Hi all! Happy to be a part of this forum...we are having a blast helping many caterpillars hatch into beautiful butterflies in our OKC, OK garden. I have hatched several broods of black swallowtails this season...I've only had one not hatch and I figured it was sick/dead/parasitized. I found it as I was cleaning out my enclosure one day getting ready to start another round of hatching and taking off the old chrysalises when I realized I had accidentally taken it off from the wall that it had not hatched. I set it aside and waited for it to hatch. I have since hatched several new broods since then and this one is still not hatched. I thought it was maybe a tachnid fly problem, but as I was looking at the chrysalis for holes (there were none) the thing started moving violently! I left it alone for several weeks thinking it would hatch but no luck. I was about to do the "float test" in a glass of water with it when it started moving again (mostly the thorax)! Have any of you experienced this before and if so, what was your outcome? It's embarassing to say this out loud but I'm very concerned for this little guy!
Black swallowtail pupae not hatching
