Susan's cat house - Black swallowtail caterpillars

[Susan W]

Black swallowtail caterpillars. 3 on parsley, 2 on rue, 1 chrysalis. In laundry hamper.

[Susan W]

The 2 groups parsley and rue. Container s are 18th century style inkwells that make for great bud vases. With these stems kept in water and changed out daily.

[applestar]

Looks great! Those inkwells are PERFECT! Wide heavy base to counter the often top heavy stems PLUS the lumbering cats... AND the narrow neck to keep them from falling in, as well as keep the frass out of the water.

Heh -- nothing so fancy here either.

P.S. I love the playful title

[ElizabethB]

DITTO Marlingardener and Applestar. Your containers are stunning collector items. Gulp! I would be displaying them in my home and use jars for the greenery. The Caterpillars are great. Love your title.

[Susan W]

Now, where are we on these critters. The 2 on rue were thinking about it, next move and container put in a different hamper. That was Sunday. One went rogue, out a space on back porch, never to be seen again. Other started its final acts. Did the big poo, and looked for twigs. It favored one. It took several hours, but did settle on it.

Move on to Wednesday. There are 3 on the parsley, eating machines. I figure one near ready. I had to be out several hours, so had to figure out something. I had picked up a small nylon with mesh pet carrier at Aldis for less than $20, has zipper closing. (That not a store I go to but saw this on ad). Put it on shelf, out of any rain/sun. Paper on bottom. Container with parsley and 3 cats. By PM at least one had gone rogue in the pen. Came towards front, liked crawling on mesh, and really liked a binding next to zipper. That's where it is now, as a chrysalis. Next one checking out the mesh, and not sure where it will be come AM. Yes there are twigs in there. What's this about the nylon? It is hard to get in there with a cat staying so close to zipper to open. I'll try to figure something tomorrow. Was at a market all afternoon.

One more to go. When I see more in the parsley pots may leave them for the birds. Did I say that?!

[applestar]

They ALWAYS hang out by the zipper or where you HAVE to hold in order to open the zipper. Never fails -- at least one cat will make chrysalis in the most inconvenient place possible.

[Susan W]

Cat one showed itself 10 days as chrysalis. I was at market all AM and checked about 2. It was fluttering about. I tried to at least get (bad) pic. Pulled back cover and it was up IP and away!

[Susan W]

oh, meant to say up, up and away! It was strong and healthy, a good thing. 2nd one in there should emerge Wednesday. 2 more in a different enclosure a few days later.

The swallowtails start to flutter after drying and stretching, and I don't see them 'hanging' as the monarchs do.

[Susan W]

Just an update, or something. I noticed a swallowtail up close and personal in my parsley patch today. When I pick Friday for market will be checking leaves extra carefully. I do have the situation set up better than with 1st round, a plus!

There are a few Monarchs, well about 1 a day that flutter about. Not sure if looking for egg laying, food-nectar or whatever. Options aplenty.

No expert here, just sharing.

[applestar]

Sounds great Susan

I found a 2nd instar Black Swallowtail on one of my two fennel plants. For some reason I have trouble growing them. So I brought that one inside.

A huge 5th instar on a carrot left to flower. I left that one out though I did take a few pictures. (Not uploaded yet.)

If you are getting a lot of Monarch traffic, I'm envious!

[Beverly]

Hi Susan...I enjoyed reading about your cat house adventures. Black Swallowtails really do make the most stunning caterpillars. I used to have them in the garden a few years ago but have rarely seen them since. Mostly I think because I have been struggling with the host plants. Dill and parsley do not do well here; I can't get them to stand upright. I think it is too warm for them but I may be able to grow these under the shade screen covering the patio. I grow rue, but the Giant Swallowtails usually get to the rue and have them covered before the Black Swallowtails arrive. The Giant Swallowtails are ever present here. I've tried Choisya ternata (a rutaceae) which worked beautifully for the GSTs. In addition, I was surprised to note that the wasp predators did not cruise the Choisya. They cruise the Rue because that is where the wasps know to find the caterpillars but don't get near the Choisya. I had 4 consecutive broods with 100% survival rate. I was elated. Then the Choisya dropped dead of apparent root rot at the end of the rainy season. It really irritates me that the GSTs lay their eggs on the top of the leaf rather than hidden on the bottom and as a result the little caterpillars lounge in the sun on the leaf tops in the face of wasps and every other predator. Later, when they get bigger, they start to hide themselves. I generally don't bring the pillars into the house to raise them in hampers, although I appreciate the reasoning for this. I provide as safe a habitat as is reasonably possible, and only on special occasions (as a rescue operation) will I bring one or two or three in the house or the patio and put them in over-sized margarita glasses lined with cotton hankies (one caterpillar per glass) and bring them food. They seem content with this, don't leave the glasses, and I take them outside to pupate when they are ready. This is what works for me, and how I think about things. So now I have two small Rue plants that I'm sure are growing as fast as they can, and also am in the process of germinating Murraya exotica seeds (a true tropical also rutaceae) with great hopes for some good solid ST host plants at last.

[Susan W]

First monarch admired by g-son. Its still crinkled and airing. As it is dark soon and also a bit windy will keep it in overnight