Where did they go?

As late as Saturday, I had about 18 BST cats on my fennel. Some were getting quite big. Yesterday in the evening, most were gone!!! Now only the littlest ones remain. Where do I look for their chrysalis'? Do they not pupate on the host plant? I've included a pic of the biggest cat as of last Friday.

Wahhh...I wanted to watch one but didn't want to take it too early because I don't have a 'real' caterpiller cage and still didn't find tulle.

Thanks for your help on where to look for the missing cats.

~Sunny

I guess I made a mistake planting the bronze fennel instead of the regular kind. I haven't seen any BST cats on my parsley or bronze fennel yet. I saw a pair of BST hovering nearby but so far no cats. If the fennel is biennial (is that the correct term?), I should be able to plant the regular fennel in 2008. LOL I was told earlier that bronze fennel attracts aphids. I have the fennel planted next to a rose bush that is infested with aphids and so far no aphids on the fennel. Anyone have a different result with bronze fennel?

Thanks,

Chuck

Chuck, mine is the Bronze Fennel, I'm pretty sure. And it was covered in cats this year, no aphids!

(going cat hunting at lunchtime!)

~Sunny

good luck finding them lol. It can be difficult. Look on the stalks of any nearby shrubs

Well, all of them are gone except the itty, bitty ones. And the others hadn't gotten to HUGE size. DH found a snake down by that fennel tonight, and I saw a lot of birdie activity yesterday too - but was busy working and couldn't leave.

I'll check the huge shrub we have nearby, but somehow I think they are all lost :( Now to get some tulle before these teensy ones disappear!!

~Sunny

Sunny ,should I be looking for tulle also? Oh and by the way what is it? lol

tulle is cheap, fine netting at any fabric store - only about 60 cents/yd at walmart 99 cents at Jo Ann's

w/ two twist ties and two craft rings (also at walmart or jo anns), a cat/btfly cage can be made alone, or better with a partner

lay out tulle with the length of the fabric vertical to you (will not need more than a yard)
roll it so that it overlaps about 6-8"
Put part craft ring on inside of roll and the tightening part on the outside - be sure to leave some tulle below the craft ring for twist tying.
Do the same thing to the top.
If you need to, you can pull the fabric through after tightening slightly to get the rings even.
The twist tie on top can be looped to hook on something to hang. I like to rest the bottom on a table- like surface, b/c I like to pot the plants the cats are eating - I don't have to go out to find fresh food so often
You'll want the tulle in between the rings to be tight enough that the overlap is a tight closure
The overlap is easily relaxed by unhooking it from where it hangs to ease out butterflies for release. The tulle is soft and doesn't hurt wings when the butterfly beats them against sides of cage. It also is great for butterfly feet to grip while drying. It is cheap enough to throw away when done or tough enough to wash (I throw it away).
The craft rings have been used to attach chrysalis, but a few branches wouldn't hurt anything.

It is best to start w/ the teensy cats or eggs. The bigger cats might have already been infected w/ parasites. It isn't any fun to work so hard to raise a cat to have it eaten from the inside out before it is a butterfly. Been there, done that, eeeww!

The cat you have on your fennel is a black swallowtail cat. The last batch of the year will overwinter as a chrysalis to open in the spring. The chrysalis looks like bird poo and will vary in color slightly to match the twig they are attatched to. These chrysalis hang from two threads 1/3 of the way down the chrysalis. The top is touching the twig and the bottom hangs down slighty at an angle from the twig. These cats probably left their host plant to find such a hidy spot to transform. What is close by that has horizontal brown twigs? They also seem to like to go up stems instead of down, but a place to hang is more important.