Last Batch of Butterflies, 2011

I was cleaning out my refrigerator yesterday when I found my container of butterfly chrysalises, and realized that I haven't really given much of an update to the last hoard of butterflies I raised before the end of summer!  This must change!

For those who don't know, I raise butterflies every summer.  I only deal with two species for now:  Monarchs and Eastern Black Swallowtails.  Maybe someday I'll branch out to more, but for now, two is enough ^^.  I didn't have any luck with Monarchs this year, probably due to it being so hot and dry this summer, but I had TONS of Black Swallowtails!

I had so many in my last brood that I ran out of potted parsley (their host plant) and had to resort to store-bought.  I think I counted about forty caterpillars in all.  I lost a couple due to not being careful with how I set up my tank (I use a twenty gallon long fish tank with tree branches held steady with duct tape for the caterpillars to pupate on, annnd, well, I had some exposed duct tape... ).

It took about a week for all of them to morph to the next stage of life so I could "harvest" them for spring.  For some reason unknown to me, the caterpillars seemed to like a certain corner of the tank....

Seriously?!  There is an entire twenty gallons of space, with tons of other sticks and walls to attach to, and thirteen of them decided to settle on just four inches of stick.  THIRTEEN!!! 

Insects...  

Well the seasons were changing so after they all pupated, I took them off their sticks, put them in a plastic container, and into the fridge they went for the winter.  I'll glue them back on more sticks when spring arrives, then put them outside so they can emerge, fly away, and be free!  

Come spring, I shall go into detail about how to raise your own butterflies; trust me, it's not as hard as you think, and is totally fascinating!