Black Swallowtails

For the last few weeks I have been watching 3 Black Swallowtails. They were of 3 different sizes, and they have been moving around through Bronze Fennel, Parsley & Rue. Last week I found a zipper mesh hamper for $5. I washed it down good and let it dry in the sun. I made a bottom from the round cardboard that came with the hamper, and covered it with paper towel, and put it in the bottom. The Parsley where 2 were eating just happened to be still in the 4"pot so I put it in there, along with an unplanted Fennel. I put a nice branch in there, but it seems they like to pupate on the zipper at the top... Thank God it is on the other side so I can still open it and clean the cage, etc.

It was in the low 40s last night so I brought them in to the back room, and I take the cage out in the sun after it warms up. One of them made a chrysalis last night, and one is beginning to.

Oh and I found another baby on the Rue last week, (making a total of 4).

I clipped off the piece of Rue the 4th one was on last night so it could join the other 3 in a warmer place...


Here are the 2 stil pigging out, not ready yet:

Congrats!!! I also use a pop up meshed hamper for the late instar cats...dratted critters just looooooooooove to crawl to the top and pupate near the zipper!!! I've gotten into the habit of putting wire jungle gyms a la caterpillar size into the cat house for them to crawl on in the hopes they'll pupate there!

The BSTs are awesome looking butterflies!!!

~ Cat

Thx Cat!
Now I need to try and find a jingle gym around the house... If either of the other 2 decide to use the zipper, it could make it very difficult to manage the cage.

BSTs are my favorite so far... but ask me again next year now I have added a few other host plants for some other kinds of BFs. :o)

I found someting to put in the cage to see if the other 2 will use it and last i looked #3 was headed for the top of the cage...
Ohh noooo :-O...fresh out of jingle gyms ..

Deb - I too have tried to provide an alternative perch for them to form their chrysalis from, but they seem to prefer the highest point in the cage.

I have managed to get 4 chrysalis from Monarch cats. But all the others got sick. Don't know if parasitic wasps laid eggs in them or what. Same thing happened to my Black Swallowtails a week ago. Very disappointing. I am afraid that one or more of the chyrsalis may die or the butterfly may come out deformed. We'll see. I need to eliminate the wasp population in my yard. Too darn many of them and nothing survives their hunting skills! :-(

Try Paige's method of a branch placed in the cage for them to climb up.

I put a good branch with 4 smaller branches in there that's as tall as the cage when I first set it up..Then I put a metal ring in, they seem to rather crawl up the mesh.

This message was edited Oct 24, 2006 9:25 PM

Bummer. I can only find two of my BST cats. I think the third didn't make it. The two are just about ready to enter the 2nd instar stage!! I can't wait until they get as big as yours are.

Deb-

Buy a kid a toy and he'll play with the box ;-)

Maggie

Exactly Maggie!LOL
Aww Sheila I know how ya feel.... My first batch was a heartbreak. None of them made it. So you can imagine how relieved I am to get this far with these. I left them out in the open garden as long as I could before putting them in the cage this time. Ideally I would like to put them in the cage 1 or 2 days b4 they are ready to close up in their chrysalis. If I keep them in a cool place after that I hope they might wait til Spring to eclose? What do y'all think???
The second one is still not chrysalized, but in that 'comma' position.. the third one is halfway up the mesh side, and the last one is still munchin and only 1 1/4" long.

I wasn't thinking about the temp when it got time for them to fly away. One of mine is in the second instar stage and the other is making the change I believe. They are not quite 3/4 " long now. I have set them out for a hour or so, but mainly they have been indoors near a window. It has been so windy and cool lately. Now we have rain on the horizon. They may not make it, but I doubt they would have faired outside any better.

#3 made it up to the top last night and is making a chrysalis now, #2 finished yesterday...Still the little one to go, but I may want to pull him out into another cage, b/c he has at least another week to go.

If I put the 3 chrysalises someplace cool would they stay until Spring?

Deb - I doubt it, but you could try. I'd try doing an internet check to see if you can find some info.

Well actually they do overwinter in their chrysalids! :o)
And in years past they would do all this outside. I was hoping someone who stops by would share their experience with BSTs that overwintered. Were they kept in a cooler place? etc?


:-D

Here the 3 are.. as of this morning, & still one skraggler coming up in about a week.

How long would they be in the chrysalis under normal conditions? Our weather hasn't gotten bad yet. We are still in the 70s most days.

I dont think it is the high temps in of themselves that bring them out, it is more about shorter days and changeing light that does it. That in one 24 hour period it gets say, around 40ish it may be a trigger, but it is much more than the obvious temperature changes that we humans are so sensitive to. The cat in the chyrsalis might seem dumb, but they sense the magnetic changes, the lessening light, and the fact that there is no nectar available until Spring. Since that criteria is definatly in play now, I expect they will be overwintering.

I have researched this for a few years, and some have said they have stayed in for as ling as 6 months...Maybe I need to start a new thread about this question. There's nothing like hearing a witness first hand.

Thanks everybody!

Continued here>
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/664892/

Oh that didn't work out very well Sheila.. I mentioned it somewhere in here lol. I think they caught something... waaaa. I am going to go full ahead though, I still have these 4 new ones since then. I am keeping an eye on their chrysalids on the back porch, on the South side of the house. They've never been touched, I even moved them by breaking off the branches they were on. I rather try that approach from now on with any cats I think.
This was a first actual intervention for me. All these years I have only been an observer/picture taker. Before that only a mere close observer. First ime for me taking any inside, etc. I will think/pray about it through the winter what to do next. I like to keep checking with their Maker ya know.

The birds were beating the bushes for berries and insects, and I had just bought that mesh hamper at a Dept Store...plus I still owed the kids a real experience. So we will see how I can translate all the best of the insect world to the class. I marked the saga to all the kids, 'To Be Continued". Plus I will make a poster with a lot of cool pictures of any stages they missed first hand. They should probably eclose before school ends next yeat too, so waiting can make things perfect in that regard.

I have been making my mind up all the way kinda like that. I wanted to do it differently than last time in every way, and so far they are all safe and sound. The last one wasn't very big, maybe half the size of the other 2. He decided to make his chrysalis under the papertoweling at the bottom of the cage. A group picture took some cutting out and attempting to scale it best as I could. This may be important to the report of the outcome in that I think the cat has all the right ingredients to make a butterfly after so many instars. The size determines how large (giant),or small (midget), they are as whole adults too.

Yep something killed the ones I took to school for sure, I strongly feel it was some sort of fungus or virus.

o/ Thanks for asking, I needed to update this story it had a gaping open end on it.

Deb

My GS pupa is still in there, about a month now. I raised the cat and have not touched the chrysalis. So I will report if there are any changes.

cool karen, Im looking forward to that!

The caterpillar making a chrysalis at the top of this page went on an adventure on Jan 8, 2007 http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/683232/ Please come over and watch it unfold..halfway across the country!!!

Debnes