Something strange happened

16 years ago

ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO I STARTED COLLECTING CATS OFF MY FENNAL PLANTS, LOTS OF SUCESS HATCHED AOUT ABOUT 7 MALES AND ONE FEMALE BLACK SWALLOW TAILS. LEARNED A LOT BUT AT ONE POINT WAS CONCERNED ABOUT HOW CLEAN ONE OF MY SPECIMIN JARS. SO I WAS CLEANING THE JAR WITH SOME 409 CLEANER MIXED WITH A LITTLE ALCOHOL AND WATER (I USE IT TO CLEAN UP SOME OF MY ORCHIDS) ANY WAY I ACCIDENTLY GOT SOME OVER SPRAY ON ONE OF MY PUPATED CATS. I QUICKY SPRAYED IT DOWN WITH DISTILLED WATER BUT I FIGURED I HAD KILLED THE LITTLE CRITER.... SIGH.... ANYWAY DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS THE REST OF MY BLACK SWALLOW TAILS HATCHED OUT AND WERE RELEASED WITH GREAT JOY. ALL BUT THE ONE THAT I HAD KILLED. I TOOK THE PUPATED CAT OUT OF THE JAR AND JUST LAYED IT ON THE WORKBENCH NEXT TO A LAPTOP COMPUTER. ALWAYS MEANT TO THROW IT AWAY BUT NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT. YOU ALL KNOW HOW THAT GOES... YESTERDAY MORNING I KEEP HEARING ONE OF OUR POMERAINIANS BARKING AT THE BACK DOOR. I FIGURED HE JUST WANTED OUT SO I WALKED INTO THE PATIO ROOM AND LOW AND BEHOLD THERE WAS THE MOST BEUTIFUL FEMALE BLACK SWALLOW TAILED BUTTERFLY INSIDE THE PATIO ROOM TRYNG TO GET OUT THE DOOR. I QUICKLY LOCKED ALL OF THE POMS (WE HAVE FOUR) OUT OF THE PATIO ROOM AND GENTLY CAPTURED THE SWALLOW TAIL AND OPENED THE DOOR. AT FIRST SHE DIDN'T MOVE AND I FIGURE SHE WAS INJURED SO I TURNED TO WALK BACK INSIDE THE HOUSE TO FETCH MY CAMERA, AND IT A FLASH, SHE TOOK OF FLYING AROUND THE BACK YARD PASSING OVER MY HEAD A COUPLE OF TIME AND THEN OFF TO EXPLORE HER NEW WORLD. AS I WENT BACK INTO THE PATIO ROOM I SAW THE EMPTY COVERING WHERE I KNOW SHE HAD BEEN FOR AT LEAST TWO MONTHS.... IT WAS STILL MOIST SO I FIGURE SHE HAD NOT BEEN OUT FOR LONG. IS THIS NORMAL FOR THEM TO STAY DORMENT FOR SO LONG?

THAT REALLY MADE MY DAY! WELL AT LEAST FOR A WHILE ANYWAY.... I HAD MOVED ONE OF MY POTTED MILKWEED PLANTS INTO THE LITTLE GREEN HOUSE BECAUSE I THOUGHT I HAD NOTICED SOME EGGS THAT I FIGURE CAME FROM A PASSING QUEEN OR GIANT SWALLOW TAIL. THE EGGS WERE SO SMALL AND I HAD NOTICED SOME TEENINY CATS ROAMING AROUND ON THE PLANTS ONE DAY THEN NEVER SAW THEM AGAIN. WELL AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, I FOUND A QUEEN CAT PERFECT CONFIRMATION FROM ONE ON MY BUTTERFLY BOOKS. I EVEN SHOWED IT TO MY HUSBAND AND IT WAS ABOUT ONE INCH LONG. WE TRIED TO GET A PICTURE OF IT BUT WE WERE HAVEING SOME PROBLEMS WITH THE CAMERA SO I FIGURE WE WOULD TRY AGAIN AFTER IT GOT A LITTLE LARGER.... TODAY THERE IS NOT A SIGN OF IT ANYWHERE. THE LITTLE THING HAD A FEAST ON SOME OF THE MILKWEED FLOWERS AND LEAVES BUT NO SIGN OF IT ANY WHERE. I AM HEART BROKEN. WE CHECKED ALL OF THE NEIGHBORING ORCHID PLANTS BUT IT IS LIKE THE LITTLE CRITTER JUST VANISHED. MY HUSBAND BELIEVES THAT IT IS JUST IN HIDING AND WILL RETURN. I CERTAINLY HOPE HE IS RIGHT....

STILL WAITING FOR SOME MONARCH CATS IN SAN ANTONIO....

HEYKID

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Comments (5)

runmede
16 years ago
They hide and when we seek, we may not find them. I searched I thought every inch of my tent for Monarch pupae. There were three that emerged and I don't know where they were hiding. Keep an eye out on your greenhouse. They may emerge soon. Usually it is 10-14 days.

But, with your Black Swallowtail, some may emerge right away and others wait. That's how mother nature keeps butterflies flying. I had a Zebra Swallowtail once that went from pupating in the spring to waiting until next spring to emerge. It was green in color--so don't let the color fool you either.
flutterby64
16 years ago
"IS THIS NORMAL FOR THEM TO STAY DORMENT FOR SO LONG?" Yes, a couple of years ago, I had a BST cat go into chrysalis late in the Fall. I left it in my cage outside all winter. As soon as it warmed up in the spring, I expected it to eclose like others I've over-wintered, but it didn't. I just left it in the cage since I wasn't using it. Then one day in JULY, I walked out the back door and there was the butterfly! I was amazed since I'd never had one stay in chrysalis that long.

"MY HUSBAND BELIEVES THAT IT IS JUST IN HIDING AND WILL RETURN. I CERTAINLY HOPE HE IS RIGHT...." I bet your husband is right. I haven't raised any Queens yet, but I know that my Monarch cats disappear off the milkweed, I assume, to molt. It's kinda funny. One morning I'll look at the milkweed and everyone's munching away. Next morning, nobody's home. Next day or so, everyone's back to munching again. I hope your queen shows up soon.

By the way, what kind of orchids do you grow? It's so nice you have a patio room to grow them in. I only have my window sills to grow my phals & paphs.
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bandjzmom
16 years ago
My experience with the Black Swallowtails has been the same. They are very unpredictable in terms of time of eclosure. I had some that pupated in July 2009, and all of them eclosed in April of 2010. Then again, I have just had some which pupated and then eclosed within one week. You just never know with them.
terrene
16 years ago
I've got 12 BST cats of assorted sizes right now, from 1st to 5th instar. It's already starting to cool down up here, so I am wondering if any of these will eclose this year. I'll probably be stuck overwintering a dozen BST chrysalises. :)

Where is a good place to overwinter them? Would the garage work? Usually stays about refrigerator temp in there all winter (32-40 degrees F).
bandjzmom
16 years ago
terrene, I did overwinter mine in my garage.