Love that parsley!

I count 4...

So cool! Do you have more plants? They can eat a LOT!

This is it. I guess they will starve! They don't seem to be interested in the Italian flat leaf.

What?!! Isn't there something you can do?

Can you put some of the cats on the flat leaf or transplant the flat leaf so it is overlapping with the curly?

In any case, it's interesting that your cats like the curly--I had thought that the flat leaf was their clear favorite and I was bummed that most of my parsley is the curly type!

Well, now that I look at those cats, 3 or them are large...maybe they will pupate soon anyway. In any case a hungry cat will usually eat any of its species' host plants rather than starve.

I checked the other herb pots and this parsley is the only one that has cats. The little one has been munching all day, but the others aren't doing anything that I can see other than changing positions.

Get some parsley from th grocery store, wash it very well and place it in a little glass with water. You can keep feeding them for days.

As they get larger, sometimes they will be very lethargic at times between instar stages. Just to make sure they don't completely deplete your Parsley plant, start them on the grocery store parsley right away. Just rinse as Knolan said and you can take several sprigs and put them into the water asorbant floral foam. I cut the bottoms from water bottles to put the foam in. Covering it with plastic wrap keeps it moist longer. Poke a hole with a toothpick and stick in the cut Parsley.
Nice shot of your babies.

Great information. The parsley plant is beginning to look a little pitiful! They won't mind being moved and if not, where do I move them to? This is all new to me.

I bought a lot of parsley, washed it clean and put it in the planter. They are very happy now! Thanks for the info.

Oh,, they will reward you soon..
love Brainerd,, Elaine

Post pictures of the chrystalis when they get to that point. Oh, you might stick some small branches in for them to climb on.

Sheila, what an awesome photo. I had to look twice as I thought I saw something and I did. You actually have a shot of the one starting to pupate. That is sooo cool. What wonderful timing for you to have your camera handy.

Leslie

I let them pupate in the tubs on sticks, then move them to the "nursery" where roaming cats won't bother them. This isn't a good pic, but you get the idea.

I hope I don't kill them from attention. I should have left them alone to figure things out. If feel like a 9 year old - trotting out to peak at the "worms."

Oh, Leslie, I missed the 'camera ready' statement. The swallowtails stay in that position for almost 24 hours before finishing their chrystalis. They put the silk out at the tail and a loop around their head then rest; for what seems like an eternity!

I just bought a small parsley plant to stick in between my echinacea and liastris. Will any of the adult butterlies want this or is parsley strictly for the babies?

Since this is all new to me, would someone tell me where we are in the process? I have two photos to post. One of the cats is still moving around. The two on the twig have been in the same position for at least 24 hours if not longer.

Second photo.

sybil - The two cats on the stems are in the process of pupating! Yay! They will continue to harden and you will have the chrysalis stage very soon! Awesome job!!!

Well, looks like you have 'the touch' for raising cats!

I think I annoyed them into a coma.

LOL!!! sybil...!!
You can remove the branch from the feeding area until the other cat is ready so you don't disturb them as you clean the cage. They won't do anything for the next several days after they form their chrysalis.
Looking good! Great pictures!

House cleaning. I wondered. Very dirty floor. Just can't get away from chores!

get out the clorox.. JUST KIDDING.. LOL I have to plant more parsley tomorrow,,
Elaine

I had to buy parsley. They stripped my poor plant nearly bare. We don't have a long enough growing season to start again!

Ladies have you found and color change with your BST cats? All the ones that pupated in a cage on my pool deck are brown and they'll stay in there for months. Then the ones that I hatched free as a bee outside make green chrysalis and hatched out in a few days!! I don't have the guys on my pool deck in the AC...it just doesn't make much sense to me and I wonder if it's happened to anyone else? I'd love some input on this. I did a Butterfly camp the other day and the kids asked about the colors....now I can't get it off my mind! :)

Adrienne

Adrienne, I have had them green and brown, with the same background of black mesh screening, I'm not sure what determines the color of the chrysalis. Mine eclosed about the same length of time. It is interesting.

I ditto that! I've had both colors for no reason. Both pupated on the same thing. One was green, the other was brown. Both eclosed at about the same length of time. They both ate the same thing. I always thought it was more of a camo thing to blend in with their environment as a means to hide from predators. Interesting question!

I thought that too, but now I'm not so sure...maybe it's a gender thing.....could the males do one color and the females the other? I don' thave any cats right now, maybe someone could check that out.

I am also curious as to what the difference in the cat colors are. I have only had one of the black, the rest of my BSTs have been the green.
I also have had a lot of the dark brown and green chrysalis though.

Interesting conversation I missed while I was sleeping.

Another thing I missed while I was sleeping . . .

One down. One to go.

In just two hours, the second cat has changed from a green caterpillar into this.

Here they are together.

Woowooo!!! I see Black Swallowtail butterflies in your future!! Isn't nature facinating?

Thanks for identifying Sheila! I thought they were Monarchs until I saw pictures of the Monarch chrysalis.

I look up the Black Swallotail and here's what I found. Earlier today, people were questioning the color differences...

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/johnson/hort/Butterfly/BlackSwallowtail.htm

that would be - "I looked up..."

and, "Swallowtail"

Sigh.

Question: One chrysalis is secreting some fluid. Is that normal?