Do you have parsley, or carrots, or Queen Annes Lace. They will eat these plants also.
I like to start them on the plant that will feed them, but I have also changed the plant after the caterpillars has grown some, but they might refuse it also.
Good Luck. Best to bring inside and raise.

Yes, they are definitely swallowtail eggs! Yay!

If you are able to purchase more plants (or gather any of the ones that Connie mentioned in the previous post) that would be good. It will take quite a bit of food to raise three caterpillars!

Unfortunately you can't rely on the parsley, fennel, or dill in the grocery stores to be safe for the caterpillars.

Congratulations and good luck!

~Laura

Congratulations! Those certainly look like butterfly eggs to me. Besides the plants already mentioned, Black Swallowtail cats will also eat Rue.

I don't think a tiny fennel plant of about 8 inches will support even one Black Swallowtail cat through to pupation. If you can't locate a source of safe food for them, as a last resort, you could try feeding them well washed and rinsed parsley purchased at the grocery or farmers market for they will surely die without food.

In my first year of raising butterflies, I successfully raised Black Swallowtails on store bought parsley after they ate through the small parsley plants I had growing in the garden, but it is always iffy as to whether it has been sprayed and is not recommended.

Mary

Yay for Liz!!!!!! You lucky duck you!! Eggs on the first try is pretty good going. Like the others said, they will eat Dill, Parsley, Fennel, and Rue. You should be able to get your hands on some Dill, Fennel, or Parsley that hasn't been sprayed with chemicals. What about organic parsley sold in grocery stores? That would be good I would think. You can just put the little pots of herbs inside a container and transfer the caterpillars to it when they have hatched. Just be careful that you don't have standing any water puddles underneath the plants. A hearty congratulations to you!!!!!
Angie

Are there instructions on the website somewhere for how to raise the cats indoors? I would need to construct a cage for them, but I have a lovely screened porch to keep it in. I think I can get my hands on some organic parsley or carrots, and there's a ton of Queen Anne's lace growing nearby, so no problem there. I could probably pick some fresh each day. Should I wait till they hatch, and then snip off the fennel twigs to bring inside? I really want to give the plant a chance to establish itself, for the sake of all the future butterflies it could support!

Keep a close eye on the eggs and if one disappears bring the stem in. Put the stem in a plastic baggy until the eggs hatch. You can actually keep them in the plastic baggy until they have eaten the stem they are on. Bring in stems of the QAL or whatever kind of host plant you have available, and put them in water. You can pokes holes in a butter dish, or use an old prescription/vitamin bottle covered with foil, floral foam on a saucer, or florist picks. You can make raising containers out of all kinds of things. Aquariums, tomato cages, plastic containers, etc. I have used plastic storage boxes and cut bridal veil tulle to cover the top. Secure the tulle with a piece of thin elastic, cut and tied so that it is snug. Put newspapers or a paper towel in the bottom to catch the frass. Change out daily--kind of like mucking a stall! When the caterpillars get large, tape a piece of paper towel to the side of the container for pupation. And let the caterpillars do their thing.

Good luck,

Sandy

Parsely, fennel, dill, they all grow really fast. If you can find some seed and have a good sized patch of ground, you can grow some easily. They may only be a few inches by the time you need them but if you have tons, it will work. Then as you raise your caterpillars, the other plants will get bigger. Also, you will have to be careful as mom may come back and lay more eggs.

Elisabeth

Suggestion...it's as easy as running by Walmart and getting something like this. Buy a measure of bridal tulle and some elastic cording, and you are good to go.

http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=645&ProductCategory=254&section=1