Sandy, I find about 98% of my RSP cats on wild black cherry/prunus serotina, which is in the rose family, but occasionally I find them on wild crabapple, which I think is malus angustifolia in this area. Cherries and plums, both ornamental and those grown for fruit, are types of prunus, so your cat will undoubtedly thrive on the tree it was laid on. I've raised lots of red-spotted purples, so I can probably answer a lot of your questions.
The hatchlings stay at the end of the leaf where the egg is and make a strange looking thread that they rest on for about 2 instars or so. Once they start getting some size on them, then they start moving off the original leaf. They become grotesquely ugly cats by the last instar, but then emerge as such beauties - it's amazing!
MissSherry

EXCELLENT MissSherry... so instead of wasting my time Googling everything, can I just waste YOUR time and ask tons of questions? hee hee.

I thought of you immediately when I saw the RSP, actually - I've been secretly coveting them ever since I saw a photo of one, which I think you had posted. And Mike Cronin's DVD showcases them a bit. Jeal-ous!!! (sing-song)

Good to know about the thread and "resting" behavior. How long are they in that stage? and the cat stage? How/where do they pupate? how long before they eclose? do they overwinter up north here?

So I am assuming the leaf it is on (do the adults always lay eggs perfectly on the tip of the leaf like the one I found?) will be sufficient for the first few days after it hatches? Speaking of, how long before they hatch? :)

Any other tips etc you'd care to impart? I think that's it for questions for now. I certainly appreciate your help!!!

Many thanks!!! :)

Sandy

I think that's the name of the tree on which the egg was laid! Sure looks like it (photo from Spring Meadow Nursery's website):

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Sandy, the leaf it's on now will probably be sufficient for about a week or so - it's practically impossible to get them off their original leaf no matter how bad looking it gets, so I don't even try any more. I'm amazed at how well they can grow when eating an old leaf! They always lay their eggs perfectly on the very end of the leaf. I saw a female laying eggs up close earlier this year, and I found out why - they perch in the general center of a leaf, then slide down 'til they reach the end. I saw this female slide, then go back and do it again, like maybe she overshot the leaf the first time.
It takes about ?5 or 6 days for the eggs to hatch, a long time, since the eggs aren't very big - a good many RSP eggs must be infertile, because a lot of them just wither and disappear. Also, a good many RSP cats die in the first instar, regardless of whether you bring them in or leave them on the tree. They make up the difference by the huge numbers of eggs they lay.
I can't remember exactly how long they stay on the "string" and the original leaf, but a week seems about right. Once I see the cat hanging over the branch (like a feline cat) just up from the leaf, I cut off the branch and bring the cat in to raise in one of my cages. I'm raising one cat now, and another one is in the "J" about to pupate.
I'll guess they stay in the cat stage ?3 weeks. In the wild, they pupate in odd places, like I once found one on the outside garage wall by my husband's radio room door, and I found one on my street sign a few year ago! I once watched as a RSP cat pupated, and the ugly bumps they have on their backs are what change into the knob. Here's my famous road sign RSP chrysalid -
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Here's a picture of 3 RSP hatchlings on the same area of the same cherry tree - clickable thumbnail -

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And here's a clickable thumbnail picture of a RSP cat hanging over the edge of the branch, a good time to bring them in to raise -

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And here's a clickable thumbnail of a late instar RSP cat with a giant swallowtail caterpillar - the RSP is on the right -

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If your egg doesn't hatch, or the hatchling dies, don't blame yourself - this happens to a lot of them and you'll get more eggs! :)
MissSherry

EGGSELLENT! hee hee. Thanks for the photos, MissSherry! You rule.

SO - here's my current situation. The eggs were laid Monday. I am going on vacation for a week on this coming Monday. If I put a few extra leaves in the container with them, do you think they will be OK?

I have someone house-sitting the felines and other cats - so all would not be lost. Just trying to streamline her babysitting chores. :)

Thanks again!

Sandy

Have you already cut off the leaf with the egg on it? If you haven't, I'd recommend you leave it on the tree, Sandy. Trying to keep the leaf that this egg is on fresh until the cat is ready to move to a new leaf is just about impossible - the original leaf even gets yucky looking on the tree when you leave the leaf and cat outside, and I wonder why the cat doesn't move to another, fresher leaf. By the time you get back from vacation, the cat will still be on the egg leaf! If you've already cut off the leaf and put it in a water pick or leftovers container or whatever, then your house sitter should just make sure that there's always water in the container - water picks dry up pretty quickly, and you need to add water often, especially in hot weather. You can add more leaves, but I doubt they'll be used.
Red-spotted purples aren't the easiest cats to raise - I wish you weren't going on vacation right now. But maybe things will work out, I sure hope so!
MissSherry

Thanks MissSherry again for the info. I think I will cut a large branch and put it in water in my reptarium - attatch the old leaf somehow to a new leaf? Or perhaps keep the branch on the tree and wrap it in fine netting, again attaching the old leaf somehow... Duh, wish I had thought of that sooner. Guess I was just afraid of something getting the egg before me! :P

I'll keep you posted....

Sandy

Update - the two eggs hatched this morning! The larvae started wandering off of the leaves their eggs were on, so I cut a small branch from our tree and stuck it in water. I carefully transfered the hatchlings to new leaves on the branch, where they have been residing for the past few hours. One has made itself at home on a new leaf tip, the other on another leaf's edge.

I'll keep you posted MissSherry - in the meantime my house-sitter is happy to look after them if need be.

Sandy

I know RSPs overwinter as a caterpillar but is that always true? I had one pupate last week. Just seems real late in the year for it to eclose and I have seen no info about them overwintering in their chrysalis. Should I expect a butterfly this year or next?

Considering how many RSPs I've raised, you'd think I could remember how they overwintered, but I can't - I can't ever remember overwintering a chrysalid or a caterpillar. I HAVE overwintered viceroys in their leaf roll/hibernaculum.
I looked it up and could only find reference to the overwintering method of RSPs specifically (they usually refer to them with viceroys) in two books, and in both cases the books said that they overwintered as a caterpillar in a hibernaculum.
I've got a late instar RSP cat in one of my cages, and I just brought in an early instar cat, so I'll report back as to what becomes of them. My best guess is that you'll have a butterfly this fall.
MissSherry

The late instar red-spotted purple pupated, but the little one made a hibernaculum! I got this picture a few minutes ago with the little cat outside its shelter -
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It's still warm outside - 84 degrees now - so I don't know if it'll stay out and eat or go back and stay until spring, or go back and forth depending on the weather. Maybe it made the hibernaculum in anticipation of colder weather because the days are getting shorter? I don't know, I'll see! :)
MissSherry

Was just going through my bookmarks and found this old page. Wish I had kept good notes in 2007. I have no idea what happened with the late RSP chrysalis I posted about in this thread.

KC

This is an old thread but I just found it through google. They do eat wild plum, too. It shocked me when I found out. Y'all probably have overwintered them by now but they do overwinter in hibernaculas. I find that I do best by raising the last generation outdoors where they will each create a hibernaculum. Changes in night length (shorter nights) and warmer temps will bring them out and then they'll starve if they don't have food.