Yes, all swallowtails, including zebras, spin a harness, plus they attach themselves at their rear end. The cats will move to a place they want to pupate, whether it's the top or inner side of the containers. As with all swallowtails, sometimes it takes a while for them to decide to settle down and pupate.

Keep us posted, Angie!

Sherry

Thanks Sherry! It's almost 11pm, and all 4 of them are attached to their lids now. I am not going to bother them by opening the containers to check for harnesses, but I am pretty certain that this is it. They are preparing to pupate. Now, I wonder how long it would be before eclosure. Two weeks?

Congratulations Angie! You have made it through phase II :). Now on the the next phase. You will need to create a way for them to eclose. Obviously the Tupperware is too small for them to stretch out their wings. Zebras need a lot of space for those gorgeous tails. You have a couple options. After at least 24 hours (maybe wait 48 to be safe) the chrysalides should be hard enough to handle. You can either attach the lid to the top of another container, or you can remove the chrysalides from the lid. Either way is fine. I usually remove them but I understand if this is too nerve wracking for you. If you decide to remove them from the lid, remember that you have to cut the harness (the two silk threads that emerge from the sides of the chrysalis) from the lid. Then I pull the silk pad off with a pin. You can then either attach the chrysalis to the top of a new bigger flight cage by the silk pad or, yes, you can hot glue (really warm glue) the chrysalis to the top. I have hot glued many a chrysalis and it is fine. You just have to make sure it is not too hot and you glue the right side (so when you remove it, note which side is facing down and which side is facing the lid. There are lots of other methods people have used to re-attach chrysalides. Remember that if you go to a butterfly exhibit, almost all of those butterflies were removed from a container as a pupa at some butterfly farm, and then hot glued to a eclosion cage at the butterfly exhibit. In any event, if you are not comfortable with this method, just tape the container lid to the top of another cage that is big enough to allow the wings to stretch. Make sure there is something the butterfly can crawl up if it falls off the pupa case. You can also just rest the chrysalis on the floor of the container as long as it can crawl up. This is not my favorite method as they have to drag their wings across stuff. I have had one large moth tear its wing this way. However, I have also had one zebra appear in a paper waste basket. Apparently, when I was cleaning Tupperware, I threw away a chrysalis (don't ask me how. apparently I cannot count to save my life). It was huge and perfect. So you never know.

I don't remember how long it takes for them to eclose. I think it is like most of the swallowtails and depends on temperature. I think around two to three weeks.

Good luck,
Elisabeth

Thanks a bunch Elisabeth. This is so exciting, even though it's a little nerve racking. I have followed your instructions to the letter with the only exception being that I didn't use bleach in the leaf washing. Yes, I think that I know what I will do with them. I have some large rubbermaid containers, and I can tape the lids to the insides of the containers, leaving them plenty of wing stretching room. I put some paper towel ramps inside with my Spicebush chrysalides, and I think those will work here too. I have never hot glued chrysalides, but I need to learn how to do that. Gosh, I am so excited. I thought that I would release them out by the Pawpaw so that they can see that it's here right away! This is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Angie