long you can hold them there though. Good luck with your butterfly!
February 6th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Today it was 9 degrees farenheit. We couldn’t go outside for recess, it was that cold. We usually go out only when it’s 30 degress and over. At this rate of weather, you’re probably right about the caterpillars not showing up by early February. Still no sign of snow, and I don’t think it will show up any time soon. Also- about the gallery, I find the pirata very interesting, with those sharply crooked leds and that sort of dirty-brown color on theirs legs and body. I wish you luck for your Swallowtail, Courtney! I raised quite a few, and I found it to be fun but slightly difficult.
February 6th, 2007 at 2:37 am
I mean degrees, not degress. Sorry. :)
February 6th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Laiku - Yes, I don’t really think we’ll see any caterpillar until around the beginning of April, although it could be sooner where you are as it is further south. Yesterday, I don’t think the temperature reached 0F. It has been very cold (this morning it is 3F). Pirata are small wolf spiders and often seen moving about on the snow in the middle of winter. I don’t think they grow to be very large. I’ve seen them out on the snow even on really cold days, so they must be very cold tolerant!
February 6th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Today two park rangers came from the neighborhood park Fort Totten(it’s an army base as well!) to discuss some topics of entymology. I learned that one of the park rangers, when he was very young he was bitten by a Black Widow and he still has a wicked scar on his finger. The two men showed us some frames with assorted specimens of insects. One was a small beetle, and it looked a sort of greenish teal color.
I saw some butterflies, too. I think one was a Buckwheat, not sure. My class will go on a school trip to study entymology. I’m so excited! There are some ticks in the really old spots where there’s a lot of dead wood, but they said we wouldn’t go in those sorts of areas.
February 6th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Laiku - Sounds like an interesting class. I also know someone who got bitten by a Black Widow spider. It made him pretty sick for two or three days, but he was okay after. That may have been a “Buckeye” butterfly that you saw. I’m not sure that there’s one called a Buckwheat, but I could be wrong. The Common Buckeye is quite pretty… brown with big “eyes” on its wings. Here’s a webpage with photos of one and the caterpillar. The school trip sounds like it will be fun!
February 7th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Buckeye. I meant that, but I forgot to edit it. How embarassing… :)
February 9th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Laiku - I’ve just posted a follow-up piece on the Black Swallowtail chrysalis that I kept this winter. The butterfly emerged yesterday. I’ve included mention of your comments here on this thread in this post. Here’s a link to it.
February 21st, 2007 at 3:56 am
This is the root of all our threads of blogs. It leads to a myriad of other topics, and many hold precious orbs of wisdom and warm humor. It leads to the experiences and sometimes loss and pain, but also warmth and knowledge.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Yes, you’re right. The caterpillars will come in late March… Sigh.
March 9th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Laiku - Yes, it will be awhile yet. We are still having very cold weather up here (below 0 F). However, it is supposed to warmer this weekend, and the forecast is for temperatures about 45F next week. The snow will melt quickly if we get a few warm, sunny days. Still, it’s a little while yet before we’ll see butterflies and caterpillars!
March 10th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Today, it was 40F! It was a little bit unusually chilly, but it’s an improvement!
March 11th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Laiku - It was over 35F here today. The snow has melted quite a lot since yesterday, but it will take a few more days before the we see the grass. It’s also nice to have sunshine, and for it to be bright outside at 6 p.m.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
I want my precious one hour back… I always end up sleeping at 11:00 instead of 10! But no, people have to make it Daylight Savings when you least expect it…>
March 15th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
It’s getting chillier, even though spring is right around the corner. It’s cool but not cold. It’s warm if you’re used to it. Tomorrow, I think, is 37 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s like the end of winter. Well, it is, but you know what I mean.
March 15th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Laiku - It was below 30F here today, but I found a Woolly Bear caterpillar (the brown and black kind) crawling slowly along a path out in the meadow near my barn.
March 21st, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I love caterpillars. The entomology trip is in April, I think. I’m going to a circus on the 18th of April. The weather is erratic. It changes all the time. But I’m thrilled. At the end of the week, it’ll be over 60 degrees Fahrenheit. By the way…Do you use Fahrenheit or Celcius, or have you just gotten used to both?
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:57 am
Laiku - Yes, I love caterpillars too. I just wrote a new post about them that you might enjoy reading. I’ll be you’re looking forward to the entomology trip. I’m sure it will be fun. It’s supposed to be close to 60F here on the weekend as well. We usually measure temperature in Celsius up here in Canada, but I’m used to using both, so can use either.
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I’m definitely looking forward to it! There’s a spot with ticks and rotten wood, they say, but we’ll avoid that certain spot. Just a random question- Are many caterpillars poisonous, with the little fuzzy spikes? I know there are more harmless ones- but I just want to know if there are a lot in this world. I’ll look at the post and comment if I can. Thank you!
(\ /)
(o.o)
March 22nd, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Laiku - yes, it’s true, there would be ticks in that area, but I’m sure the park rangers will know where it’s okay to go and how to watch out for the ticks. Regarding poisonous caterpillars, there aren’t too many species that cause skin irritation or rashes. Most of the ones that cause problems are easy to recognize by certain characteristics such as branching spines. The “fur” of some species can also be very irritating if you were to inhale it. That said, I’ve never had a problem with stings or rashes from caterpillars. The best thing to do is to get to know the species and just watch out for the ones that could be problematic. I rarely handle caterpillars anyhow as they are so small and fragile. When I have to move them around, I usually try to encourage them to move onto a leaf or blade of grass.
March 26th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
That’s really clever. I can’t see any caterpillars around yet, though. I haven’t been able to get a good look around my retired science teacher’s garden… She has a really rich garden full of good soil, and she has loads and loads of veggies and flowers and seeds that she gives as freebies to everyone.
April 25th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Hello. It’s been nearly a month! I think my science teacher has been coming out- I just haven’t been able to see her. I can’t raise caterpillars-my parents don’t wwant that to happen. What am I supposed to do this spring? *sigh*
April 25th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Hi Laiku - Yes, that does sound a bit disappointing about not being able to raise some caterpillars. However, I get a lot of enjoyment out of observing caterpillars right in the garden and also studying other insects there as well. Perhaps you can think of an interesting project to work on while observing insects and spiders in a garden such as your science teacher’s or a botanical garden, etc… If you like to do draw or paint, or also write, maybe you could do some art or even do your own nature journal on what you observe over the season. There is so much that can be learned from close observation of nature. If you find that idea of interest, you could check for nature journals, or books about how to keep a nature journal, at your library. Let me know if that’s of interest and I can find the names of a couple of good ones that I’ve seen or borrowed from the library up here where I live.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Well, I do have a journal in which I keep the weather and sky data on… But it’s kind of amateur. I include personal things in there.
May 28th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
BurningSilo, I need you to abet me in another insect situation. This time it is more like a predicament. There are moths, common house moths. I’m not sure what precise type they are, but they have infiltrated the house and are proliferating rapidly. They are not really chewing up our clothes, but… Would you like to have black moths with yellow dashes on their backs teeming in your house? Please help me.
May 29th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Laiku - I can’t imagine how the moths would be coming into the house unless they’ve found a way in around windows or doors. Most moths don’t actually attack clothing (wool), so that’s probably not something to be concerned about. Do they seem to be active only in the evening when the lights are turned on?
May 29th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Hello!
I plan to plant a butterfly garden soon, and I was wondering if the black swallowtail is a good garden visitor, and if I will get any in the first place. I have an average south Florida garden with few butterfly plants and I live on a lake. Should I bother planting dill and fennel to try to attract them to my garden?
May 29th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Tallulah - According the this Florida website, it looks like Black Swallowtails would visit a Florida garden. I’ve found them feeding the caterpillars feeding on Bishops weed (goutweed) which is a very common garden plant. They do eat dill and fennel along with wild plants such as Queen Anne’s Lace. I think there would be a reasonably good chance that you might attracts some butterflies by planting the type of foodplants where they would lay eggs, so maybe it’s worth a try. Good luck!
May 30th, 2007 at 8:35 am
YAY!!! Thanks so much! I’m looking forward to my black swallowtails!
May 30th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Well, I asked my mom too, and she said most of the time. Sometimes we see them on the wall in broad daylight, but they usually are active and awake in the evening, yeah. My family wants to know how we can exterminate them. Can we do it by ourselves? How?
May 31st, 2007 at 8:40 pm
I have two black swallowtail caterpillars. One got rid of its contents, and went looking for a place to “hang”. I put a stick in there in the morning, and by the afternoon, he had climbed on it and fixed his sling to it. However, he has not moved since. He did a few jerks, and moved a jerk when I put more food in for the other caterpillar. I can’t seem to find anywhere how long it takes them to go from this stage to the chrysalis. I lost several others to parasites, and am hoping that nothing has gotten this one. I haven’t seen anything emerge from the caterpillar. How long should I wait to see if it will form the chrysalis?
Thanks!
Jana
June 1st, 2007 at 8:07 am
Jana - I didn’t actually see the Black Swallowtail caterpillar transforming into a chrysalis so I’m not sure of the amount of time it took. I think it became very quiet and I didn’t really check on it for a day and by the time I did, it was already looking much like a chrysalis. I don’t think they are anywhere near as quick or dramatic as the Monarchs.
June 1st, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Thanks, Bev! Hope all goes well with our caterpillar…
June 8th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
June 8th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Thanks, Bev! Hope all goes well with our caterpillar…
June 15th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I just stumbled upon your website as many of the others have done, it seems, and I’m glad to read all the questions that you all have. I just discovered a tiny line green cat on my bronze fennel (actually 3 but one disappeared, 1 was deystroyed by an assassin bug right in front of my eyes and the other has just stayed put and keeps munching away. I’ve been checking on it when I get home from work the past two days and as of last evening, it was still there and has gotten a little larger. I was glad to find out that with each instar their appearance is transformed into something completely different ie color, etc because I spent hours online and looking through my butterfly books for pics of the cat I saw and was frustrated not to be able to ID it. Then, this morning, it occurred to me that perhaps the one I saw was just in one of the several instar phases and might turn out to look like the ones in the books (if it manages to elude the darn assassin bug and live to turn into a chrysalis)! Thanks for all the input!
June 15th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Candy - I wouldn’t be at all surprised if your caterpillar is an early instar of the Black Swallowtail. They change greatly in appearance between the first and fifth instars, so just keep watching. They grow and molt to the next instars very quickly, so you may see major changes just in a couple of days. Good luck with the caterpillar. I hope the assassin bug stays away! (-:
June 17th, 2007 at 7:42 am
Hellooo. I am planing on planting a huge butterfly garden–130 sq. ft.!i would like to attract monarchs, zebra longwings, giant swallowtails, gulf fritillaries, gray hairstreaks, black swallowtails, julias, polydamas swallowtails, and white peacocks. I know all the plant requirements for these butterflies, but I live in South Florida and the soil is very sandy. I was wondering if I needed to buy $60 dollars worth of soil, or if my garden will be successful by itself.
June 17th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Hi Tallulah - It would be better to talk to someone who is into gardening, or who has set up a butterfly garden in the past. I live on a 60 acre farm and all of the plants in my gardens are naturally occurring - basically, I’ve let the wild plants take over large parts of the garden and the fields haven’t been cultivated in over 20 years, so they are wild too. However, regarding your sandy soil, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to at least make sure that each plant has some good soil around its roots — perhaps what comes in the pots with each plant would be good enough. The best thing would be to find out the growing conditions preferred by each plant. Some plants will grow in very sandy soil, so maybe you don’t have to do anything special before planting them. Good luck with your garden. I hope it attracts many butterflies!
June 18th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Hi Tallulah
Before I even began putting my BF garden together, I did lots of research online and in the library and most importantly, sent my soil samples into county extention center for analysis. In a couple of weeks, the results came back with lots of good advice and suggestions as to what to do to ‘beef up’ our soil even before we actually started putting down the plants. Is this your first garden or are you an experienced gardener. For me, it was trial by fire and as I worked on it over the past 3 years, I have learned alot but still feel like I haven’t even made a dent in the surface of all there is to know about plants, butterflies, etc. Do you have any master gardeners who live in your neighborhood? Cultivating (no pun intended) a good relationship with your local master gardener is very fulfilling and I can tell you that more often than not, I always came home with little freebie plants to stick into my own patch. Your plan sounds very ambitious and I wish you all the best in your endeavors.
Candy
June 23rd, 2007 at 8:31 am
Hi Everyone,
I currently have a big Black Swallowtail caterpillar, happily munching away on the dill in my garden. Used to have two more, but they have disappeared - likely due to predatory bugs, birds, or landlady!
I hope this last one survives to become its beautiful butterfly self. Thanks to Burning Silo for the great photos - very helpful in the ID process.
June 24th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Thanks for the great photo of the third instar, I was trying to identify a field collection from yesterday as to which instar in was in and a perfect match. Of course, it shed it’s skin overnight and now looks completely different. We have 9 cats right now, 7 of which just hatched this week from eggs I harvested after watching a female laying her eggs on the volunteer dill and queen anne’s lace in a soon to be mowed section of the old garden. This will be the summer brood and we hope to have a group from the fall brood as well since we are uprooting some of the dill to another area to attract them.
It’s been about four years since we’ve raised black swallowtails, the last time it was a fall brood and due to the warmth of the house, one emerged from chrysalis in october, not good in the northeast. We successfully overwintered the remaining 5 chrysalis in a jar in the refrigerator, with a small dessicant pack to keep them from getting too moist and molding. We had 4 emerge and were released, the 4th housed a parasitic wasp, which was neat to see as well.
June 26th, 2007 at 8:05 am
My family and I have about 11 Black Swallowtail caterpillar in different stages. We found them in our garden this past Saturday and din’t want the birds to get them.
So far we have 1 cocoon and 3 in the ‘C’ shape. This morning, however, our only black one let go with it’s back instead of front and is now sorta swinging by the ‘girdle’.
My questions is will it survive this and continue to make the cocoon?
June 26th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Me again!
Right after I posted above, the black one fell while making the cocoon. On the ground it continued but will it survive???
June 26th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Lorie - I’m not sure what will happen. Perhaps someone else reading this thread will have an answer. With the monarchs, if they fall while making their chrysalis, that seems to be the end of them. I’m not so sure that’s the case with the Black Swallowtails. It may be possible to pick up the chrysalis and attach it to something so that it will be able to eclose properly later on.
-
Amy - thanks for you comments on keeping the chrysalises in a jar in the fridge. It’s nice to hear about what works or doesn’t.
-
Kristine - Good luck with your Black Swallowtail. Unfortunately, a lot of caterpillars are killed by predators. I’ve read that the odds are stacked something like 100 to 1 that a caterpillar won’t make it to be an adult. From observing monarchs in the fields here at my farm, I’d say those odds may actually be accurate.
June 30th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Lorie - I’ve heard that sometimes when this happens and the cat is really desperate, it will form a chrysalis on the ground. If this happens post a note saying so and i can inform you what to to do.
Amy - I’m currently raising BSTs my self and am very interested in the fridge trick. Should i lower the fridge’s temp. before i put the in pupae in it?
Thanks and good luck, EPSILONature
July 4th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Hello.
I have found a shiny gold-ish egg on a passiflora vine.I think it is yellow passiflora vine–it has small flowers and oval leaves. It is raised along the “back,” like a turtle shell, I guess. It is very difficult to explain! It’s like a small triangular prism that’s rounded at the ends. Does anyone have any suggestions?
July 4th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Tallulah,
What is Passiflora? I looked it up and it seems to be similar to Passion Flower/Vine. If so you have Fritillaries of some sort. One of the first caterpillars i ever raised were Gulf Fritillaries which i fed with the Passion plant. My cats were a shiny almost glistining orange with large black spikes, but yours could be different. Good Luck.
EPSILONature
July 4th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Thanks for your ideas. I did see some gulf fritillary eggs, and they are drastically different. Thanks anyway!!
July 4th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Hi, Fellow Butterfly Lovers!
HELP PLEASE!!!!
I have a question: I ordered 3 black swallowtail pupae in the mail (from Ward’s Science), but they sent them to me loose and not attached to a branch or stick.
They are brown, so I think that they over-wintered in a refrigerator.
What should I do with them> I want to attach them to a branch (like they are in nature, heads up!), but how do I do this without harming them? I could gently attach the tail portion with a dab of glue, I presume….but what about the top part? In nature, they’re attached with a “sling” but I don’t know how to reproduce that.
They are brown (look like dried leaves)—how do I even know they’re alive?
Does anyone have some advice on ho0w I can safely hatch butterflies from the pupae?
Thanks!!!
July 5th, 2007 at 4:55 am
Gaby - Maybe some of the others who seem to be monitoring this thread will have an idea of how to attach the pupae to a stick - or if it is even necessary. I would think they would pretty much need to be attached to something, as most butterflies must eclose and hang from something while their wings gradually fill and harden. I know that moths such as the Sphinx moths, emerge from pupae that are on the ground and will generally crawl up a nearby tree to rest after they emerge. Perhaps these butterflies are capable of this. I looked around the net and didn’t find much about this, but did find this recent post and photo on the Dave’s Garden site. By what this person wrote in the note accompanying her photo, I think it’s possible that these butterflies may have eclosed without being attached to something as she mentioned they crawled around like mad until she set them on zinnia flowers. See post here: http://davesgarden.com/bf/showimage/3949/
Also, this photo shows two pupae attached to a screen or something by their threads.
http://davesgarden.com/bf/showimage/3740/
That’s what my last year’s Swallowtail cat attached its pupae too (window screen) which is what I was using for the Monarch cats.
By the way, I don’t think using some kind of glue would be a good idea. It seems likely that just about any glue could go through the exterior of the pupa and have some bad effect on the developing butterfly. A thread might be a better way to fasten the pupae to a screen.
July 5th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
I am so happy to see this site!!! My husband thinks I’m crazy for collecting monarch catterpillars!! One of my cats fell while making a crysilis. He’s laying there in the shape of a J on a leaf. I am hoping that he will continue into a crysilis. I guess I will find out in the morning. Wish me luck! Also any suggestions would be great. This is my first year raising monarchs and so far it’s been great!!
July 6th, 2007 at 9:40 am
He made it!!! I’m so happy!! He fell in the form of a J and I laid him on a leaf. He’s a crysalis this morning!!
July 6th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Hello!
The funniest thing happened this morning! My two biggest BSTs molted yesterday; when the two smallest (not nearly ready yet) saw it they immediatly molted too! I guess peer pressure exist with caterpillars as well!
GABY,
Why would any real science association be stupid enough to send deattached pupae?!?! The BSTs will survive, but if they hatch on the ground their wing will get damaged and be unable to fly. You should complain to Ward’s Science and demand a refund if (and when) the BSTs are damaged. I have heard (I’ve never tried it myself) that if squirt a dot of hot glue on a stick, what till it cools a little (but is still liquid) and GENTLY hold there until it dries. All this commotion will certaintly stress the pupae and might damage them but i don’t know what else to do.
StacyLula,
You’re lucky. What i posted for GABY might help you too. (I still can’t get over the fact that they sent them to her unattached!)
EPSILONature
July 6th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
GABY,
I almost forgot: i checked Ward’s Science (i must have overlooked it when i was thinking about purchasing some swallowtails; good thing too)and it says a USDA permit is needed. What is it? How can you get it? And do you have to be a certain age? (i’m only 11!)
July 6th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Thanks, EPSILONature and Bev!
Yes, I was disappointed when I received 3 detached BST pupae in the mail. Now I have to watch them 24/7 or try to attach them to something without damaging them.
Anyway, as to the permit: Ward’s first told me I needed a USDA permit and didn’t want to send me the pupae. Then they changed their minds & sent them to me anyway, so I didn’t have to get a permit. I live in IL and I think Papilio polyxenes is NOT illegal to import because it’s indigenous to Illinois. There was a permit included in the mail, though. I think that the sender should have the permit, not the receiver. It’s the sender’s responsibility to export their stuff legally to the states that permit import.
Right now, I am raising about 10 caterpillars on dill & fennel plants, I hope it goes well. I didn’t need the expensive pupae from Wards after all!
July 7th, 2007 at 7:18 am
I have found a monarch with a torn wing, that proceeded to fall off. I am keeping him in a small cloche with some sunflowers and I am taking him out about three times a day. How long do you think he will live? He has just emerged from one of my chrysalises and can’t survive in the wild. Any suggestions?
July 7th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Tallulah - Someone else may have something to add to this, but last year, out of the 55+ Monarchs that we reared, there was one that eclosed with a badly crumpled wing that never really improved much. She could fly just a little — perhaps 2 or 3 foot hops. I set her out in the front garden and we found her repeatedly for at least 2 or 3 weeks. We have a lot of flowers around our place, so she had no problem finding nectar to feed on. She spent most of her time just walking about on the flowers. I left for Oregon in early September, so I didn’t see how much longer she lasted, but I assume she probably did okay until the weather turned cold.
July 7th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Talullah, I had a monarch emerge last year that had pumped out the hemolymph in the chrysalis before emerging, so he could not plump up his wings and could not fly. He lasted about three weeks in the gallon jar I had him in, I gave him fresh flowers and sugar water every day. It got to the point that he would immediately extend his proboscis when I picked him up, he knew food was coming.
EPSILONature, I didn’t change anything about our fridge when we did this, other than when I noticed some mold growth I put a small dessicant pack in the jar. All of the chrysalis survived, even though one was a parasitic wasp.
About chrysalis color in BST, we currently have eight in chrysalis, two more forming, and two cats left. Out the eight, we have 2 green and 6 brown. The green ones are on light colored sticks and the brown on darker sticks. It must be camoflauge related, rather than seasonal. I’ll have to take a pic and give a link so you can see. I also think I’ll provide only light colored sticks for the remaining cats, just to see what happens.
Keeping my eye out for monarchs, I don’t think they’re here yet. Spotted what might be one the other day but it could have easily been a viceroy, I couldn’t get close enough to tell. No eggs on the milkweed yet though.
~Amy
July 7th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
links to images of the 8 chrysalis, and a comparison of the largest and smallest
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/amycat65/butterflies%202007/?action=view¤t=8BSTchrysalis.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v136/amycat65/butterflies%202007/?action=view¤t=browngreenchrysalis.jpg
July 7th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Amy,
12 BSTs! Wow! My field guide says that they lay only a few eggs in the same spot, tending to spread out a lot. I managed only to get 4 layed on my small bunch of dill. You sure must have a lot of foodplants! I think is touching that your monarch extended it’s probiscis every time you picked it up.* I haven’t seen any Monarchs or Frittilaries yet, the Spicebush Swallowtails are still young as are my Black Swallowtails, but the Pipevine Swallotails are almost ready to pupate.
~EPSILONature~
July 7th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Amy,
12 BSTs! Wow! My field guide says that they lay only a few eggs in the same spot, tending to spread out a lot. I managed only to get 4 layed on my small bunch of dill. You sure must have a lot of foodplants! I think is touching that your monarch extended it’s probiscis every time you picked it up.* I haven’t seen any Monarchs or Frittilaries yet, the Spicebush Swallowtails are still young as are my Black Swallowtails, but the Pipevine Swallotails are almost ready to pupate.
~EPSILONature~
July 7th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Sorry for the repeat, some kinda glitch.
July 8th, 2007 at 9:40 am
EPSILONature,
I just happened to be outside when I spotted a female laying eggs on my old garden patch, about 14′x25′ which has dill and volunteer queen anne’s lace in it that I thankfully hadn’t mowed down yet. I collected 8 eggs, the other 4 are field finds while I was picking food, and they were at a different age than my original 8, two older and two younger. I have since mowed, leaving the dill in about a 5′x 4 patch. hoping that when we release this batch of butterflies, they will stay close and use it.
I should find out in another day if using the lighter color stick results in a green chrysalis, I have one of the last two hanging in a C shape now.
I chased down an orangey butterfly yesterday, to see if it was a monarch or viceroy, but it turned out to be an painted lady once I got close.
July 8th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Hello.
I just saw a black swallowtail for the first time in my yard!!! I am so excited to plant things for it. What is the best larval plant for the black swallowtails– dill, parsley, or queen anne’s lace?
July 8th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Tallulah,
From my experience, i would go with dill or parsley. I have looked on every single QAL plant within almost a square mile of my house and haven’t found a single cat on any of them. My friends always use parsley, and i am currently using dill. Both work fine. You can get a nice sized dill at Lowes for $2.50. The picture of the BST larva in my field guide show it with a white backround color (on parsley), but my BSTs have a limegreen tint to them. I’m guessing this has to do with foodplant choices. They are also known to eat Carrot tops, Celery Foilage and Fennel. GOOD LUCK!
Amy,
I looked at your picture and i hope you aren’t going to let them “hatch” on the ground! This cause wing damage of some kind to almost all adults that emerge this way. You should straddle them on the mouth of a large jar or something.
~EPSILONature~
P.S. Can anyone teach me how to post pics/links?
July 8th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
No worries on the chrysalis, it was just an easy way to spread them out for a picture. We’ve done this before, right now they are resting on a slant in a large jar but because there are so many, I will be putting the sticks in florist foam at an angle in a larger container. It should be roughly another week until the first butterfly.
The butterfly I observed laying eggs, which I later collected, laid them half and half between the dill and the queen anne’s lace. However, because I did not keep track of who hatched on what, I gave them fresh leaves of both because they supposedly stick with the food plant they start out on. Invariably, they ate the dill and didn’t touch the queen anne’s lace so I’m not sure that is true or not. The batch from a few years past we found on the carrots and fed them both that and qal, which are closely related anyway. If you’re using plants in pots, set them at least a few feet apart, the female chooses a certain distance between where she lays her eggs.
I noticed this time around that the 4th instar has more of a white background and the 5th is much greener, other than that and size, they are very similar in appearance.
~A
July 9th, 2007 at 10:50 am
have just discovered two wonderful things this morning, this web site and a mass of black swallowtail caterpillars of all sizes living in the dill garden - have no experience in raising butterflies or grandchildren to give me the incentive,
what happens if nature takes its course?
July 9th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Amy,
Sorry! I was just making sure :)
Thanks for the color tip; i thought it was foodplant choices. How many instars are there? Mine are REALLY green now, probably in the 5th or 6th and i want to know when they’re getting ready to pupate.
Sandra Marsh,
If you let them be, chances are a couple will die. I depends if you are capable/willing to raise them. I have 4, each one on it’s own Lowe’s potted dill plant. I have these in a cheap little hamper that is fold-out, and made out of netting. I keep this on my screened-in porch. (One got out today, so i’m going to get a top for it!) GOOD LUCK!
Tallulah,
I was reading some later postings and you said you live in South Florida. You are sooooo lucky! It has more different types of caterpillars then anywhere else in the US! And some are year-round. My field guide (Caterpillars of the Eastern US) has so many just-southern FL-and-southern-TX caterpillars! Gulf Frittilaries (one of my favorites) lifes there year-round as does it’s fellow Passion-Flower-Eating counterparts, Zebra Longwing and Julia!!!!!! Definitly plant some PF, and you will get tons of cats!
EPSILONature
P.S. isn’t the Zebra longwing the national butterfly of FL?
July 10th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I am sooooooooooooo upset! :(
One of my caterpillars got out of it’s cage and got caught in a spider web. It must of died while i was gone. :(
:(
:(
:(
:(
Now i’m down to 3. I think i’ll bury him/her by my dill. :(
July 10th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
When a crylalis turns brown before it’s time can I assume it’s dead? I have one that looks like that Tachnid fly or whatever it is got it. But I have two others That I’m leaving alone till I know for sure. Also, I was watching one of my pillars molt ito the crysilis and he was working on getting off the skin for 30 min. I could tell he was drying out so I helped him. It was going good until there was this band of skin around his neck and he was so fragile I just couldn’t do it. So close!!! Is there any type of oil or something to keep them moist should this happen again? When they molt it happens so fast I just felt so bad for him he was working on it for so long. It’s like his skin was too dry.
July 10th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I just found a Tiger Swallowtail in my driveway. Looks fourth instar. What do I do? I’m a Monarch chic!
July 11th, 2007 at 7:07 am
StacyLula,
When a chrysalis turns black it either means it’s ready or it’s dead. If you move the bottom part of the chrysalis, and it stays that way then it’s definitly dead. If things are getting dried out, then just mist the cage occasionaly.
And about the (Eastern) (It might depend on where you live?) Tiger Swallowtail, it eats magnolia, black cherry and tulip tree. I’ve looked at a lot of magnolias and tulip trees but haven’t found any.
GOOD LUCK!
EPSILONature
July 11th, 2007 at 7:35 am
Hello everyone - I usually reply to comments on my blog, but I’m just going to sit back and leave all of you to discuss your caterpillar raising experiences. I’m raising a few too, but mostly moths and am writing about that on more recent posts here on my blog. I’ll leave the comments for this Black Swallowtail Caterpillar open for now (I usually close them if they start receiving spam) - so carry on with your discussions! (-:
July 11th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Thanks EPSILONature!
July 11th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
StacyLula,
I forgot, they also eat sweetbay and ash, but especially the others.
EPSILONature
July 11th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Thanks Bev! I love this site.
Can you tell me how to put pictures on this site?
THANKS,
EPSILONature
July 11th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Hi Epsilon - There isn’t a way for commenters to post photos on my blog. However, what you could do is to create a photo gallery on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/
It’s free. You just register - it only takes a couple of minutes. You can start up a group gallery that others could post photos to, and also post comments. It might actually work better than posting comments to this old entry on my blog as other people would be able to find the gallery and discussions for easily. Anyhow, if you do set up a gallery, just post a link to it here and anyone reading this thread can find there way over to the new gallery to join in the discussion.
July 12th, 2007 at 6:56 am
Thanks bev!
July 12th, 2007 at 7:00 am
It says i posted my last note (saying “thanks bev”) at 6:56.
I did it at 8:55. Wierd! Oh well, i guess it doesn’t matter anyway! (:
EPSILONature
July 12th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
My Tiger swallowtail died. I found him alive but motionless on my driveway. Maybe he fell out of a tree? Poor guy.
July 15th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
I have not found the answer to this question although it’s been asked several times on this blog, so I will ask it again. I found a BST caterpillar yesterday on a carrot top and since it was quite large, brought it in. This morning it had gotten itself in a J-formation and attached itself to a twig with the sling you have all spoken of. I have watched it all day. It has had what can best be described as little seizures. But for the most part it has just stayed quite still in the same position. Can you please tell me how long it takes before the caterpillar starts to actually form the chrysalis? Does it stay suspended like this for 24 hours, 48? What? I’d really appreciate knowing what to expect? Thanks - Betty
July 16th, 2007 at 5:36 am
Betty - I just raised one BST last year, and can’t really remember how long it took to make a chrysalis. I would think it could take at least 24 hours from the time it attaches itself to a stick, but perhaps someone else reading this will have a better idea as many of the people who have been posting comments on this thread have raised several of these butterfly cats.
July 16th, 2007 at 7:43 am
Betty,
Just last week my caterpillar did that too. It was moving it’s head as if it were looking around for food, and so i picked it up and put it on my dill. It later died, so i’d suggest just leaving it alone. The other healthy ones, (only two! :( I started out with four) took about 2 days.
GOOD LUCK!! :)
EPSILONature
July 16th, 2007 at 7:58 am
I know that the giant swallowtails’ larval host plant is wild lime. Is that the same as just an ordinary lime tree? If I go to Home Depot and ask for a lime tree, will this suffice?
July 17th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Tallulah,
I don’t know, but i do know that they also eat hoptree, prickly ash, torchwood, and most other plants in the citrus. (ex: your lime tree) If the lime tree isn’t to expensive, and you have the space i’d say give it a try (it’s risky; but at least you’ll have a new addition to your fruit salad! I love key lime pie) :), but if you were to buy a hoptree, for example, you would definitly get some cats.
EPSILONature
July 17th, 2007 at 9:55 am
My monarch hatched, the one that fell while making the crysalis, his wings are bent and one of his legs is bent. He likes to hang on my shirt while I do house work. I keep him in my screen porch when he’s not hanging out with me. Anyways, He won’t eat like my other butterflies. I offer him sugar water but he’s not interested. What kind of flower can I offer him that he will eat?
July 17th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Greetings, and thanks for all the great info! I found a very large green catipiller that looks a lot like the first photo here, but it is about 3″ long and 1/2″ in diameter. Does that sound like a swallowtail? Thanks! Julie
July 17th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I overwintered about 20 BST chrysalises and succeeded in releasing 5 BSTs this spring. 20% Not that good but not that bad. I did not know too much about what I was doing just what I could glean from the web.
Now, I have a newly formed chrysalis in my garden and I want to know about how long it will take before a butterfly emerges.
July 17th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I was wondering if any citrus plant will attract giant swallowtails to lay eggs on. If I just buy a dwarf orange tree (for example) will this work? I don’t want to spend $40-$50 on a big lime tree– I’m only 14!!! What do you guys suggest? Thanks.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
I feel like an addict to the web putting two questions one after the other, but oh well. I forgot to ask this. What nectar sources should I plant for a south Florida garden? I know what larval plants to buy, but not that many nectar sources. Thanks again!
July 20th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
It’s official… I just found two fifth instar black swallowtail caterpillars in a fennel plant on my roof in Brooklyn…. That’s right… Brooklyn, baby!!
July 20th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Congrats Dagan!
July 21st, 2007 at 8:18 am
Sorry I don’t have any suggestions for anyone on caring for butterflies as I am a novice! But I am so excited I just had to share my finding! I have approximately 50 Black Swallowtail caterpillars, some in the late stage, on my rather large fennel. I had a few last year but this find is amazing to me! I would love to post some pictures but am not aware of a site I can do that. I live in Raleigh, NC. Would love to hear about other experiences!
July 21st, 2007 at 9:34 am
I’m almost 12, Tallulah’s 14, are there any other younger caterpillar fanatics out there?
Julie G., It’s probably an older BST.
EPSILONature
July 21st, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I’m 30. Is that still young?!
July 21st, 2007 at 4:43 pm
We live in Texas, over the past couple days wee have collected several black swallowtail cats from our yard, some quite small. We have been feeding them parsley, dill, and carrot tops (which are the plants we found them on). I am wondering what we should put them in though so that they can mature. Also, will they overwinter here in the south? If not, how long will they remain in the chrysallis stage before emerging? Thanks for your help, your site has been very informative.
July 22nd, 2007 at 4:52 pm
I was wondering if anyone know about how big a hoptree gets and can it be cut to size without damage? And are there any other plants that will attract giant swallowtails? Polydamas swallowtails (besides Dutchman’s pipe)?
July 22nd, 2007 at 8:21 pm
StacyLula,
Definitly! My 95 year old great-gramma says she’s 21!
Tallulah,
I know Giant Swallowtails eat Torchwood and Prickly Ash, but no help on the Poldamas.
Renee,
June through August there is one brood, their children over-winter as a chrysalis. The overwinterer’s children will be next years June-Aug. brood.
Does anyone know how long BST’s are in their chrysalis? I need to know when to expect the two remainers!
THANKS,
EPSILONature
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:36 pm
;) You guys are funny! I hatched 5 monarch butterflies today, two yesterday and two the day before. They all flew away…*tear* I still have my little guy that has crinkly wings. I’ve been feeding him sugar water. What else do ya’ll suggest I feed him?
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:14 pm
StacyLula,
I’ve heard that Gatorade works well. Also try offering him old fruit thats all mushy, like peaches. Hope this helps!
July 24th, 2007 at 7:15 am
It must be universal emergance day! One of my BST’s (female) hatched and my other chrysalis is so close, i can see it’s wings through it. What kind of flowers do BST’s prefer?
Thanks,
EPSILONature
July 25th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Thanks Tallulah!
July 25th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Both of the BST butterflies where females so i let them go. Hopefully they will find and a male and come back; and hopefully my dad will finally bring me to Lowe’s to get more Dill before they do.
Best of lick to you all,
EPSILONature
July 25th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
HA HA HA HA HA! SORRY, luck not lick! :0 :) ;)
July 26th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Ha best of lick!! You kids should get Myspaces. In case you do my address is www.myspace.com/5pinkcats add me. I hatched a grand total of 30 monarchs so far this summer!!I have two that are hatching tomorrow. How many have all of you hatched this summer?
July 27th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Facebook is cooler than Myspace. :0)
July 29th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Just wondering if there are any specific plants black swallowtails prefer over others. All I’ve planted for them is some dill and parsley. What do you guys suggest?
July 30th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Facebook? I’ll check it out. Ummm…Where can I get some swallowtails? I love my monarchs but I would really like to try swallowtails.
July 31st, 2007 at 6:43 am
Tallulah and StacyLula,
Build it and they will come! Since the BST’S lay small amount of eggs in many different locations, your bound to get some. I got 4 on my first try! From my experience, Dill is the best and Parsley is the second-best. QAL is the least favorite, mostly a last resort if you know what i mean.
Good Luck, EPSILONature
July 31st, 2007 at 8:21 am
Thanks!
Where do you live?
August 1st, 2007 at 12:13 am
What a great website! Thanks for all the information.
My sad story is that we found a lovely Black Swallowtail caterpillar on our parsley plants (in Northern California), and put her in a little “bug catcher” cage of my son’s. We put in lots of fresh parsley, and she ate some of it (and has been pooping quite a lot), but now instead of hanging out with her food or going to the stick we put in for her and hanging herself from a thread there, she has stopped eating, has attached herself to the fine wire mesh of the cage, sort of upside down, and now there is a sort of white fuzz growing on the mesh where her head touches it and where her tail touches it.
Is it possible this means anything good? Sure doesn’t look like a butterfly forming a chrysalis to me . . . Here’s hoping, but if something’s going wrong and anyone knows what it is, I’d like to know. (If it makes a difference, I have no reason to think it’s a girl caterpillar; my son just named her “Amy.”)
Thanks!
August 1st, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Gretchen, Tallulah and ESILONature are experts on these little creatures! It sounds like a fungus or something. If she’s the only one you have then just watch her. If you find more don’t put them in the same cage so they won’t catch what she has (should it be a fungus of some sort). But like I said wait for one of those two to reply to you because they are smart!! And everyone else on this website is too of course!
August 1st, 2007 at 6:13 pm
StacyLula,
I’m flattered, HA HA HA HA :)
(I like to think i’m an expert!)
Gretchen,
I recently lost a BST who turned brownish-black halfway through the process.
EPSILONature
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:56 am
I NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just picked up a piece of wood that was sitting in my yard (it was sort of damp) and found a BEAUTIFUL larvae of some sort. it was just scant of an inch long, black, large thorax (?) and an eye spot. There was some yellow lines at the end of it and I need to know what this is!!!! There was also a faint brown stripe down the side of it. Any ideas would be great!
Oh, and I, too, am deeply flattered! I never thought I would be thought of as a butterfly expert!!!
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:30 am
Tallulah,
Are you sure it’s a caterpillar? Post a picture on that www.flickr.com website bev posted above. I’m curious what it is.
EPSILONature
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:09 am
I tried to take a picture, but I dropped my dig. cam. in my lake, and it doesn’t work. I have another, but it is such low quality. It reminds me of a spicebush swallowtail, but only in its shape. Mine is black. I’ll try to take a picture.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:11 am
UUGGHHHHH!!!!!
THe caterpillar is gone! I put it back where I found it, and it is gone, not surprisingly. What a shame.
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Thanks for your advice! However, things are looking up: Our Amy formed a chrysalis today! So, who knows if she will ever hatch out, but at least the situation is better than I’d feared.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Gretchen…That’s great! I hope Amy turns into a beautiful butterfly!!
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
I recently found some eggs of some sort, i don’t what they they are. . . maybe i’ll get lucky, who knows.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Tallulah,
I was re-reading some old postings from last month, what ever happened to your “passiflora” eggs? Did they hatch yet what are they?
August 4th, 2007 at 10:42 am
Oh, the goldish ones? They actually turned out to belong to a beautiful leaf-footed bug. They are soooo cool! Mune had super big leaf legs, unlike many pics on the web. :^D
August 4th, 2007 at 10:43 am
oops!
mine* not mune!
August 4th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
:)
August 5th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
EPSILONature,
Where do you live? Strange question, I know, just wondering butterfly-wise.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Yeah where do you guys live? I live in WI. Monarchs are aplenty here. So are painted ladies. I’m not very familliar with the painted ladies, maybe that should be my project for next year!!
August 5th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I’m down in South Florida :). monarchs, gulf fritillaries, and zebra longwings are casualties over here. how about everyone else?
August 5th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I am sooooo jealus! (I know i didn’t spell that right…) Gulf Frittilaries are my favorite and where i live (SC) there just coming into season. I’m so excited.
And come on, StacyLula isn’t that mean! HA HA HA HA :) My very first butterfly project was one of thos Scholastic Butterfly boxes you know when i was like 5, they send you about 5 caterpillars on some chemical sludge i guess made from their foodplant the mallow. I wonder if it tastes like marshmallows? :)
Best of luck,
EPSILONature
August 5th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
AWESOME!!!
August 6th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Hello everyone. I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s stories and decided to share my own experience…
One day I decided to pick some parsley for some potato soup and noticed little eggs stuck to my parsley. I picked whatever parsley I could find that didn’t have eggs on it. Right before I was about to chop it, I decided to examine it once more, and of course there were eggs on there too. I left it on the counter, and the next day grabbed it to throw outside, and there was a tiny black caterpillar hanging by a thread. I looked outside at the rest of my parsley and behold-a whole bunch of tiny black caterpillars!
So I started to bring them in when it rained and they kept growing and growing. I decided to keep them outside and I put chicken wire around them and the plants and a plastic lid on top. Obviously, this would only keep the birds away, but it’s all I have. Then, a few days ago, they started to wander around the porch. I kept putting them back on the plants. Then I started to run out of food, and called all over town to find parsley with no pesticides, and no luck. So I resulted to organic celery. Only a few would eat that. And that night I had 24 caterpillars.
The next day there was no parsley left and my biggest caterpillars grew 2 more cm and had reached the 5th instar! I started to count and only could find 19. I also spotted a small skink hanging around next to them! I’m sure he found a tasty snack.
Finally, I had a chance to drive an hour to buy more parsley. When I returned there were only 10 caterpillars and one was lieing dead on the ground. They started munching immediately. Today, there is still 9 remaining, and found two green anole lizards lurking around. I’m just hoping that my last nine don’t decide to wander off! I’ve tried looking in the bushes and trees next to the porch for any chrysalises starting to form, but no luck. I keep looking around, and now realize that they aren’t coming back. I suppose they have been eaten by lizards.
I don’t understand why the smaller caterpillars would leave their food source though. They were only in 3rd or 4th instar! It has been frustrating, but yet a joyful experience. I wish I had something else to keep these last 9 in to protect them.
Good luck to all of you who are helping these amazing little insects! And thanks for all the info.
August 6th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Link to photo of Black Swallowtail caterpillar.