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Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars and pansies |
I was looking around the plants in Home Depot and noticed some parsley which at first glance seemed infested with worms. Upon closer inspection I saw that they were actually caterpillars that I recognized as what I thought were swallowtail butterfly larvae. I decided to buy two plants and transferred as many caterpillars as I could from the other plants next to them. I am not sure if the clerk noticed that I was buying plants covered in caterpillars or not!
Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar |
When I got the caterpillars home I put the pots of parsley next to a big pot of pansies and they ate and grew for a few weeks. There were six caterpillars and they posed for some photos as well! I noticed one crawling off into the garden one day and realized he was probably ready to pupate. As I wanted to see them as butterflies, I grabbed a clear plastic bin and put the pots and caterpillars inside and then put a window screen on top of the bin. One by one they spun cocoons attached to the sides of the pots over the course of a few days right before we went on vacation. One caterpillar died before it could pupate - I am not sure why.
Female Eastern Black Swallowtail on hydrangea |
My mother-in-law was watering my garden during our absence and I asked her to keep an eye out for any change. She called the day before we were coming home to let me know that one butterfly had arrived. I told her to put some flowers in the bin so that hopefully she wouldn't have to release it before we got home. The next morning, another butterfly arrived and by the afternoon when we got home, there were three living and one that made it out of the cocoon but the wings never opened up. I wanted to photograph the butterflies before setting them free, but I was hoping they would "pose" on some flowers for me first.
Male Eastern Black Swallowtail on black-eyed susan |
When I opened the screen, I scooped up the most active butterfly and it sat on my finger for a few seconds and then took off into the air. This must have been my "first born." I set up my camera on a tripod and then took another butterfly out and set it gently on one of my hydrangea blossoms. It sat and rested for several minutes allowing me ample time to take photos. This is a female Eastern Black Swallowtail. After awhile, I picked her up to move her to a different flower and she took off into the sky as well. This left one more butterfly and a pupa. I took out the last butterfly and brought it to a black-eyed susan. I only got a few shots of this male; the males have more yellow than blue on their wings, before he too, flew off into the sky.
Swallowtail on Scarlet Zinnias |
The next morning I checked that pupa and it was still the same. I wondered if I would have another butterfly by the end of the day. Sure enough, that evening when I came home from work, the last butterfly had been "born". This time I decided a red zinnia I had grown from seed would be the best backdrop for this flying flower. This one was also a female and she must have enjoyed modeling for me as she stayed for at least 20 minutes and allowed me to move her to different flowers a few times before she finally took flight. It was great fun watching the whole miraculous cycle. I put the parsley plants in the garden in the hopes that one of my "babies" may come home to lay her eggs and start the cycle all over again.
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