Eastern Black Swallowtail
Caterpillars can be found on many varieties of parsley including wild carrot (Daucus carota). Wild collected female butterflies also can lay eggs in screen cages with hostplant. Click here for a short video demonstration of a female swallowtail laying eggs on parsley.
Click on any image below to start a slide show.
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Eastern Black Swallowtail Female
Photo Nicky Davis.
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Anise Swallowtail Laying Eggs
Eggs can be obtained by collecting a live mated female and placing her in a small (12" x 12" x 12") popup cage and then, lastly , placing the cage over host plant as shown in this picture. This is an anise swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) female; but, the principle is the same. This setup will work with eastern black swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes asterius) as well.
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Female Eastern Black Swallowtail Nectars on Honey Water
If you do have a live female butterfly, it is important to feed her by placing her on a paper towel saturated with honey water; 1 part honey to 10 parts water. If you uncoil her proboscis, she will only drink if she is thirsty. Click here for more photos and instructions on how to care for live female butterflies in your home or in the lab. -
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Swallowtail Caterpillar
Short-tailed black Swallowtail caterpillar feeding on parsley. The plant is in water.
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Once you have setup your water bottles with caterpillars on plant, place them in a 5 gallon bucket. Make sure the lid has plenty of ventilation either by poking holes in it or cutting out a circular section and fastening netting over the lid.
You need to replace your parsley cuttings and remove all waste every four days or so to ensure that your caterpillars are getting fresh plant in a healthy environment. (This type of procedure becomes extremely critical when raising indra swallowtails; which will be reviewed in the Techniques by Taxa section.)
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Alternative Open Terrarium Setup
Here is a photo of another setup for Eastern Black Swallowtails. Place potted fennel, dill, or parsley in a 10 or 20 gallon terrarium and place near a window. Using this technique means that you don't have to replace host plant cuttings as the caterpillars are feeding on live plants.
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Eastern Black Swallowtail Third Instar Caterpillar
This third instar caterpillar is feeding on rue (Ruta graveolens.) Some nurseries carry this plant if you can't locate fennel, dill, or parsley.
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Eastern Black Swallowtail Fourth Instar Caterpillar
If you raise an Eastern Black Swallowtail on parsley cuttings, be sure to replace these cuttings every three days or so and remove frass (poop.)
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Eastern Black Swallowtail Fifth Instar Caterpillar
When a fourth instar caterpillar molts to fifth instar, it loses its dark coloratino and is a green and black striped caterpillar with orange dots against the black stripes.
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When a swallowtail caterpillar purges...
As yucky as that looks, once a swallowtail caterpillar purges in this fashion, it has finished feeding and will be looking to wander to find a suitable place to form a chrysalis.
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Gizmo
This is just a homemade contraption--called a gizmo for lack of a better term--designed to be a great place for swallwtails to pupate. It is one of many possible designs that will work. Another option is to place a wandering, seeking to pupate, larva in an empty lunch sack fastened with paper clips also will work. Click here to see a video demonstration on how to construct a gizmo. -
Western Black Swallowtail Pupa
Very similar to the eastern black swallowtail chrysalis.
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Emerging a Swallowtail Butterfly
After your swallowtail caterpillar has formed a chrysalis in a lunch sack, "gizmo", or other suitable area, attach your pupa to a container laced with paper towel; so that it has sufficient room to emerge and pump out its wings. When a butterfly first emerges, its wings are as soft as butter. (No pun intended). It usually takes a few hours for its wings to harden up before its ready to fly. If you do turn your butterfly loose, be sure to release it in the same habitat and location as where you found it.
