Now that I have a family!(Black Swallowtail?)

Moving in,What do I do with them,They have nearly eaten their way through all of the dill and are headed for the gardens,DH will NOT let that happen.Please any advice on what I can do and how?
Thanks Pheadra

Pheadra - You probably need to go to the grocery store and buy some curly parsley for them. They will only eat Dill, Parsley, Fennel, and Rue. So the rest of your garden plants will be okay. (Unless something else eats those plants, but it won't be the Black Swallowtail caterpillars!) Congrats and good luck!

We have 3 old aquariums that are not being used,Can I clean them up and use them as catapillar homes,I know I will need to add a mesh top to them but what else would I need to do.also would they need to be put in an area that is cool or just a shadey area.
I read the thread on cat-houses but it doesn`t say if anything needs to be on the floor?
(newspaper Etc)

Yay Pheadra! An aquarium will work, just put paper towels on the bottom for easy cleanup...there will be a lot of frass! Can you put them inside? That way they'll be safe from crawly bugs that might get in.

When they start getting big, you'll have to put sticks in there for them to pupate on, you don't want them to pupate on the top because it's difficult to move, and best not to disturb the chrysalids.

BSTs are the easist to raise because you can get their food at the grocery store!

Thanks,fly_girl
I can put them in the extra room,will they need misting or anything? I have the (wet)floral forms and paper towels on my list of things to get when I head off to work today,and some of the tulle for the top anything else I might need?Tomorrow will be moving day for the cats,I don`t want to stress them to much,right now I have plenty of Dill,Fennel for them and I will have to buy them "dinner" after they go through all of that.
Also I have an old ball cap washer(plastic frame) that I can put in for them to pupate on.or do they needs sticks?

Pheadra, people on this forum will help walk you thru the whole process, I couldn't have had my first experience without them!!!
I found my first cats on my dill. I was so worried about them because the dill also attracted a huge number of bees and wasps and stinging things, so I brought 25 of the cats in, not knowing anything about the process! My dill was going to seed so I was awfully worried about what they would eat! The dill was so easy too, to stick into the floral foam. I had to change to parsley and the stems are more bendy. I used up most of my parsley in the garden, so I had to buy more at the store. I washed it thoroughly, and let it soak in cold water, it seems to stay fresher when you do that. The cats eat a LOT, and poop a lot, and they are SO fun to watch, I got so attached to mine. My first eclosing just happened this morning and it was just so exciting!!! Ask questions on DG, these folks are the BEST.....
This is one of my first photos, when I first brought my cats inside. The dill was so nice and neat to work with, and the cats could climb easily on it.

The parsley was messier to work with, and harder for them to climb once their little bodies got so big and fat, but they love the stuff!

georgiagarden3 - Welcome to the forum and the addicting world of butterfly/caterpillar raising. There are several previous threads that can be found in the forum sticky. And some really good ones about making inexpensive cages. Your aquariums are fine as long as there is good circulation and they are not getting any direct sunlight. The glass will act as a magnifying glass and cook your cats. Paper towels on the bottom work best as they are absorbent and easy to remove and replace. No harmful chemicals on them either that newpaper might possibly have.

Check out this sticky thread for more info:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/744103/

And if you have questions after reading some of those threads, ask away!

I used a collapsible dog crate from WalMart for my cats. We had bought these crates actually to transport two kittycats in each when we moved to SC from CT last year. It has a zipped mesh door and mesh on the two sides. I put a wrought iron plant stand upside down in it, thinking they might like to pupate on the legs of it, but no one did! Six of them pupated on the bottom part of it instead. I put in some twigs too, but they only used them for exercise. Most of them pupated on the mesh sides and around the door, thankfully none of them pupated ON the mesh door, that would've made getting in there to clean and check them out REALLY difficult! I made sure the door to the room stayed closed so my kittycats and dog wouldn't jostle their table at all and upset them.

Thea, how awesome is it that you are able to give great advice to this newbie starting out. Since you have just gone through the whole experience, your knowledge will be of great help. I am still so proud of you and now you are lending your knowledge to someone going through the same thing you did. This is just the best forum ever.

Leslie

You said it, Miz Leslie!!! I just love this forum!! Without all the help I got from you all, I don't know if I would've been brave enough to try my Butterfly Project!

Thanks everyone! for the wonderful advice,But please stay tuned,I have gotten the 'nursery' ready and added a few of the BST to them,Please take a look and tell me if I need something different.I did try to get about the same size in each "Nursery".
Thanks Pheadra

GG3-

Be very careful with grocery parsley/dill. Even the organic can have pesticides in the form of BT which is put there to kill caterpillars. I was not aware washing well was effective (see advice above), I hadn't tried washing it vigorously. You might want to try only putting one cat on the grocery herbs at first to see how it does.

Just my 2 cents,

Maggie

This message was edited Aug 5, 2007 7:19 AM

I was worried about using parsley from the grocery store, but after seeing on this forum that so many other people, stressing the need to wash it very well, have used it with no problems, I figured it was worth a try. I'd used up all of my homegrown, and the alternative was to leave the poor cats outside to forage on their own, where the wasps would get them! When Mama laid her eggs in my dill, she didn't take into account that my dill was about ready to go to seed and my parsley supply couldn't support all her brood! I bought the healthiest looking parsley I could find at our local shops, and washed it over and over, and let it soak in cold water as well, before giving it to my youngsters.

Cool Beans Thea!

Will be watching this thread to see how this comes out. Would love to find there's a way around what killed the ones I had on grocery stock.

Best,

Maggieg

If the grower used a systemic on the plants, I could see that killing them. I think the Bt is a topical, not a systemic..... I know it has to be ingested as opposed to a contact kill.

It's difficult to grow enough of your own parsley and dill to keep all the cats fed, the more plants you have, the more places for the mom butterflies to lay their eggs! I would so much prefer being able to keep them safely on just what I grow, but it's impossible!!!!! It IS scary, Maggieg, I feel so bad that you had a sad experience, I think that would put me off raising cats altogether. You feel so responsible for these helpless creatures depending on you......

Thea, your above post hits the nail on the head. I thought surely I'd have enough parsley, dill and fennel planted. Geez, It's all down to a nub now. I went to walmart and stocked up on probably enough to get me through Wednesday! I do have 31 cats that will soon pupate. It's the ones I release that have me worried. Where are they going to lay their eggs? Will it grow quick enough to serve as hosts again? I just don't know.

Oh, no. I just re-read a few posts above. I only ran my grocery parsley under the sprayer. I hope my babies don't get sick!

31??!?!?!?!!!!!! Oh my goodness Cordele, you've got your hands full!!! I know, I've wondered too, if the eggs are hatching outdoors and they're on their own, what WILL they eat when stuff is gone by or there's none left? I know we're told Mother Nature handles all this stuff but I'm not convinced.

I don't know if washing it really well makes a difference, it just makes me feel like it might. I wash it over and over, in streaming cold water, and then I soak it in a bowl of cold water for a little while too, which seems to bring some new life to it. If it's limp, it's harder for them to climb on, plus I think they're less thrilled with it (if a cat CAN be thrilled). Dill is so much easier to work with, and for them to climb, but it just doesn't last long in the garden. I wonder, does anyone know if it will grow twice in one season if you cut the seedheads off?

Thank you!!!!! I want to thank everyone for the wonderful advice and sharing.
We released our very first(3) today,and have 6 more to go.

Congratulations!!!!!!! Doesn't releasing them give you a such a good feeling of accomplishment and a relief that those bfs may not have made it through had they not been raised my your hand.

I had so much fun with them,Even my "macho" 17 yr old was enjoying them I'd catch him in there watching them,and when we checked on them today and found them ready to release he actually wanted to help........

It is a great feeling when you get to release them. : )

I actually watched one Frit drop out this morning. He was rolled up like a doobie from back at Woodstock in the 60's. lol Didn't take but a minute for him to unroll and start drying. : )
~Lucy

(disclamer...I did not attend Woodstock in the 60's, I was just a tad toooo young. : ) )

2 more awaited me this morning.!!!!!!!
I small or maybe large problem,One is still in its safe little bundle,I can see him "jump around" every few minutes,Could he be stuck? what can I do?
Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Georgia, that's normal, they are just developing, it's incredible they can do anything in that tiny, tight little 'doobie' of a bundle lol


Disclaimer...I did not attend Woodstock, wanted to but my parents wouldn't let me....I was only 12!

Disclaimer, What is Woodstock?LOL

Hi, all,

I am new to this forum, but I just accidentally discovered the tendency of the Black Swallowtail butterfly to lay eggs on parsley. I had two varieties of parsley (in pots on the front porch) the flat leaf, and the curly. DH said that "mum" looked at all the herbs, and laid the eggs on the curly parsley. I did find one or two on the flat leaf parsley. Before we saw the butterfly laying the eggs, I almost knocked the little caterpillars off the parsley, but something in my head said, "Hey wait a minute, let's find out what these guys are!" It's amazing that something so goofy (but kinda' cute) looking could become something so beautiful! They've already eaten all the curly parsley, but the flat-leaf plant is quite large. I sure hope there's enough, because there are a bunch of the little guys, and a few more eggs to hatch. Now, I'm obsessive about moving them to the other plant, lest they don't find it for themselves. Okay, I'm hooked. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread, but I want you all to know that I was happy to find this thread and get some additional information.

Bonnie

Welcome NanuBunny,

LOL, you're hooked now! So good to have you here, clearly one of us 'cat crazy people.

Maggie

If you remember being at Woodstock, you weren't there.

Regarding pesticides, check with your local nurseries and your wholesale nurseries. Some are getting wise to the needs of us butterfly / cat people and are producing safer plants. Still, the Catbird will wash new milkweed with a mild soap solution, then rinse real well, before placing them in the yard, even if the nursery promises that no pesticides have been used (some qualify this as recently, others as never).

Rod

Bonnie, are you going to bring some of your cats inside to raise? I wasn't going to (I was scared, my first experience!) but then I read more and more on this forum and just HAD to try it. I felt so bad when I learned the Black Swallowtail is prey to wasps and cardinals, and I have lots of both. My first cats were on my dill plant, and it was starting to go by, so I worried about what I would feed them. I ended up buying parsley at the grocery store for them, and washing it VERY thoroughly. They made the switch from dill to parsley with no problem. My first batch of BST's totalled 24, then I added another 17 last week, and another 6 just yesterday. Next year I hope to try a different species!

It's so neat to hear people talk of Woodstock again!!!! Those were the days.......

Thea, I have not tried to bring them inside because I really don't have a good container. I will check out the sticky thread and see if I can put something together. Most birds don't come that close to the front porch, but there are fewer cats than there were initially. It may be that some of the bigger ones got up onto the camellia to pupate, since the parsley is not all that sturdy. I will look carefully this evening. I'm getting a little worried, because they're starting to eat the stems of the second plant. There are a few leaves left, but not many. Since several people here here had good luck with supermarket parsley, maybe I'll stop on the way home and get some. Our resident plant/gardening expert here at work suggested Queen Anne's Lace which is a member of the carrot family. (The web site that I checked said that they will eat anything that's a member of the carrot family). Anybody else have any experience with that?
I plan to plant lots of parsley, dill and fennel next year, along with some milkweed. Am I hooked or what???

Bonnie

Snif! They completely ate the second plant, and before I could find something else, they all left - while I was at work! I am not wired for this, I don't handle guilt well. I had mental images of the little guys trudging off, looking back over their...uh...shoulders. Don't know what happened to them. I can't raise them inside, because we travel too much. Maybe next year, I'll just start raising parsley and fennel, and planting them outside at intervals, so the food supply remains constant. Sigh....