I'm down in z9 and I always have EBS by Memorial day weekend. Well, it's come and gone and my friends aren't here. Anyone else having trouble with them? Or do you have them at their regular time where you live....and they're fine?
Thanks Y'all
Adrienne
Eastern Black Swallowtails..Seen any??
I've seen a few very occasional EBS butterflies. But not a single egg or cat spotted on my host plants.
I actually had one in my yard the other day. She came back twice and was feeding on my milkweed. I tried getting a picture of her but wouldn't you know the battery died in my camera as soon as I snapped the pic LOL
This year seems slow for alot of butterflies. I seem to remember having alot more around last year at this time. So I don't think it is just you ;)
Lisa
Adrienne,
I'm in the same zone as you, but other side of the state (beachside Melbourne area).
I've seen a couple EBS's in my yard laying eggs. And just last week I brought in 34 BST caterpillars from my dill plants. So, there's a few out there.
Terrie
Good to know, Ladies!
Thanks for the info...
Adrienne
Hey Adrienne,
I can happily state that I have already raised 6 EBS from cat to beautiful butterfly. I lucked out one day seeing the cats on my dill and immediately took them in. I did not get to raise them last year so I was so excited. I am not sure if I am correct here but I had four that were bigger and had more blue and two that were smaller and had more yellow. I am supposing the big ones were the males? They were so beautiful but sadly did not stay around my yard once I let them go. They were ready for greener pastures. I think I may have some more eggs on my dill now too, I am hoping anyway. It is kind of funny because it is usually me that misses all of the BF's. I have seen no Monarchs, or anything else that I like to raise but am very happy with the Black swallowtails.
Had to answer this question again. As of yesterday I now have 20 EBST babies in my BF cage happily eating away at dill and parsley. I check my dill and parsley every day and they always are on the dill. Yesterday I checked my parsley and found 10 of those babies of all sizes. I could not believe it. They have never gone for the parsley before. So I have released 7 I think and now have 20 more to go. I am thrilled because these are real beauties and fun to raise. Of course I have never raised 20 at a time before, may not be so fun after all is said and done. LOL.
So the Black swallowtail seems to be alive and well here in Abilene.
I had several on my pentas today.
Good for you bsharf. I have pentas too but my BF's never seem to care about them. Actually they don't seem to care about any of my BF plants, coneflowers, butterfly weed, Liatris, lantana. It is crazy. I have them come lay their eggs but they never nectar on my plants. Go figure.
Anyone know how long it takes for the chrysalids to...what's the right word here...hatch out? Lol... I have two right now, plus two larger cats and 4 new little cats I found last night. Good thing I have a huge parsely plant.
Hey blue eyes. Of the last set I released all but two came out in 7 days. The last two took their time and it was about 10 days I think. So around a week I would start looking for them to come out. Have fun and congrats.
Agree about the parsley plant. I have just realized they like parsley quite a bit too. Although in the cage mine are getting dill to eat when the eat up the parsley. I hope they like the dill also because I planted way more of that than parsley.
leslie
I haven't seen any in my yard either. I have tons of Dill and Parsley growing everywhere, but no swallowtails at all. I have seen some in other places in town though. Just none in my backyard garden. Usually I would have lots of cats by now, so interesting dilemma we have Adrienne!
I have brought in about 19 from Dill and 9 from Fennel, and 8or so from Parsley this week. It seems everytime I go out to cut more for those I have caged, I find more cats. Dill is of course what I don't have as much of!
Leslie..... Cats will not switch over easy, some will die if they are too small. The larger ones will just make their chrysalis early. I have had some luck in taking eggs and first instarts just as they emerge and putting them on a different plant and they will sometimes switch over. If it is parsley you need, I bought it in the grocery stores a lot last year for my cats when mine wasn't making fast enough. It just needs to be thoughly washed and then wrapped in a wet paper towel inside a baggie and refrigerated. It will last a while. It is usually less than $1.