Okay -- figured it out! It's one of my 'own' pipevine swallow tail chrysalis. All I got to say is that little guy traveled miles (for a caterpillar) from the vines to the Mex. olive tree.

Funny thing is that with all the pipevine swallow tails cats I don't find many chrysalises. They hide well. I would not have seen this one except I was tying up the tree that blew over in last nights stormy weather.

Isn't it amazing how far they travel? It is so cool you found it tho, now you can keep an eye on it and hopefully see it emerge

How far do you think it is from the vine to the tree? I've often noticed the rue covered with cats, and then the next day they are all gone. Then I find chrysalis 10 to 20 feet away. I guess they want to get to a safe place.

They don;t want to make a chrysalis on a host plant because one of their own will come and eat where they are hanging.

Mara, that makes sense.

Jolana and Marti, it had to have traveled 20/25 feet through flower beds, rocks and edging to get there. It certainly is well hidden among those thick leaves. I find Gulf frit chrysalis all the time right out in the open. They are not nearly so careful in hiding themselves.

I heard that at a talk given by the head gardener of the nation butterfly Association garden in the Valley . I forget the actual name of the place so I might have gotten it wrong. It sounds like an interesting place to visit during the fall migration. They have a festival with tours of nearby ranches and butterfly gardens on them. He also said that putting structures like old stools or bedsteads gives them a structure that gives a slightly shaded horizontal they can hang off of away from a vertical is a good thing.

Luckily I happened to see it just after it had emerged and snapped these photos ...

This is certainly the year for Pipevine swallowtails. They are still laying eggs on the pipevine plus I've seen several other caterpillars taking their life in their hands, so to speak, and traveling across the yard in search of a distant place to pupate.

OMG, gorgeous, so bright and new