Thank you so much for the very clear documentation and instructions! Thanks Elisabeth too.

Planted a PawPaw tree this year too and hope that ZST comes some day. With our new Wild Ones chapter, I am going to try to get members to plant PawPaws too.

Do you live close to their natural habitat which I've read is woods with streams? Is that right? Know they aren't too far from PawPaws.

Just beautiful and congratulations on such an accomplishment!

Great job raising the Zebra Swallowtails. I myself have done this a few times and would like to offer one tip, if your last Zebra does decide to overwinter make sure you keep it cold over the winter. I do this by placing them in my garage. The first year I raised Zebras I didn't do this and the warm temperature inside the house caused some to hatch out in January.

Great job raising the Zebra Swallowtails. I myself have done this a few times and would like to offer one tip, if your last Zebra does decide to overwinter make sure you keep it cold over the winter. I do this by placing them in my garage. The first year I raised Zebras I didn't do this and the warm temperature inside the house caused some to hatch out in January.

Thanks for the nice comments y'all. Good ole #4 is still just hanging around in its chrysalis. :o) Jason, it looks like you had some real success with the Zebras! WTG! Yes, I knew to keep them cold over winter, and I will do just what you said. Surely, this Zebra which pupated in June won't wait until next Spring to eclose. Do they overwinter as adults at all?

Thanks, I raise them whenever they decide to lay eggs on the Pawpaw tree. I've been raising butterflies since 2000 and some years I have a great many of one kind or another. Out of 13 years I've had Zebras about four times now and a couple of times it was quite a few. None last year or this year but yesterday I saw something that I would never have dreamed of, I was in my garden trying to photograph a Tiger Swallowtail when it flew over to the Pawpaw tree, circled it a few times, then landed and laid an egg. I thought only Zebras used the Pawpaw but this was a Tiger, no doubt. I also have a Tulip Poplar for the Tigers so when the egg hatches I will offer it both and see which it prefers. Getting back to your Zebra, I'm almost certain that Zebras will not overwinter as adults and It wouldn't surprise me if yours overwintered in the chrysalis even from June. The key is temperature, the warmer you keep it, the better chance it may come on out this year but if it's kept very cool, it may not until next spring.

Thanks Jason. Good idea. I moved it to the outside porch. This was my first time raising Zebras and I have to admit that I treated them a bit like treasured gold! :o)

Great pictures and narration!

Thanks a bunch Beth! That crazy #4L Zebra SWT is STILL inside its brown chrysalis. I put it out on the porch a long while back thinking that the heat and sun would encourage it to eclose, but no. I guess it may decide to overwinter inside the chrysalis. I am hearing from some others that brown Zebra SWT chrysalides are more likely to overwinter. Interesting, I think.
Angie

It's wonderful that you've gotten to raise zebras so often, Jason - I'm jealous! :)

One of the big advantages that tiger swallowtails have is that they can and do use so many different host plants. Palamedes swallowtails are wedded to redbay/Persea, and with the laurel wilt killing the trees more and more, their future is in jeapordy.

I can't find pawpaw listed as a host for tigers, however, so offering it tulip tree leaves would be a good idea. Still, I bet it prefers and thrives on the pawpaw, which is good, because it means there's yet another host plant on their list! I've found tulip tree beauty moth caterpillars many times on sassafras and pawpaw, so these three plants must be pretty closely related on the 'family tree' for plants.

Sherry

Awesome pics your so lucky you get zebras. The first ZST was a female the other two were males have fun hope you gat more:)

Just ran across the longest thread on raising ZSTs. Wish I would have remembered about it when Angie first found her ZST cats. Figured I'd link it here so its additional info/wisdom can be easily found by people looking at this thread for ZST info.

KC

Here is a link that might be useful: Mystery Eggs on Pawpaws!

This post was edited by kcclark on Mon, Sep 2, 13 at 2:24

omg even the little caterpillars are so cute:-). the adult butterfly is soo pretty!!

It's that time again.

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Awesome!!
I wish we got Zebra Swallowtails here in Wisconsin...

Congrats roper! How awesome. I am watching my Pawpaw trees daily for them. None found yet, but a girl can hope!~Angie

Woo Hoo - congrats, congrats!

Sherry

This has been an outstanding thread to read. Thanks, and great job!

Awwww..thanks jr. My hope was and is that it would benefit someone at some time. It was a thrilling journey; one that I hope to be able to take again. ~~Angie :)

I had given up on zebra swallowtails until I read this thread last year.
This year I hope to raise more. I just need to buy more containers.

Gosh roper, it was all worth it then! Makes my heart full to know that I somehow inspired you to try. Now, I am doubly excited for you!!!!! I just came in from gathering food for my GST cats, and I looked all 3 Pawpaw trees over while I was out. No Zebra cats found, but I did find that one of my trees has set its first fruit!~~Angie :)

It's funny because I purchased 2 paw paw trees through
the mail about 8 years ago, because I wanted to get some
paw paw fruit. Knew nothing about zebra swallowtails.
One of the trees snapped when it was small, so I have
one very large paw paw tree. No fruits. That fruit you
have on yours looks really good.

That is funny roper. I bought the first Pawpaw at a native plant sale locally back in 2008, SPECIFICALLY because I hoped to entice Zebras in. Then, my wonderful friend Cathy from PA (caterwallin) had some extra Papaw seedlings that she wanted to part with. I think it was around 2010 when she mailed 2 of them to me here in GA, and I planted them. They have done so very well here. It was on Cathy's Pawpaws that I found the Zebra cats last year and also on Cathy's Pawpaws where I just found the first Pawpaw fruit my yard has ever seen! I have never eaten Pawpaw fruit. I hope that we love it.~~Angie

Angie, did #4 ever get around to emerging? When did it happen?

Well Paul, it was not a happy outcome. #4 chrysalis ended up overwintering in my garage. I know to never give up on a Swallowtail chrysalis, so I waited. The chrysalis was inside a plastic container, and when #4 finally did emerge in April, I guess it fell and couldn't get a foothold back up. I found it dead in the corner of the container with shriveled wings. :( As a result, I have sworn off of plastic containers for chrysalides, and all of my butterflies will eclose within a mesh tent where they can get a foot up. Thanks for asking.~~Angie

Wow, how beautiful.

i finally planted the paw paw i bought last fall at the ga native plant society sale.... it survived all that snow and freezing in the pot... it only had 2 leaves when i planted, which have since dropped off... i have confidence in the little thing (maybe 3 ft tall). i'm hoping it is just transplant shock...
maybe someday i will have some fruit and cats!! :)

Goodluck lenahall. I have lots of little seedling coming up
by my big paw paw tree.
This is how they look today. I have 4 cats so far. The
first pic is the biggest one, they do grow fast. I give them
fresh leave every day now even though they can't
eat them all.

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Soran University held the First Annual Oil & Gas Symposium

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.soran.edu.iq

Thank you everyone for all the good information!

Hi Angie, I've wondered what happened to you, thought you might have lost interest in butterflies and caterpillars. 'So glad to hear you haven't!

I'd be in heaven if I could raise zebra swallowtails! I have several pawpaws, one pretty big, that's been making fruit for a number of years, but I never see any zebra swallowtails, never get any zebra eggs or cats, just tulip tree beauties here and there.

Good luck to you raising them!

Sherry

Hi Sherry!!!

It's good to connect with you again!! Oh no, I will never lose interest. I think it's in the blood! I am really hoping to be able to raise some more now that I have eggs. I was thinking of pulling the eggs in, but I don't think I can keep the leaves fresh enough until the eggs hatch. So, I thought I'd leave them on the tree and just pull the little cats off. I still have all of the little containers, so I am ready. It's so dadgum rare to see a Zebra, that I really want to raise and release as many as possible. They are a lot of work to raise, and I am working full time now, so I hope that I can do them justice. I'll keep you posted.

Angie.

So, I am finding eggs and marking them on the Pawpaw tree using neon pipe cleaners. So far, I have found 14 eggs. It's hard to find them again if you don't mark them! I will keep looking. I am sure that there are many many more. Would be extra cool to raise a nice bunch of them!!!

~~Angie

Woohoo! Zebra swallowtails are one of this country's most beautiful butterflies!

Sherry

Hi! I just brought in my very first Zebra caterpillar. I'm raising it in a plastic container with a lid as mentioned above. Do I poke a couple of holes in the lid or just leave as is? Thanks!!

No, you don't need holes in the lid. Just keep the container inside the house and out of direct sun. Good luck!!!

Angie

Thanks! I'm new at raising these indoors, as I've been raising different butterflies outside in screened cages up against my house which doesn't get too much sun. I'm wondering if after my 3 Zebras are in chrysalis if I put them outside like my other butterflies, wouldn't the hot temperatures and humidity make them eclose faster than staying inside?

thanks,

Roy

Sorry to clarify I would remove the chrysalis from the lid of the plastic container and leave the chrysalis in a net cage

thanks, Roy

I like the outside idea the best. Air circulation and warmth.

Jane

I just started getting into cats and butterflies so a friend found me a monarch cat on some milkweed for me. I am just putting in a butterfly garden so I went and bought two paw paw trees and some milk weed plants. On the milk weed I found a mcat as I was carrying it to the car. Then when I got home I found a zcat on one of the paw paw trees. So excited. Glad I found this page. I had her in a mason jar with a screen lid but since reading your post I moved her to a sandwich container. She is very active and doesn't seem interested in eating. Is that normal?

The Zebra cat may be looking for a place to pupate- move up to the next phase by shedding its skin and then getting bigger. How big is the caterpillar? If it's pretty big it may be finished eating and looking for a place to go into chrysalis

No it is small in my opinion but I have never done this before. Maybe a quarter inch.

Keep a fresh leaf or two nearby the cat. He or she will eat if they are well enough. Can I ask what zone you live in?

I see a lot of Zebra Swallowtails in a nearby park, but not on my property, in spite of the fact that I have several Paw Paws on my property.

I live in zone 5b. I just purchased the paw paw trees and milkweed at a local farmers market. He told me they have quite a few zebra swallowtails around. They have had their trees for 6 or 7 years now. I noticed the cat on the tree when I took it out of the car at home.

The paw paws are 6 or 7 years old? That's great. The ones you have will probably grow relatively quickly. There are many types of paw paws. The ones near my house are very small and take years just to grow a few feet. I bought the trilobas (I believe that's the name) from a nursery up north and they grow well here, but they don't attract the Zebra Swallowtails.

Good luck with your trees and let us know how things go.

Can you send us a picture of the cat?

Good p;ic. It looks like a ZS to me, but I'm not the expert on these butterflies. Got pics of the trees you purchased? They are trilobas, no?

Honestly I don't know the species of tree. I'm new at all this. Just starting my butterfly garden and didn't expect to have caterpillars until next year.

Hi Everyone, I'm a scientist working on butterflies, and I'm trying to get ahold of a Zebra Swallowtail for some genetic analysis (I live in New Jersey). This seemed like a good thread to inquire if anyone living in the southern US might be able and willing to collect (or already has) one of these butterflies they might be able to spare? Full disclosure, sadly the specimen would need to be sacrificed for DNA extraction. However, the knowledge we'll gain from this will be invaluable to the scientific community. If you have any thoughts/suggestions/leads on this, please contact me (maardema@gmail.com). Thanks!