Tonight while I was cutting rosemary I noticed about 50 black swallowtail cats on my meadow rue. Its about 60 out right now but I have had frost on my car windows the last couple of mornings. Is it getting too cold for them. Are they late for making their cocoons? Im worried they wont make it. Do I need to save some? Im not triing to sound desparate but I don't want them to die because its too cold. The plants are on a east...south east wall. I tried to take pics but my batteries died. Im recharging them so hopefully tomarrow I will post a pic. Thanks for any info.
Rhonda
too cold for black swallowtails?
Rhonda, my butterfly book says the tropical bfs, in their chrysalis stage, like the Gulf Frits or the Zebra Longwing cannot handle prolonged cold. But, others like the Tiger Spicebush and the Zebra Swallowtails can and can even be refrigerated at 40°.
Since the tropical bfs are in the family Heliconia and the black swallowtail is in the family Papilionidae, I would think they could handle the cold when they pupate, and eclose when it warms up outside.
Hi, willowsrain--
I will be interested to find out what others think about your swallowtail predicament--
I had some late season monarch cats on my Milkweed last week and I was worried about them since it seemed so chilly and so late in the year, I ended up leaving them out in the garden and letting nature take her course. The next day they were gone, and I suppose the birds got them--they need their nourishment too for their migrations, so all was not lost, I guess.
The swallowtails are pretty hardy group though. They overwinter in their chrysalis so maybe some of yours will make it and you will see them in springtime...
Keep us posted on how they are faring... t.
Here is a pic of some of the black swallowtail cats i found on my meadow rue. They are still there and doing fine. Mother Nature knows best.
here's another pic
heres one more...
They seem to be doing great willowsrain!
If you have a clean cage and some portable plants you can bring them in, and they will survive only if the cage is kept well. I reccommend not touching them, and seeing if any local nurseries have Parsley, Dill, or Fennel in 4" pots. With that many it will be a lot of work but it can be done.
If you don't have a proper cage you might look around for one of those round mesh pop-up hampers. I found one at Ross for 5 bucks. I hosed it down really good and dried it in the sun first. Put a clean papertowel layer on the bottom, then your plants.
See how many times I said the word clean? Reason being, cats get viruses so easily, and that can be a big dissapointment after all the hard work.
Black Swallowtails overwinter in their Chrysalides, but even then need to be sprayed with a mist every couple days to keep from drying out.
I just started a couple of threads about this same subject a few days ago:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/663901/ where I began, and ....
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/664892/ where I hope to collect as many overwntering stories as possible
Hope this helps,
Deb
Awesome photos! I had that dilemma about a month ago when I wasn't sure what to do with them all. Well, unfortunately, the birds spotted them before I could do anything and had a feast. I only managed to save one which did eventually become a butterfly that I released. Good luck!