I felt sure it contained a moth, but I didn’t know what kind. Author Betty Hall Posted on ApJCategories Backyard, Butterflies, moths & caterpillars 2 Comments on Black swallowtail butterfly egg Polyphemus MothĪ friend gave me a cocoon in early March. I am checking the egg daily and will report the happenings. I look forward to watching it change into a caterpillar, then a chrysalis, and finally an adult butterfly like the female above. I hope to photograph the black swallowtail’s life cycle. Sure enough, when I looked later I found this tiny light-colored egg on a small dill plant. I have found eggs on these plants in the past. I grow these plants partly to eat, and also to attract the butterflies.
Zebra swallowtail caterpillar for sale Patch#
Last week I saw a black swallowtail butterfly fluttering around my small patch of dill, parsley and fennel plants. Black swallowtails ( Papilio polyxenes), also known as parsley butterflies, are one of my favorites and one of the easiest to raise. It has been a relatively easy and enjoyable learning experience. I started raising native Kentucky butterflies four years ago. Author Betty Hall Posted on JCategories Backyard, Butterflies, moths & caterpillars 5 Comments on Black swallowtail caterpillar Black swallowtail butterfly egg I look forward to watching it grow and change. The caterpillar is the small black spot on the dill in the image above. I’ll keep the cage indoors where there is plenty of light but no direct sun, and where I can watch it. The dill is in a florist tube filled with water. I created a cage using a plastic shoe box (8 x 13 inches), nylon tulle from a fabric store, and elastic ribbon. It’s black with a small white patch in the middle and spines along its back. As of day six, it is about a quarter of an inch long. Since then the caterpillar has been eating dill and growing. Using a hand lens (a strong magnifying glass), I discovered the caterpillar was out and eating its egg shell. I looked again at 4:30 and saw a small black dot. When I checked the egg last Tuesday at noon, I discovered it had turned dark. The black swallowtail butterfly caterpillar has emerged! Talk about a growth spurt! Author Betty Hall Posted on JCategories Backyard, Butterflies, moths & caterpillars 1 Comment on Caterpillar – day 14 Black swallowtail caterpillar 14 days after it hatched it is an inch long – 4 times longer than it was a week ago. This seems rather yucky to me, but it’s a good example of recycling! This is common and it is a way for the caterpillar to reuse the nutrients in the old skin. The feet are initially white, but turn black later.Ī bit later, the caterpillar ate its old skin. The caterpillar also sheds its face mask, so its face is quite pale at first. The black blob in this image is the old skin.
Zebra swallowtail caterpillar for sale skin#
The skin doesn’t expand, so the caterpillar must shed its old skin to grow bigger. Looking closer, I found it was beginning to molt (shed its old skin).Ĭaterpillars have a tough skin called an exoskeleton. Yesterday, I noticed the caterpillar was very still and wasn’t eating. Instead of being dark with a white patch, it now has light green and black stripes with yellow spots. The black swallowtail caterpillar has changed significantly since last week.
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