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Butterfly Garden

Dead chrysalis? Black Swallowtail Questions

16 years ago

I recently raised 3 black swallowtail caterpillars. Two of them have emerged successfully. However, the first one that went into a chrysalis still has not come out and it's been more than 20 days. Since I'm getting ready to go on vacation, my grandmother has it now and she said it has turned black. Since we live where it is very warm, I don't think it is overwintering. Do Black Swallowtails ever take this long, and is the dark color normal? The other two stayed brown with a little bit of white.

Also, my grandmother has a caterpillar that was starting to form the chrysalis and then fell off the parsley stem and we're not sure how/why it fell. Should we leave it on the ground?

Any help is appreciated!

Featured Answer

mboston_gw

16 years ago

BST do overwinter here in Florida. I have had them go into chryslis in June and not emerge until the next April. I would isolate it and wait, you never know.

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Comments (9)

mikem58
16 years ago
Sounds like this one didn't make it. Take heart...2 out of 3 isn't bad. Black coloration (Totally Black) is not good in any species where chrysalids are concerned. This usually indicates a fungus or bacteria is busy breaking down the now dead pupa.
This is common and is natures way of insuring the strongest individuals survive.
susanlynne48
16 years ago
Well, mine turn black right before they emerge. You could isolate it (is it the only one your mother has in her care?), and see what happens. I never give up until I see the actual eclosure. If you look closely, you can see the wings thru the chrysalis. Take heart - it may be okay yet.

Susan
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Jess, sometimes you can find caterpillars on plants at nurseries. Call some of them to see if they carry herbs like parsley and fennel, and then ask them if they ever get the caterpillars on their plants. Let them know you'd like to have some. They will usually sell you the plants with the cats on them if you want them. Also check the Texas Gardening forum here to see if anyone in your area would be willing to share some eggs and/or cats with you. Just make sure you have sufficient host plants for your cats, like Rue, parsley, fennel for black swallowtails; Rue will also feed Giant Swallowtails; and milkweed (asclepias) for Monarchs. I thought we had someone here in the BF from San Antonia, but maybe we don't? Susan
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Oh heck, I have more parsley than I do any other host plant of theirs and now it sounds like it's not that great of a host plant. I guess we can always make parslied potatoes with it. :) We've had a dry year and some of the seeds that I planted outside of various plants just didn't make it. I have some dill, 3 fennel plants that made it, lots of rue but they're just little yet, a couple Golden Alexander plants, and that's it. The only plants for the BSTs that did really well (as far as number of sees germinating) was the rue, but like I said, those are little. Unless they have some type of huge growth spurt, I can't picture them hosting BST's or GST's this year already. Yesterday I saw my first Silver-spotted Skipper of the season. I think I saw an Orange Sulphur today also. Of couse, the Cabbage White and ETST have been here awhile already, at least a month. Cathy
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Butterflyman; Your friend is a lucky dog. That is a gynandromorph. Very rare and if he was of the catch, preserve, and mount type (of which this board tends to poo poo) he would be rich :)! A gynandromorph is where both male and female parts are exhibited. In butterflies where there is sexual dimorphism (females and males look different) this can lead to dramatic results. What you have a picture of, is a tiger swallowtail that was supposed to be a black morph female. Somewhere in its development, the genes for "female" became damaged and half the butterfly became male. Too cool and a once in a lifetime sighting... -Elisabeth Here is a link that might be useful: Gynandromorphs
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I know it seems overwhelming, and don't get too worried. Do what you can. --You can do the same thing now with your plants. If you are leaving the material in your garden, critters stay in the garden. You can even pull up the zinnias and remove root balls etc if you want to. --You can make paths to access your plants; that way too you're not compacting your soil. --If you cut them stems down, and leave piles in your garden (I usually chose spots in the back where I know they will be hidden) or under bushes nearby, etc) you won't need to be so worried about searching through each stem. If there is a chrysalis, the butterfly can still emerge through a light pile; it will crawl out and find a place to inflate its wings. Think mini-piles of compost piles placed around your garden/yard. You can use some large clippers to cut down large sections of plants. This is a big change for some people who are used to it being completely cleared out. --Hope it's been a little helpful--the pictures--it's something I think is an overlooked part of butterfly gardening and is contrary to what we are taught, but my gardens do great (even better than when I didn't since I;m not removing tons of organic matter). I have so many birds, bees, and other benficials in my yard too. It's a little more work (or less if you leave it over the winter), but to me it's worth it.
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kendle
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you for your reply!
HU-754410723
4 years ago
What do we do when the chrysalis has fallen off the stem?
MissSherry
4 years ago
Put it in a safe place, away from predators. You can put mesh/ bridal veil material over a clean, large plastic container, and put it somewhere you can see it, so that when the butterfly emerges, you'll know and can release it. Chrysalides don't have to be hanging for the butterfly to emerge.

Sherry
Marta Janur
3 years ago
HU I know this is a late reply but for anyone who encounters this, just keep it safe and away from wetness. It'll be fine.
Mary Schoenewald
3 years ago
I have a dead chrysalis that kind of exploded or Open way too early it’s near or next to another chrysalis that’s OK should I remove the bad one
Elsbeth Link
2 years ago
I had 3 BSwallowtail chrysalies../July 1st/ the brown on eclosed July 11 but the 2 green ones are still hanging there... are they dead.. they are still green.. should I just keep them... so strange that the brown one eclosed and was perfect.

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