Hi Jess,

Welcome to our group! Take a good look at your chrysalis. If it looks intact, no holes or liquid leaking out, it may be fine. Is there some way you can keep it outside in a container to protect it? Once the weather warms up for a few weeks, your butterfly should emerge. If you keep it indoors it will come out too soon, before there are any flowers for it to get nectar from. It will need to be able to climb up on something (a stick, or the side of its container so it can let its wings hang straight down while they dry). I keep mine in an aquarium (against the back of my house so it doesn't get rained in) with a screen lid and plenty of sticks leaning up against the sides. I hope this helps you. Good Luck! I have a lot of photos on my butterfly website if you'd like to check it out. Maybe I have a picture of your type of chrysalis.

Judy
www.ButterflyNature.com

I do have it in a smallish container outside right now, Its pretty warm here in Texas already, I want to rehang it somewhere so It can emerge safely. I just don't know where though.

I actually have an old aquarium I can keep it in! I think I'll do that, Thank you Judy!

A lot of chrysalises "look" dead, especially those that overwinter, because they are meant to blend in with their surroundings - browned, curled leaves and stems. Thus, the chrysalid likely appears dead but is not. I hope your friends did not damage it, yikes!

Susan

The chrysalis is green, I actually think it may be a black swallowtail from some pictures i've seen, but I can't figure out how to post a picture though.

The chrysalis has inspired me to start a whole garden of flowers that I planted to start germinating last night =]

To post pictures, Jess, you need to use a photo hosting site, like Photobucket. You can upload your pictures to the website, after registering (it's free), and then post them here by clicking on HTML Tag to copy it, and then pasting it here.

Sounds like it probably is a Black Swallowtail. Do you have any dill, fennel, Queen Anne's Lace, or something in the apiaceae family close by? That is the host plant for the Black Swallowtails.

I'm so glad you've decided to plant a butterfly garden. I like moths, too, and raise the caterpillars of many sphinx moths that I find in my garden, like eumorpha achemon, hummingbird clearwing, tomato and tobacco sphinx. We used to have a young man that participated in the forum, and he was such a joy and inspiration to all of us. I hope you decide to stick around. And, please, feel free to ask any questions you want. There is a FAQ here to help you with host plants and information on butterfly gardening.

Susan

I think Todd[the chrysalis] is dead.
I went to my dads over spring break and I came back and he/she/it still hasn't emerged yet.
Does it take that long for them to emerge?
If not I'm pretty sure it's dead =[

Hi Jess,

Don't give up yet! If the chrysalis is still green with no signs of damage (small holes, black spots, oozing, etc) then it is probably just fine. They can take many weeks after the weather is a steady 70 degrees to decide to emerge.

~ Judy
www.ButterflyNature.com

Oh my goodness guys!
Todd[The butterfly/moth] Finally emerged!!!!
=] Im just nout sure what it is, and It's raining insanely outside and I dont want to let him go in this kind of weather, Right now I have him inside my aquarium with a mesh wire lid so he wont get out and be mistaked for a bug and get squished by my stepdad.
Another thing, I was germinating my plants and I set them outside for the weekend because It was absolutely beautiful and Before school i didnt take them back into the garage and, as I said before it's raining badd outside and they were WAYYY overwatered =[
This makes me think their going to drown and die although I took them inside...
What are your opinions on this?

Thanks everyone,

-Jess.

P.S. I will post pictures as soon as I uplaod them tonight =]

Hey Jess!

That's great news about your butterfly! I hope your plants survive too. I look forward to seeing your pictures :)
You're gonna be hooked on this butterfly stuff now! Once you raise one, you want to raise a bunch more!

* Judy

{{gwi:458273}}

He looks like a moth to mee.
What do you guys think?

I hope the link worked right!

Hey JESS,
it is kinda small the pictures, but looks like a TERSA SPHINX MOTH to me..congrats..
Greetings
Susanne(SUE)

Cool moth Jess! I've seen moths similar to yours sipping juices from the mushy fruit that I put outside to attract certain kinds of butterflies. Their eyes glow at night when you shine a flashlight on them.

~ Judy

Tersa sphinx caterpillars love RED pentas - the old fashioned tall ones. Did you have any growing nearby?

They are beautiful caterpillars. The photos I've attached show the brown form, but mine were green until about the third or fourth instar when they turned brown. They look like they have eyes! The moth is very aerodynamic in appearance, too.

So, what you had was a cocoon, not a chyrsalis. Moths form cocoons and butterflies form chrysalises. Sphinx moths (and there are many) burrow underground or in piles of leaves to pupate. If you have some gatorade, you might be able to feed your moth until you're able to release it. Generally, though, they don't start nectaring until about 24 hours after emerging.

What a beautiful moth! Congratulations! I love sphinx, and I just put my cocoons of the hummingbird clearwing sphinx outside to warm up so they could emerge soon. I had them in Glad containers in the fridge over winter, and took them out occasionally to give them a 'same temp as the fridge' water bath to prevent dessication.

If you really like sphinx moths, you might want to try to grow some plants they like, like the Red Pentas (they are annuals and you can probably find some at Lowe's, Home Depot, or Walmart). Other really cool sphinxes are tomato hornworms and tobacco hornworms. Both like tomatos, or anything else in the solanaceae family, like potatoes, datura, brugmansias, petunias. Tomato plants at the box stores are really cheapo, though.

Another cool one is eumorpha achemon and pandora sphinx, which eat things in the grape family, like Virginia Creeper, grapeleaf foliage (obviously). The hummingbird clearwings like honeysuckle and viburnums.

All sphinx moths caterpillars have a 'horn' on the last segment of their body. There are exceptions, like two I mentioned, the eumorpha achemon and pandora, which lose their horn in the 3rd instar, usually.

Two good websites to browse are Bug Guide (www.bugguide.net), and What's That Bug (www.whatsthatbug.com). They have great photos of both moths and butterflies, including the larvae and adult of each. The best butterfly site for you now to research what butterflies (and moths) frequent your state, is www.butterfliesandmoths.org. Click on Map Search, and then click on your state, and you will get a list of the different moths and butterflies to be found in your location. It's not terribly up to date, but it is a good tool to start out with. Also, if you let us know what state you are in, there are many people here who can help you with information on that, too.

So glad to hear your final results and a happy conclusion to your story! What are you growing, BTW?

Susan (another butterfly AND moth fan)

Here is a link that might be useful: Tersa Sphinx

I wrote back last night bt I dont know what happened!

Anyways, I thoght it looked like a chrysalis becase it looked like a black swallowtail chrysalis.
{{gwi:458276}}

And the moth scared me becase It spazzed ot when I toched it, like moths do.

And I live in Texas so it's already pretty warm here, althogh it's been raining alot lately.

In my garden I am growing Wildflower, Parsley, "Btterfly flower", catnip, Sweet pea, and snflower.

Im also growing some vegetables and fruit for my mom, becase shes pregnant and cant toch the soil.

BTW, my "u" doesnt work on my keyboard.
I have to copy and paste bt thats too mch of a hassel, so if my replies look wierd, thats why!

Looks like a giant swallowtail chrysalis to me. But then, where did the moth come from? As I said they usually bury themselves in the dirt, or, since I am raising mine, I gave them small, crumpled up pieces of paper towl to use to pupate in. No matter, you still got to witness the moth up close.

If I were you, I would put my chrysalis outside now where you live, in a container with a few sticks close by for it to crawl onto when it ecloses (emerges). Otherwise it may have crumpled wings. It needs something to climb onto that will allow its wings to hang and dry.

Definitely not a moth cocoon.

Susan

Now I'm really confused!! Your photo of a green chrysalis looks exactly like my pipevine swallowtail butterflies that are waiting to emerge from sleeping all winter. Your moth emerged from this?

~ Judy

Okay, I have this figred ot.
My mom told me when she opened the garage door yesterday morning[Why shes JST telling me, I have no clue.] A black btterfly flew ot.
So I think thats what came ot of the chrysalis.
It WAS actally empty.
I'm sad I never got to see it, but moths still freak me ot.

Is bying catapillars online safe?

-Jess

Jess, there is a nursery in Florida that sells host plants for very reasonable prices, as well as butterfly eggs. It's the Shady Oaks Butterfly Farm and has come highly recommended here. I am attaching a link for you. Make sure, though, that you have plenty of host plant food for the butterfly caterpillars to eat until they are ready to pupate. I am not sure what the ratio of food to caterpillar is, and it probably depends on the cat, but maybe someone else here does.

I think your moth was a great find, too, and maybe one day you will overcome being freaked out by them. I think they're way too cool.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Shady Oaks Butterfly Farm

Hey Jess,

Now it all makes sense! You definitely had a swallowtail butterfly....too bad you didn't get to see it :(
There must be host plants growing close to where you found the chrysalis. Maybe this year you'll find the caterpillars so you can raise them yourself! Keep us posted. My friend Edith Smith owns the Shady Oaks Nursery in Florida.....she has great host plants, seeds and butterfly eggs. Everything you need to raise your own!

~ Judy

I think the Shady Oaks Nrsery is an awesoe place to get btterfly eggs online, bt however my mom doesnt want to bt them online and told me to find a place here in San Antonio bt i cant find any.
The prices for the shady oaks nrsery are extremely reasonable too!
I dont see whats wrong with it, its not that hard either.

Jess, sometimes you can find caterpillars on plants at nurseries. Call some of them to see if they carry herbs like parsley and fennel, and then ask them if they ever get the caterpillars on their plants. Let them know you'd like to have some. They will usually sell you the plants with the cats on them if you want them.

Also check the Texas Gardening forum here to see if anyone in your area would be willing to share some eggs and/or cats with you. Just make sure you have sufficient host plants for your cats, like Rue, parsley, fennel for black swallowtails; Rue will also feed Giant Swallowtails; and milkweed (asclepias) for Monarchs.

I thought we had someone here in the BF from San Antonia, but maybe we don't?

Susan

I am growing parsley in my garden, so thats good. =]
I think I like swallowtails the best.
Everyone here has been very helpful and ncie to me!
Thanks everyone, so much!

My son found this little tiny black fury catipillar and it turned to this, it was green and read it takes two weeks to hach but after about three days of training it turned ths color, its very hard and stiff, I thought it would be a great educational experience for my children but I'm not sure if its alive or what. We just keep it in a well insulated container in the house. Need to know thanks!

Sarah,

We can't help without more information and/or a picture.

Martha

I have a giant swallowtail chrysalis on my wild lime bush. It's over 3 weeks, no butterfly, and now the chrysalis looks black. Is it dead? So disappointed, the only giant I have.

I have a painted lady cocoon and it has 13 brothers/sisters but it is not hatched yet. I can see maybe the wing or something? I don't know. Yesterday the cocoon was super light now its dark. the 13th other one just hatched 10 mins ago. I am currently sitting right next to the mesh cage very nervous. Is the cocoon dead?

I will try to send a picture but my camera isn't working right now. I will try again in 5 mins.

Fyi, this thread is 14 years old...

A Monarch chrysalis turns dark before it ecloses, so personally, I'd wait it out before jumping to any conclusions.

Hi guys. I have another batch of caterpillars, 14 more, they all hatched except one. They are all the painted lady breed and there is one still in a cocoon! I'm worried because it hasn't turned dark yet and there are little cracks in it. I think it is dead. Do you think so?