Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The other day, two of my kids and I found a tiger swallowtail caterpillar. We've never been able to get a caterpillar to change to a butterfly, so we thought we'd give this one a try. I reasearched him, got him (or her) the right leaves, then thought it was dead. Today it's little tank got knocked off the desk. When I picked it up, there was what I had thought was a dead kritter wiggling around a bit. Cool! But, I'm afraid some damage was done to the chrysalis. There was a small amount of fluid leaking from the pointy end (sorry, not very technical terms), and that smaller end isn't attached to the twig any longer. Does anyone know if it'll survive the trauma? And anyone know how long it'll take for it to do it's thing and come back out? Any advice will be very helpful and appreciated in a big way.

hmmm...so it had pupated (changed to chrysalis stage)? How long ago? If it is exuding fluid it is most likley doomed, I am sorry to say. But, you will know shortly - if it dies in the chrysalis it will collapse and shrivel up. What color is it? I ask because depending on where you live you may only think it is dead. If you live in the north it will turn brown if it is going to winter over (by this time of year that would most likely be the case. If it will emerge in the same season the chrys. will be green/yellow and if it won't emerge until next summer it will be brown. This is camouflage for survival.

can you post a photo?

here is a great link of the process

lele
swallowtail

It pupated about 8 or 9 days ago. It's been brown in color all along. So far it hasn't shriveled up or collapsed. It's just hanging out on it's twig.

That's a very cool website you left me. My butterfly in the making looks exactly like the one they show that's going to winter over.

So I'll keep it around (we have it inside, so maybe the warmth will help out?) and see what happens. It's pretty fun anyway, I homeschool my two youngest and they're both having a blast with it.

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it!

Nope, sorry it was longer than 8 or 9 days, it's been right around 2 weeks.

glad to help!

If you keep it in the warmth it may come out early and then you will just have to keep it until it dies as there will be no flowers for it to nectar - this is if you live where it is cold. If you are in a warm region I do not believe it takes on winter camouflage and would be green. So your best bet is to give it natural temperatures and day length. You can put it in some sort of container with a screen/cheese cloth, piece of nylon (pantyhose work well!) to cover the top, and then put it in your garage, (near a window) or other cold location. I keep mine in the barn. Even better is to place it outside (OK if it gets covered with snow) but it will need to be in a container where mice, etc. cannot get to it, but where it has drainage so water does not fill up and drown it and out of direct sunlight.

Hope this helps! It is a very fun experience - usually just as much for the mom and dad as for the kids! lol!

lele