One of the vegetables I planted this year was fennel, the host plant for Black Swallowtail Butterflies. I became absloutely giddy when I saw my first female arrive to lay her eggs, tiny golden specks on the lacy stalks...
and since then I've had varying degrees of success at raising the larvae as I've studied and learned from their behavior.
I'll be sharing my observations on how to foster and release them over several posts...
but for now, enjoy caterpillars in their First Instar Stage. In this particular scheme I inverted a glass florist's frog and pushed the stems of the fennel through. I works really well, easy to replenish with fennel and water...
while they're munching away, encased in terrariums in my dining room, getting ready to pupate and then fly away.
uh, oh. i just ate the fennel greens in my salad tonight.
ReplyDeletecan't wait to read about them!
ReplyDeleteI'm growing fennel, so will follow this closely -- though will probably leave the butterflies to sort through life by themselves.
ReplyDeletebc, let me know how you use it. Last time it "clashed" with the rest of the dish.
ReplyDeleteannie, it's been fascinating. I need to shoot some video of one emerging.
AH, the large caterpillars are nasty to birds, etc, but the eggs and small pillars must be a treat to lizards, etc, because they quickly disappear, at least at my house they do. I've really had to monitor them closely to harvest the eggs so I can see the whole process. It's magical. luckily I'll be doing that for you so not to worry.
Maybe that's why I have so many lizards. And I am going to love to see nature in action on this blog. As a kid, I remember collecting caterpillars in a jar (probably not a nice thing to do, as our jars did not look nearly so nice as the environs you've set up) and seeing some turn into butterflies. It is magic.
ReplyDeleteRaising your own butterflies. I have never thought of that, I have always left it to nature. Amazing what you learn from blogs.
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating! I homeschool my boys and this is a great project. Is it too late to start now?
ReplyDeleteAH, not to worry, there's caterpillar poop to contend with, water and fennel to manage, it's just like having some very small dogs that don't bark at the mail carrier or nip at you when you touch their sensitive front paws (Ranger).
ReplyDeleteJE, sometimes I castigate myself for getting things without any real thought to why I want them (terrariums) and then the opportunity presents itself. It's been so much fun.
SM, never too late, just monitor the host plant - passion vine for Gulf Fritillaries - keep the pillars in a terrarium they can't crawl out of (very important) and keep small branches available for them to attach themselves to. It's amazing to watch and it's really good for the environment.
ha! I just rescued a catapillar the other day. Usually those I find are fuzzy black. This one was different. It was grayish and covered in thorns. The way I remember them as a kid when they would connect their cacoons to the roof gutters.
ReplyDeleteFostering caterpillars. You're amazing, Paula. I look forward to watching the magic unfold here.
ReplyDeleteCount me in on the M word, magic. To me-of-not-much-science, there's lots of magic in nature. For that matter, I've never understood why magic and science so often find themselves at odds.
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