I am assuming you have them on plants in pots without any screening or enclosure of any kind. For the most control of the situation, you would ideally bring them in to raise--left outside, they are subject to predation. The other issue is that once they are done feeding as caterpillars and are ready to pupate, they will begin to wander around. They often can crawl quite far away from the host plant.

You most likely won't be able to find them then.

You can bring them in using a butterfly cage and ensure that they get fresh food. You can put sticks in there but sometimes they pupate at the top of the cage.

Then once they've pupated, you can put the cage outside somewhere fairly protected so that they are exposed to typical temps/humidity. Once spring rolls around, you will need to keep an eye on them to see when they are ready to emerge.

Or you can let nature take its course and hope they make it.

Thank you for the response.

I'm big into nature taking it's course so I won't be bring them inside.

They are on the perimeter of a giant flower bed. My father does a fall clean-up and will clear out all the perennials and annual debris so that's what concerns me the most.

As long as they crawl far away from the flower bed they'll be ok (>50 feet away). If that's unreasonable I going to move the pots.

P.S. I actually have four and they are really cool-looking!

Move the pots to an area where the garden is allowed to stand through the winter. There is a possibility they may stay in the area.

Is there anyway to help him learn that leaving the debris in the winter is a good thing?

Most beneficial insects overwinter; bees need to overwinter; birds need the seeds, cover, and insects that are in the debris. The debris feeds the soil, enhancing all of the wonderful things the soil organisms do for us: increase water porosity, then hang onto moisture during drought, fight soil pathogens and pests, clean the air and the water.

He can still cut everything down and perhaps run his hand down the stems so that the leaves etc stay in the garden and if there is a chrysalis it can be found.

Back to the butterflies, we often have host plants for butterflies in our gardens and may not even know it. Many butterflies overwinter as caterpillars, some tiny instars, some a little older, and some as pupae.

Here is a link that might be useful: [7 Reasons Not to Clean Up Your Garden[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/7-reasons-not-to-clean-up-your-fall-garden-stsetivw-vs~18845475)

I talked to my dad and we aren't going to do the clean-up. The major problem is where these critter are is mostly annuals (zinnias, tropical milkweed, nicotiana, cosmos, mexican sunflowers) and some perennials (swamp milkweed, butterfly weed). I want to plant new stuff next year to stay ahead of the pests. When can I perform a clean up to put in new annuals? Mid-April? I don't want to wait all winter just to kill the critters in the spring.

Also I took a picture of a chrysalis (monarch) and the black swallowtail caterpillars. I'm guessing the monarch is a dead man walking this late in the year.

Here is the picture of the black swallow tail caterpillars. I'd like to get a better picture of the chrysalis since it was dusk.

That's great that you both are so open-minded. I wouldn't worry too much about pests--over 90% of bugs in the garden are beneficial. You could have overwintering ladybugs, lacewings, native bees, praying mantises (though we often feel conflicted about them) in your garden.

Once things are crispy and dry, it's pretty easy to do clean-up. I'm going to attach a write up I did about spring clean-up for a butterfly garden.

I leave as much material as I can in my garden--it breaks down, and the stems can take longer, but they are important hiding places for insects.

Here is the second page

And here is that same garden in the summer: leaves all were consumed.

Basically, I need to wait until March and then individually remove the remaining stems making sure no chrysalises are on them? I have hundreds of zinnias so it going to be difficult to access. Am I allowed to step on the debris? I don't want to kill anything. Also, what do I do if I find a chrysalis?

I know it seems overwhelming, and don't get too worried. Do what you can.

--You can do the same thing now with your plants. If you are leaving the material in your garden, critters stay in the garden. You can even pull up the zinnias and remove root balls etc if you want to.

--You can make paths to access your plants; that way too you're not compacting your soil.

--If you cut them stems down, and leave piles in your garden (I usually chose spots in the back where I know they will be hidden) or under bushes nearby, etc) you won't need to be so worried about searching through each stem. If there is a chrysalis, the butterfly can still emerge through a light pile; it will crawl out and find a place to inflate its wings.

Think mini-piles of compost piles placed around your garden/yard.

You can use some large clippers to cut down large sections of plants.

This is a big change for some people who are used to it being completely cleared out.

--Hope it's been a little helpful--the pictures--it's something I think is an overlooked part of butterfly gardening and is contrary to what we are taught, but my gardens do great (even better than when I didn't since I;m not removing tons of organic matter). I have so many birds, bees, and other benficials in my yard too. It's a little more work (or less if you leave it over the winter), but to me it's worth it.

I raise my BSTs in collapsible hampers that I found on Amazon. They have a zip top. I pot up my parsley plants early in the spring. Once mamma has left the eggs or I notice baby cats, I move the entire potted plant into the hamper, and move in additional plants if they've stripped the one they were on, and just keep rotating my potted plants as necessary. Right now I have about 11 chrysalids in 3 of those hampers that I'll just keep outside over the winter. I asked dh to build me a little organizer so that I can stack them and protect them from collapsing from any snow that might accumulate. The recent winds blew them all over my yard. .Previously, I kept them in a screened cage that's kept on my deck, but I had a lot of chrysalid loss due to parasites. I only had one wasp hatch this year while using the hamper. There's no need to protect them from the cold, just from unfortunate accidents or pests. I recall reading years ago that raccoons will eat a butterfly chrysalid, so it's just my way of making sure they survive by protecting them as best I can. I don't have any pics at the moment, but I'll attach a link to the hamper. I think I own about 7 or 8 of them now...

Collapsible hamper
Look at the customer pics; one of mine was uploaded showing 4 eclosed butterflies inside.