They are Black Swallowtails, and they will probably crawl away very soon to make a chrysalis and stay that way until spring. Personally, I always find it hard to choose a good spot to keep them through the winter. They need to be protected, but able to emerge on their own time and when the weather is appropriate. I would let them pick their spot and try to raise some next spring that will be more likely to complete their life cycle in one season.

Martha

Most likely they're going to overwinter. I'm hoping to get a late brood, since I have soooooo many gorgeous parsley plants still waiting to be devoured. I grow my plants in pots, and once the eggs hatch and I notice them, I put the entire potted plant into a collapsible hampers, that have a zippered top (or side, in my case), that I leave on my deck over the winter. I previously had a screened cage on my deck, but had lots of parasite problems. This year, with the hampers, I've only had 1 parasite, so I ordered quite a few more hampers. Right now I have 3 hampers and 2 contain chrysalids that most likely will overwinter. The 3rd had a parasite hatch, and I don't know what'll happen to the other chrysalid inside it.

I have a greenhouse that is protected and kept at >45F during the winter. Would it be OK to overwinter my GST chrysalis(es) there?

I have a BST chrysalis that I think is going to overwinter despite pupating in early July (yeah, apparently swallowtails are weird about that sometimes), and in the deep south too, no less. I'm guessing yours is going to overwinter due to the time of year and your location, but you never know. I've been keeping it outside on a table in a mesh container, although I've had to move it inside again temporarily because of a wasp, which hasn't been a problem for the chrysalis (I don't think), but it stung me two days in a row whenever I tried to approach my little guy.

Your caterpillar is BEAUTIFUL! Take lots of photos!
My GST will look like bird poop! I want to plant a big butterfly garden (you all have me hooked now) so that I can see many different types of caterpillars!!!
;-)
K

We were due to have some really severe storms roll through last night so I brought 2 of them in as that part of the garden is prone to flooding with heavy rain. The third one I wasn't able to get to without disturbing it too much or pruning the fennel way back so, survival of the fittest for that one. Looks like he survived the storm though.

I have never seen a black swallowtail in my neck of the woods,seems like they've been there all along though :)

They can survive the elements pretty well, I think. I had evacuated for Hurricane Gustav 6 years ago, and when I came back I was greeted with (surprise!) 5 newly-hatched BST cats. I figured their eggs had been laid right before the storm, and had probably hatched during some pretty bad weather. Unfortunately, all but one eventually succumbed to predators. The one remaining also dealt with the fringes of Hurricane Ike, and didn't even seem to notice anything.

I've gotten the black swallowtail cats from time to time, and have yet to ever see the eggs being laid. It's almost like they wait till we're not looking. :)

A beautiful caterpillar, and a beautiful photo.,