Did you put more fresh food in? Some caterpillars will pupate early if there is no food. If you take them outside make sure they are not in direct sun light, that the container you have them in has good air flow (plastics heat up pretty fast and so does glass). I had some Pipevine Swallowtails that pupated too early. I had to change the way I was offering their food. The leaves were drying out too fast. I ended up punching small holes into the top of a deli container and sticking each leaf stem into a hole. The rest of my caterpillars are much larger.

Are they actually pupating or just molting? They go through 5 molts and while molting can remain still for up to 24 hours. They should not be moved during this time.

Thanks for the response. I'm not sure I know what molting looks like as opposed to pupating, but the chrysalises (sp?) look the same as the three older ones. And they have been in there for more than 24 hours. I gave them fresh food when they were on the empty dill stem. They moved up into the new foliage, but didn't seem to really eat. Then, they moved down a bit on the stem went still. The next day, they were chrysalises. If I take them outside, will they come out as caterpillars? Or, if I leave them alone, will they become butterflies or just hibernate for 6 months?

It depends on how many broods that you have in your area; for example, in my area I will still have probably two more brood before winter. The last one will winter over.

If it has turned into a pupa, it will not turn back into a caterpillar. You'll end up with butterflies, but they will be smaller.

Have you clicked on the FAQ section at the beginning of the forum? There's information on rearing butterflies.

The majority of my BST's that pupate overwinter, in a cage outside. It's only been a rare occurence that they pupate and eclose during the same year. I still have a few that pupated last year that haven't eclosed yet. I didn't notice any holes in the chrysalids to indicate that they've been paratisized, but then again my eyes suck. I'll just keep waiting and waiting :(
And it makes it even harder since I have new cats that pupated, and I don't recall who's a leftover...

I have raised and released 28 BST this year (5 carried over from last summer and 23 this summer from eggs to butterflies.)

It is very possible for them to eclose this summer if it's warm enough. Mine were outside in a screen cage my husband built and began emerging 10 days after the first one formed it's chrysalis. I do have three more that are not showing any signs that they will emerge this year.

~Laura

Wow, thanks so much for the responses, everyone. I didn't know things are so different with BSTs from Monarchs. I feel a little better too, since the three smaller chrysalises "wiggle" when disturbed, so that at least I know they're still alive. I'll just have to be patient, but a heatwave has me more secure about their temperature - pretty hot here!

And.......I was wrong - these are NOT BSTs - they are YSTs! There are two newly emerged outside that I either left on the dill or missed and they are beautiful yellow swallowtails! And apparently, very hungry when they first emerge! I have all 6 of the chrysalises in a cooler with screened vents for air flow and viewing. I'm trying to figure out how to post photos - any hints would be welcome!

I have found one more YST cat in the garden and he is huge, must be 5th instar and I brought him in because the dill he was on was almost all eaten up! He's chomping away merrily in a jar and when he pupates, I will switch him to the cooler with the rest. Can't wait till the 10 days are up!

Just had to chime in regarding the 10 days. It is certainly likely they will emerge this season but don't be surprised if it is a lot longer than ten days. Swallowtails of all varieties do NOT keep to a timetable like some of the other varieties.

I'm still new with the abbreviations, but what is a YST?

If they are eating dill, they have to be BSTs (Papilio polyxenes). The BSTs do have some yellow on it them, the male has more than the female.

On the website that I have listed, below the pictures, click "more images" to see more pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)

Ok, now I'm really confused, because not only are there Yellow Swallowtails on my butterfly bush, but yesterday there was a Black Swallowtail as well! The dill and fennel (I'm finding them on both) are right next to the butterfly bush and butterfly weed. I swear I am trying to post photos.

This is the cat for a black swallowtail .... is this what they look like?
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There are 4 stages to the butterfly life cycle. Egg, caterpillar, pupa (chrysalis), and adult.

The adults eat nectar (butterfly bush, etc.) and the caterpillars eat host plants (parsley). The parsley can bloom and the adults could nectar that. But, only Black Swallowtail eat parsley.

You can certainly have both eastern tiger swallowtail and black swallowtail butterflies nectaring on your butterfly bush.

However, only the black swallowtails use dill as their host plant. They also use parsley, fennel and a couple of other host plants.

One eclosed today and it's black.

Test... test...
[IMG]http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af67/marcymf/DSC_0172.jpg[/IMG]

Ok so my attempt to upload pics failed. sigh Any directions to the instructions would be most appreciated. I have photos on photobucket.

Anyhow, could it be that my smaller chrysalides are Eastern (yellow) BSTs and the larger ones, like the one that eclosed today are the black ones?

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This is it before pupating

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And this is it after, sorry about the screening

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Here's a little more detail

The males have a yellow border. The females a little yellow and they are blue at the bottom.

Use the link below to look at the pictures. There's one of a male and one of a female.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Swallowtails

Thanks for the link runmede - so I guess that one is a female, but it seems to have lots of orange. It's really tough to tell the different swallowtail varieties apart!

That's the underside that has the orange dots. Pipevine Swallowtails are noxious to birds so all the dark form swallowtails mimic (all have those orange dots, but in different patterns). Even the Red Spotted Purple (RSP) mimics, too. The birds have the same problem you do with recognizing the difference. This gives all the dark form swallowtails and the RSP protection.

Click here: look in the "Remarks" section for pictures of the mimics of the PVS.

Here is a link that might be useful: Raising Butterflies Video

So i have a BST that climbed to the top of the cage 4 days ago after he purged. He has not attached himself at all he is just hanging out. He hasnt ate anything either. He is alive though. Will he still go into his crysalis or is there something wrong with him. I have another one that went into his crysalis just fine and it was younger.