Black Swallowtail Caterpillars

I discovered 2 caterpillars munching on my parsley last week. They were large & colorful and a little shocking.

I brought them in for the kids to watch. We googled them and learned they were Black Swallowtail Caterpillars. We got some empty plastic containers and cut them a LOT of parsley and watched them do their thing. It was fascinating to watch them eat. Boy, can they eat!  After they eat, they poop. A lot. Trust me.

Two days later, the smaller of the two died. The one remaining started racing around his habitat. We didn't know what was going on--until we googled it. (We google a lot around here!) When they have eaten enough, they hunt for the just the right stick to form a chrysalis. This guy wandered and wandered around his habitat. The kids brought in a load of different lengths of stick and these caterpillars prefer them to be the width of a pencil-so we left the "best" ones for him to choose a final resting place.

We realized that in his frenzied search for the right stick, he could escape the double plastic container system.  Another google search for habitat ideas and we popped him into a quart sized mason jar with just a few sticks. We covered the jar with a coffee filter and left him out on the deck overnight.

When Black Swallowtail caterpillars find the perfect stick, they rest there--for 24 hours. They will make a silk thread to hang from (up by their head) and the only part of them that touches the stick is the bottom. Then, you wait. For up to 24 more hours for them to form the chrysalis.

They shed their skin and POOF! they are a chrysalis. The chrysalis is either brown or green, depending on the stick color.


Look closely...the part of the stick pointing towards the glass jar isn't a stick at all!

It takes 1-2 weeks for the butterfly to emerge and we are counting down the days.