I made pictures of my zebra swallowtails at various stages, but I didn't know the exact instars - Zebra swallowtail eggs - Zebra hatchling - tiny!! - Zebra early instar cat - Growing zebra cat - Middle Instar - Dark late instar - Green Cat - Chrysalides - Shockingly small! - They come in brown, too, but mine were green - I hope you're more successful raising these caterpillars than I was. There were many eggs laid, but only two lived and emerged as adults - The red coloring at the bottom of their wings was different, and the amount of white and black was different, so I assume one was male and one was female. I think the above picture was probably a male, and this picture was probably a female - I've never gotten any more zebra swallowtail eggs, and I've never seen any more in my garden or in this area - too bad, because they're SO beautiful! Sherry

Chrysalides can be very unpredictable as to when they emerge, TreeRoots. By inside, do you mean inside the chrysalis or inside your home? If you keep one inside your warmed up house, they might emerge in January, so it's best to find a protected (from chrsyalis eaters and dessicating snow, rain, sleet, etc.) place outside. I've been trying to find out what causes chrsyalides to emerge when they do for a long time, and nobody has a perfect answer, but if you keep them outside, they'll most likely emerge when the temperatures start to warm up, and the plants are beginning to make new growth. When they were laid as eggs doesn't appear to make too much difference. I had three spicebush swallowtails that I was raising a few months ago - one of them emerged promptly, at least for a spicebush swallowtail, and the other two are still in their chrysalides, not having changed color in the least. It looks like they may overwinter, although, being outside where the temps will be reasonably warm until November, they might still emerge this year. I had a black swallowtail who stayed in its chrysalis for 18 months!! That was my record, but many of my black swallowtails have overwintered after having been raised early enough in the season that you'd think they wouldn't. This could be tied to the nature of their host plants in my area - the only natural host plant they use here that I know of is mock bishop's weed, which, like dill and fennel, is a cool season plant, emerging in early spring and dying off in the heat of summer. Acutally, my dill and fennel never looks better than it does in February - it starts to decline after that. So, I don't know the answer, but I just keep all my chrysalides outside in their cages, which have mesh coverings, so they'll be more likely to emerge with spring's new growth and others of its species. If I lived in a cold part of the country, I'd probably cover the cage with some blankets during the worst parts of the winter, though! :) Sherry

I think your cat could be one of two moths, both related to woolly bears, Konrad - either the great tiger moth/arctia caja or the St. Lawrence tiger moth/platarctia parthenos. Wagner says of the great tiger moth - "Larvae to 6 cm. St. Lawrence tiger moth similar in size and distribution, readily distinguished by its more uniformly dark coloration, brown spiracles, and warty setal tufts." He also says, "This densely hairy behemoth is the entomological equivalent of a musk ox. It is a denizen of northern latitudes and alpine habitats that is rarely encountered south of our northern tier of states. Although eggs are easily obtained, rearing this species can be a challenge to even the most attentive caterpillar wrangler because the middle instars enter a sustained diapause and require an extended period of low temperatures (winter) before they will complete their development in the spring." I couldn't find a picture of a St. Lawrence tiger moth cat, just a great tiger moth - based on all the red showing in this picture, I'd say yours is most likely the St. Lawrence type. MissSherry Here is a link that might be useful:

That is such a pretty little chrysalis, MissSherry. The tiny little hairs are interesting; never noticed them on any other pupae. BG is the image of a chrysalis or a cat? My eyes aren't very discerning anymore. I raised a few gray hairstreaks this summer but all pupae were brown and slightly mottled in color. I know the red banded hairstreak overwinters as partially grown caterpillar, usually in sumac leaves which is its host (or one of them. Little is known about most hairstreak host plants and life cycles. A lot of tiny moths pupate in leaf litter and I have brought in a couple of tiny green cocoons to see what emerged, but only when weather is appropriate for them. You could put in container with some of the leaves and leave it outside if you want to see the outcome next spring. Hairstreak caterpillars are "slug-like" tiny cats with longitudinal ridges along the back. It would be interesting to see what it morphs into huh? It could also turn out to be a fly cocoon as Cindy suggests and I know nothing about them. Susan