Uh oh, another escapee!

16 years ago

I know, I know...tdogmom and her 'escapee' stories!

Two days ago I came in and found this gorgeous male Pipevine Swallowtail on the counter, hanging onto a bug cup. I thought, "Where in the heck did HE come from?" I took him outside and released him into the gorgeous summer sunshine. I came back into the bathroom and looked around. Nope, all of my pupae pop-ups were nicely sealed. Even DH said, "Any zippers open?" and I replied, "NOPE! He must've pupated someplace in this bathroom" and then I proceeded to search. Couldn't find anything.

Then yesterday, I went into the bathroom and I saw ANOTHER PVS. This one was at the bottom of the second door. It had obviously just eclosed as it was dripping meconium. I thought, "What the heck?!" and I put my finger down, it climbed up, and I placed it into a pop-up to allow it time to dry and harden its wings. I released him this morning.

Now, this one's empty exuvia I DID find. Yes, that is the CARPET you see next to the old tile from our bathroom (we have pulled up the carpeting in the bathroom as we are planning on re-doing the tiling in there)

{{gwi:523316}}

And I took a picture of him. He decided to open his wings and rest on DH's old windsurf mast (we have the mast in the backyard and use it to hoist up a windsock).

{{gwi:523318}}

I keep thinking, "Sheesh, I wonder if there are any other surprises in store for me? (ha! Chances are the answer is a resounding YES!). Now if those other pupae that are actually IN the pop-ups would just eclose!!!!

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Comments (7)

MissSherry
16 years ago
He's gorgeous, Sherry!
Pipevine swallowtail cats are about the easiest cats to lose of any of them, because they get so frantic when they're about to pupate - if I open a cage door to add fresh leaves for still eating PVS cats, it's very difficult to keep any pre-pupal cats from escaping.
Congrats anyway! :)
MissSherry
napapen
16 years ago
Are those from the last group I sent you? I have had about 4 of those emerge. The ones from March and April are waiting till spring. I figure I have been feeding pvs for 6 months now. Still have a group inside and another just hatched. I'm hoping any others that come out are sterile! Penny
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I was telling hubby about my sharing my latest 'escapee' on the forum here and he said, "Well, you know, when you said you had an escapee the ONLY thing I kept hoping was that you wouldn't say, 'The tarantula escaped.' Since it was just a caterpillar, it was no big deal." Yeah, ya see, last summer, I had OTHER critters escape...a few of my Madagascar Hissing Cockroach babies got out and it was one of those, "uh oh...I am REALLY in trouble now!" because I didn't NOTICE the escapees for, oh, about a month! I still keep hoping I don't spot one around here somewhere (although I really doubt I would but you just never know!). I mean, did I share how my little adorable Shih Tzu found a dead MOUSE the other day? Here I am, enjoying the afternoon in the backyard, reading under the umbrella and THINKING she was chewing on one of her chewies (she just brought it out) when next thing I know, DH says, "What the heck is THAT?!" and I said, "Oh, Cheli's been chewing on her chewie, does it look nasty now?" and he said, "Uh, I think it's something else, hon." Of course, Chelsea is UNDER my chair and refuses to come out. She had found some dead mouse, who knows where, and was apparently chewing on the leg or something. EEEUWWW! Good thing it was dead and dried out and flat and...although I freaked and called the vet immediately. (Found out the neighbor had put out rat poison three months ago but still I don't know where she found this thing)
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susanlynne48
16 years ago
Pipevines are messy when they eclose, too! Their "meconium" is bright pink, very different from other butterflies. One time, I saw one dripping that stuff and I thought it was actually bleeding (iron poor blood, but bloody looking nonetheless)! This was a first for me, and then I read, I think it was MissSherry's comment, about the pink fluid and heaved a sigh of relief.

Sherry - what are we going to do with you and your butterflies on the lam?????

Susan
tdogmom
Original Author
16 years ago
Penny, I don't know if this is from your batch or from mine! ARGH! Nowadays I can't keep track. I've got pupae from last year and this year all in the same pop-up. I also have some GSTs and ASTs from last year in a pop-up. All I am guessing is that this is a male from WITHIN the last year...tee-hee!

Susan, I'm almost afraid to go in the bathroom for fear of heating the 'bat-bat-bat' of wings. ;P Just kidding. I'm so used to it now that I almost EXPECT it each time I go in there to check on the other babies. I also am looking EVERYWHERE to see if I can spot that one PVS exuvia from thet other day. Can't find it yet but am still looking...I even opened that door because I thought that MAYBE the goof pupated in the other room then crawled under the door. I mean, I've seen these butterflies (Monarchs, Gulf Frits, and even GSTs) crawl through the smallest places like little rodents so nothing surprises me anymore.
aggscott
16 years ago
My husband thought this was so funny, so did I. I don't know what I would do if this happened to me, just laugh I guess.
I haven't been raising them too long so no stories yet but, I bet I have a couple in a few more years..
Nice pictures, I keep checking the Pipevine everytime I got the nursery to see if any laid eggs there and just haven't visited me yet but, nothing yet..patience-patience

Aggie
prayergardentx
16 years ago
Goshhhhhh, You all know alot! I'm new here and to learnibf all I can........!:o)
Where do you get your babies ( I know they have a word for it)?
I love my garden butterflies.....and want to do more to bring even more back.:) Any advice?
Thanks, Cathe'
susanlynne48
16 years ago
Cathe - welcome to the forum! Our FAQ has a lot of information on host plants and nectar plants and raising butterflies. If you plant both hosts and nectar plants, you'll get lots of butterflies. The butterflies lay eggs on specific host plants and that's how we get our "baby" caterpillars. The egg hatches, the caterpillar emerges, and becomes a virtual eating machine until it reaches a certain size, after which it pupates, forms a chrysalis, and emerges after approx. 2 weeks, as a butterfly.

You live in Texas, the state which has the most butterfly species of any in the nation. Lucky girl! The Dallas Lepidopterist Society has a great website on host plants and nectar plants as well and lists the butterflies most commonly found in Texas.

Feel free to ask questions on the forum - we welcome anyone who is interested in gardening for the butterflies.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Dallas Lepidopterists

Uh oh, another escapee!

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MissSherry

napapen

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Uh oh, another escapee!

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MissSherry

napapen

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