Oh. My. Gosh!!
I am so excited, scared, and beside myself! Didn't expect this to happen as I wasn't really trying to raise cats or anything like that, but I found this baby on my curly parsley this morning!! Totally surprised!! Almost didn't see it! I told my DH, "We have to rescue it before the wasps come and kill it!!"
I have it in a makeshift container at the moment. I found a tall plastic container, cut the parsley and placed them in some water in old medicine bottles (rinsed), cut some holes in the lid until I can get some screen cut and make a better ventilation system, and placed the lid on it. The whole contraption is now sitting on my washing machine! LOL DH wants to try to raise it. I was all for taking it to Sheila!
whoa! that's a big one! awesome.
Whoa yes, he's a biggie, and probably about ready to be hunting for a spot to pupate! Don't waste any time getting him settled on his parsley in a permanent spot so he can find where he wants to "J".
He's only about 1.5"- 2" long. He's been chowing down on his parsley. Do they like dill? I have tons of dill!
yep, they love dill too, fennel, carrots, queen annes' lace. Some people find it's hard to switch them from one to another. He DOES look about ready to go.
I'll add some dill in the mix and see if he'll eat that. If not, I'll have to go buy some parsley plants! LOL
Should I put the sprigs in some of that florist putty stuff to keep them wet or will the medicine bottles filled partly with water work?
Everyone does it different. Here's an article about it.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2358/
Baby? More like Baby Huey by the size of it!!! :o)
Mrs_Ed provided a good site for you. I also have a garden blog on caterpillar cages as well as the life cycle of the Black Swallowtail if you are interested in reading more information.
http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/m/TexasPuddyPrint/
The caterpillar you have is a good sized late instar so drowing is not necessarily a problem but if you decide to raise them from eggs you might look into using wet floral foam to hold your cuttings. The absorbed water will keep the cuttings fresh and you don't have to worry about a caterpillar falling or crawling down a stem into water and drowning.
Caterpillar cages
http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/TexasPuddyPrint/12578/
Black Swallowtail Life Cycle
http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/TexasPuddyPrint/12574/
~ Cat
This message was edited May 28, 2010 1:59 PM
How cool! I keep checking mine but nothing yet. I have some dill sprouting that I will pot up soon.
~Cat. Wonderful documentation on the BST life cycle. Thank you for sharing that with others.
Nanny, I found two itsee bitsee ones on my parsley!!! might want to check the queen anne's lace at your place.
Well, this guy is getting ready to pupate!! He's emptied his errr...bladder... and has started climbing up the stick I put in there last night.
Here's my container. I found some eggs on my dill last night as well as a little bitty first instar caterpillar. I brought them inside and put them in a different container. Somewhere along the way in the transfer process (I put them in a bowl out in the garden, then brought them inside to the top of my washer) I think I lost the little instar one. :( I have absolutely no idea what happened to him!
Could the temp. radiated from the washer be too hot for it? Hah, I like that jar set-up.
Here he is on the stick. Not sure if he'll journey up it any more and possibly attach himself to the tulle at the top.
The dryer vents to the outside, but I do understand what you mean. I plan on moving him while the washer and dryer are in use. I'd hate to be trying to build my chrysalis and have my whole world shaking and rattling!
...and the shaking and rattling could shake the chrysalis loose, or at the very least, make the incubation time inside the chrysalis less than comfortable for the developing butterfly.
I always take a tray out to the garden when I'm going to be collecting fennel/dill/parsley stems with eggs and/or cats on them, so I don't lose anyone along the way. You know out there in the grass, your poor tiny caterpillar is unlikely to ever find his way back to his host plant; even if he could, a bird will probably spot him before he gets there.
He was on the parsley when I got inside. I'm hoping I just overlooked him.
I will be looking now...I checked my parsley tonight & nothing there. Will walking a look along the road tomorrow! lol
The first instars are easy to over look Step. I thought DH was going to raise them.....LOL!
That big guy on the stick looks like he has found his mark and will be in a comma by morning.
He was comma-ing this morning! I even saw the little silk where he'd attached himself to the stick.
Can I take the container of parsley out of there?
You can remove the parsley. It won't need it now.
Did you get to see it make the sling? That and the sheding of the final skin is pretty cool to watch. If you are up late tonight or early in the am check it out you may catch it in action.
I saw this one from the beginning. At first the skin splits behind the head, then it wiggles and strains until it has it all the way off.
That's so neat! Thanks Sheila.
No sling yet. I found an egg on the dill that's in the container, so I think I'll leave it in there. I'll remove the parsley and change out the water in the dill container, though. I might move the egg to one of the new containers I got from Sheila.
Thanks for the head's up on the sling, Sheila. I'll keep my eyes peeled!
How do you who raise so many of these things keep from checking on them every other minute?!? LOL
awww...nothing like a first time mommy!
There are fun to watch!! lol
LOL!!!
Come live in south Texas where they are abundant. The BSTs lay hundreds of eggs on the fennel, dill and rue that I don't bother keeping an eye on them. :o)
~ Cat
Cat, I grew up in San Antonio. I couldn't take the heat down in Edinburg! LOL I didn't really plant the dill for the butterflies, but if they want to use it, then I'm fine with it.
I found my little first instar today! Woot! He must've been in hiding and bashful.
I'm now trying to talk the neighbor kids into raising a butterfly. LOL
One of my neighbor's son used to come around my yard all the time looking for eggs and caterpillars to but he has since turned into a teenager - sports and girls are on his mind now!
My neighbors used to think I was weird (now they know I'm crazy!!!)...since I plant dill, rue and fennel for the butterflies instead of for cooking. Same goes for tomato plants. Those are for the hawk moths :o)
I've had neighbor's come up to me when they go to get their mail (the community mail box is on the corner of my yard) and ask what is that gorgeous vine that blooms purple that grows on my front arch and of which I also have growing up into the oak tree in my front yard as well as through the firebush hedge along my driveway. When I tell them passion vine and they come up the walkway to look at the flowers they are just about horrified to learn I grow if for caterpillars to eat! I point out the many caterpillars and I can see the faint glimmer of a light in their brains. They nod and the say, so that's why there's always butterflies around my yard and flower beds.
Uh....yeah!!! That's the whole point!!!
They are learning. I get an occasional "I found a caterpillar on my plant - can you tell me if it is a good one or bad one" - I pretty much know what everyone has growing in their yards now :o)
~ Cat
This message was edited May 30, 2010 6:17 AM
It's a wonderful gift when you can pass the gift of loving nature to others. Sooner or later, the neighbors will learn. :-)
Cat, that's awesome! It's wonderful that they're learning and you're slowly making converts.
About switching the cats to a different food supply......I can't remember if anyone mentioned and too lazy to read it all again.....but, if you take the first instars and put them in with the new food you won't have a problem. However if it is one of the final instars, they will usually go ahead and pupate early thinking they are out of food.
Stephanie....I failed to send a Rue plant with Mark that I had for you. Hopefully you will come by and visit and get it then. It is host for both the BST and the GST. The Giants are my fave bf. There aren't many of them so I really make sure I always have plants available so they lay as many eggs as possible. The Rue is evergreen also.
Oh Sheila, that's wonderful! The little first instar I have I'll transfer to the dill. I lost a lot of my dill the other day when it fell over because it was so tall! I still have 2 huge plants, but the biggest one is now drying for the freezer.
Here's today's pic. He's not so pretty anymore. LOL
Not too purdy but sweet! LOL
Wow Sheila, I didn't know GST's used rue for their host plant! I have 4 plants I grew from seed last summer, but they're not very big yet. How big do yours get? My BST's only used it as their last resort, they seemed to prefer the fennel and dill.
Same here...the BSTs use fennel and dill and then rue as a last resort. I don't have parsley in my yard. As for the GSTs they use the citrus trees first but every now and then I'll find caterpillars on my rue.
My rue gets about two feet tall and stays green all year long. It is easy enough to propagate from tip cuttings. I cheat and buy it at the flea market though - lots of plant vendors there sell them in gallon pots for $3 dollars.
~ Cat
Cat, and Sheila, do we have the same type of Rue? I bought this plant several years back from a Botanical Garden's plants sale. It die back to the ground each winter, but shot back up and grew as rapidly as liliums do. Do yours put out white tiny flowers like this? I've one plant but have not discovered any seedlings. (Could be because the flowers bed is over crowded).
That doesn't look like rue to me. I have ruta graveolens.
This is a picture of one of the plants.
~ Cat
The blooms of rue (ruta graveolens). ~Cat
