I had a bunch of chrysalides in my butterfly nursery that never eclosed back in September, when I released my last black swallowtail. I put the crate out in the garage, on top of the fridge, for the winter. I look at it every day, because I'd seen a posting by a DG'er about once he had put his crate with uneclosed chrysalids away for the winter, and found to his dismay that somewhere along the way, some of them had eclosed and then died in captivity because he didn't think to check the crate again. Well, sure enough, this morning when I looked at the crate, there is a butterfly!!!!!!!! It's like a miracle!!!! Those chrysalids have been just sitting there, all forlorn, and I never had the heart to clean out the crate and get rid of them. But now I'm very concerned: it's still chilly here (it's 34 degrees right now!) and the only flowers out are camellias and a few brave flowering trees (but just barely). PLEASE HELP, BUTTERFLIERS, WHAT SHOULD I DO? I'm just sick about this!!!
Oh no, I just realized, there are TWO of them!!!!
This message was edited Feb 14, 2008 9:02 AM
Help!!! Long dormant chrysalid eclosed; no flowers!!
Well, now that the holiday is over, could you get some cut flowers cheap? Or you could feed them Gatorade (I was in a butterfly house once that passed out Q-tips soaked in Gatorade to feed the bfs). I'm just glad to hear you had some that actually emerged after so long. I still have a few Zebra ST chrysalids and I was thinking they would never come out, but maybe there's hope.
I have to think that the butterflies emerged because they knew it was time. It was 38 degrees this morning in Tampa, and this afternoon I saw a swallowtail. They can get a lot of solar energy, so you might try putting them in a sunny spot and see if they get warm enough to fly. As for nectar, are there any wildflowers or weeds blooming? Do the farmers have any crops that would be blooming about now (it's orange blossom time here but I don't think you have citrus in SC).
Everyone else, please chime in!
Melanie
Thanks Melanie! What an exciting morning, I still can't believe, after all these months, that these two beauties emerged from such dried up old chrysalides!!! There are still more in the crate, so I may see a few more miracles!! I will remember the Gatorade, I'll get some tomorrow to keep in the pantry. I ended up putting a little hummingbird nectar over some cut up bananas, out of sheer desperation, but they showed no interest. After their wings were dry, they started getting antsy (by then we'd brought the crate out into the sun, on the deck) and I didn't want them to use up their energy flitting around in the crate, so I unzipped the opening, and watched them both fly away. I fervently HOPE they found some good warm place with maybe some wildflowers, like you said. I know the wild mustard is blooming right now, don't know if that would interest them. But there was no alternative, they HAD to leave the crate, so I have to have faith that they'll be all right. What miracles these little creatures are!!!! Thanks again Melanie, good luck with yours!! Wish we had the Zebras here!!!
If you have pawpaws, you'll have the zebras. I hear there are a lot of them near the Potomac river; I found that interesting. I'm sure the bfs will do fine; they're hardwired to survive. There are a lot of little weeds that bloom that I had often overlooked before I started bf watching. I never even noticed frogfruit until I started reading about it as a host plant. I was also reading about how butterflies see nectar and it's like it glows ultraviolet to them. I saw a picture in one of my books where it showed a flower under UV light, and you could see where the nectar glowed like little crystals so the bf knew exactly where to land on it. That way they don't waste time sticking their proboscis where there's not a lot of nectar.
Thea, I think you did the right thing...they'll find what they need. I agree with Melanie, you could have fed them and kept them caged, but what kind of life is that for a butterfly? They should be free to do what bfs do, you did good!
Like mellie, I'm beginning to see a few butterflies (didn't have glasses on so couldn't tell what kind they were, lol). There are some wild things blooming and I believe they will find food. Since we have a few early butterflies around the house, they apparently have someplace they are going to survive the still cold nights. I agree you did the right thing in setting them free. Aren't they a more than welcome site after the dreary winter months?
I've read a lot about butterflies being able to tell the lengthening of daylight. That's how Monarchs know when to migrate. So I'm thinking maybe even in the chrysalis they can tell the days are getting longer and know that it's time to come out and play.
Melanie
It's just amazing to me....... I so love our natural world....