They may be 'in the mood' to molt and are looking for a nice quiet place to do so. Oftentimes a caterpillar will go a-wandering to find a quiet place where they can molt (shed their skin) in peace. Constantly moving them is quite disturbing! Do you have these cuttings contained in some sort of habitat? Or, are they just out in the open? You may want to get something so that when the larvae do go do whatever they want to do that they aren't wandering throughout your home. I raise my caterpillars in the bathroom so if they do end up pupating or doing something else like molting, it isn't a big deal because they remain in a small space and aren't in danger of being stepped on or whatever. This is also the reason I tend to have pupae in weird places in my bathroom, though! I do have all of my 'guys' in containers but have a bad habit of not sealing the containers which is why I have 'escapees.' If you have other animals in the house, then these other animals could be an unlikely predator, too. My dogs have learned to leave larvae and imagines alone, if they find them (although Chelsea, my newest pup, does like to eat Earthworms). Hope this helps!

Thanks, Bernergrrl! It was so bittersweet releasing them especially my little miss "bad boy". I got to provide the instructional link for "downed chrysalis" you gave me to another forum poster who had a BST whose girdle broke and was hanging by his little tush attachment. "Pay It Forward" is a nice way to go through life. I've still got the last chrysalis (brown) hanging in enclosure and I sure hope he doesn't go into diapause and overwinter. I'll be worried all winter about him out in the garage but I read it's better not to bring them in the house because higher temps could lead them to eclose when you've got nowhere to release them since it's winter in the NE! You've been a doll just like your little one and I thank you. Mechelle, it seems like the gulf coast and CA have bumper crops of butterflies of so many varieties. My father keeps telling me the same thing MCronin reminded us of this week...we think there are less butterflies at this time because we forget most activity in some parts of US takes place toward Fall. I hope so because I haven't seen a single Monarch yet this year. For me, except for one male Eastern Swallowtail, the BSTs are the only ones I've seen so far this year not counting the dozens of Cabbage Whites nectaring like there's no tomorrow. Once I spot a butterfly I follow him/her around the yard just to watch. Love it. I used to travel to Texas a few times a year for business when I worked for a company that supplied industrial heat exchangers...don't ask...LOL. Annually attended Petro-Chem and Oil shows at AstroDome as booth vendor...what a pain. It was the 70s and a female in that world wasn't exactly run of the mill except standing on a rotating stage showing off some huge piece of equipment...and I don't have the "equipment" to stand on a rotating stage...LOL. I'll never forget my first time coming out the door of the plane onto the tarmac at the Houston airport and immediately being drenched in perspiration from the heat and humidity. Then you go inside an over airconditioned building and get chills. Once spent a "charming" day climbing all around machinery and hoses at bleach factory along ship channel. Not thinking before I went out there with sales rep I didn't wear (or have with me) older shoes so my heels were ruined by bleach leaking all over the place...LOL. It was a rough and tumble business back them but I learned a lot about those industries and there's not much I'm not curious about and happy to learn more. Is it warm enough in your part of Texas for butterflies to eclose most/all year round? If not will your new BSTs go into diapause like they do up here in NE? I learned about 15 years ago from a person raised in Amarillo that it gets very cold and snows up in that part of the state. Well, you'll be a busy mama for a while with all those little ones. Think I'll go check the parsley again...ya never know...LOL. Thanks for your kind comments. This is a warm forum and it's so nice to find a place in this world where people are welcoming, encouraging, supportive and have sense of wonder & lots of humor. Guess if you care about these little guys who turn into beautiful creatures of nature and take the trouble to raise them then that caring carries over into other parts of life for many people. Makes me glad and appreciative. Butterflies take the naturally occurring "gloomy" out of a lot of pockets of people's lives. Trust me...if I find anymore cats there'll be more long missives of my experiences. I just got to find me at least ONE Monarch egg or cat! I already have all the rearing supplies and plenty of Milkweed. :)

Most likely the butterfly is diseased, parasitized, malformed, or injured during eclosure. Probably not much you can do. I once spotted a Monarch fluttering on the ground with a hindwing torn down to the thorax. I glued the wing together with Elmers successfully, but the butterfly still could not fly. So I put it on a profusely-blooming bottlebrush tree, and it nectared greedily, having apparently been disabled for some time and hence food-deprived. It was able to flit from flower to flower, so I left it there. The next day there was no sign of it, so maybe the repair worked well enough.

The tape method worked great! The only thing I needed to do extra was put a piece of tape horizontally along the BST's rear end in addition to the two vertical pieces, because the pad wasn't coming up. It was in a very difficult spot, along the seam of the mesh cage, so that made it harder. This is GREAT because I was also able to get the sling intact, so now I have it pinned to the side of the overwintering container at its natural angle instead of just hanging by its rear end upside down! I may try to tape the whole thing to a stick at a later time so it emerges onto an angled surface, but for now this is good. Thanks!!!