Don in SJ
Silver Member
- May 20, 2005
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OK, We have been having these Black Swallowtail caterpillars on our Rue bushes for years and two years ago I did photograph the sequence of life , well, this year we have had numerous Black Swallowtail and for the first time Giant Swallowtail, which I have never even heard of before, must be uncommon.
Well, both are on the same two bushes, we lost most of them to Daddy Long Leg spiders and birds, so we decided to harvest them once they left the Rue bushes for turning into pupae's on the side of the house or whatever.
We saw a TV program where a classroom of kids had done this, so after looking on the web we decided to try it and hopefully save these beauties.
Now, the main reason for constructing the terrarium is so they "make it" it seems when they are this late in the year they will not hatch until spring, and many die by birds, bugs and cold weather. We are hoping the three that are in the aquarium now will make it, there are still 3 more caterpillars on the bushes, and I expect them to leave them tomorrow or Friday.
We will keep it outside and mist it to keep humidity up. If real cold weather comes, I will put it in the garage for those days (50* or so in winter in the garage).
Ok, so I took an old aquarium that my Dad used for turtles, and mounted a plastic strip across the top. I wax string tied on three new apple tree branches and then glued them to the plastic strip and bottom of the aquarium to secure them.
Since I previously had a small terrarium that I had put the three caterpillars in late last week, I had to tie those smaller branches that they attached to , my new bigger more secure branches.
I did that, felt good about the sturdiness and then went down to the pond and harvested some sphagnum moss and covered the bottom to help maintain moisture.
It has a nice lid, so there it is, one butterfly terrarium!!! We had to use a bigger aquarium because the website said once they hatch, they need room to open up and spread their wings or else they will die. So the previous small terrarium was insufficient in size.
I included as the last photos what they should look like when they emerge as Butterflies...................
Don
Well, both are on the same two bushes, we lost most of them to Daddy Long Leg spiders and birds, so we decided to harvest them once they left the Rue bushes for turning into pupae's on the side of the house or whatever.
We saw a TV program where a classroom of kids had done this, so after looking on the web we decided to try it and hopefully save these beauties.
Now, the main reason for constructing the terrarium is so they "make it" it seems when they are this late in the year they will not hatch until spring, and many die by birds, bugs and cold weather. We are hoping the three that are in the aquarium now will make it, there are still 3 more caterpillars on the bushes, and I expect them to leave them tomorrow or Friday.
We will keep it outside and mist it to keep humidity up. If real cold weather comes, I will put it in the garage for those days (50* or so in winter in the garage).
Ok, so I took an old aquarium that my Dad used for turtles, and mounted a plastic strip across the top. I wax string tied on three new apple tree branches and then glued them to the plastic strip and bottom of the aquarium to secure them.
Since I previously had a small terrarium that I had put the three caterpillars in late last week, I had to tie those smaller branches that they attached to , my new bigger more secure branches.
I did that, felt good about the sturdiness and then went down to the pond and harvested some sphagnum moss and covered the bottom to help maintain moisture.
It has a nice lid, so there it is, one butterfly terrarium!!! We had to use a bigger aquarium because the website said once they hatch, they need room to open up and spread their wings or else they will die. So the previous small terrarium was insufficient in size.
I included as the last photos what they should look like when they emerge as Butterflies...................
Don
I honestly have never had that much luck, as hard as I try to save the critters. WOW! Great job! Amazing!
