Small Popup Cage with Anise Swallowtail

Small black popup cage placed over parsley (on the side with its opening) and secured with rocks while female anise swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon nitra) lays eggs.  Suitable cages can be constructed out of wooden dowels and nylon netting or collapsible portable cages can be ordered online. 

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Pale Swallowtail Cage 24" x 24" x 24"

Pale Swallowtail females generally have little desire to lay eggs in captivity for the first several days. You need to feed them every daily for about 4-5 days before setting them up in a cage. They still likely will not cooperate for a few days before finally acclamating and ovipositing on the host Ceanothus. Patience is required using this technique with glaucus-group swallowtails.

Make sure the females have plenty of room in the cage to fly onto the plant.  (Don't overcrowd the cage with too much plant.)

Pale Swallowtail Females

Try to find Ceanothus cuttings in bloom so that pale swallowtail females can nectar on the flowers while ovipositing on leaves.

Pale Swallowtail female

Pale swallowtail female basks.

Pale Swallowtail egg

Pale swallowtail laid on Ceanothus velutinus.  The blooms are also helpful as females can nectar on them while laying eggs.

Monarch female in open screen cage

Here is a monarch female in a rectangular open screen cage.  (She is mostly hidden in this photo.)

Monarch Females lays many eggs on milkweed

Here is the female monarch laying dozens of eggs on a single leaf of milkweed (Asclepias speciosa).  This particular monarch laid over 70 eggs in just a few hours.

Setting up a cage for indra swallowtails

Just as raising indra swallowtail caterpillars can be inherently complicated--click here for more information--so is setting up a female cage.  Because females in nature tend to lay eggs on healthy plants that can support the larva through to pupation, and because these healthy plants generally are situated between rocks, it is helpful to set up your cage with hostplant Lomatium and Cympopterus between rocks. 

This particular cage setup was built especially for Papilio indra.  It has a separate wooden base where the water bottle neck is flush with the top of the water bottle; giving the female more room to lay eggs.

Add 12" Cage

Here is the same setup with a 12" by 12" by 12" screen cage added.

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Here is a video showing the same setup

Same Cage for indra swallowtail females

Desert swallowtail Cage

Here is a setup for the desert swallowtail (Papilio coloro).  The hostplant cuttings are turpentine broom (Thamnosma montana).

Pallid crescent cage

Here is a pallid crescent (Phyciodes pallida barnesi) set up on bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare).  Crescents and checkerspots lay their eggs in clutches and the larvae are gregarious.

Arizona Sister Female Cage

Generally speaking, brushfoots usually cooperate in laying eggs in captivity.  However, unfortunatly, Arizona Sister oftentimes DO NOT cooperate very well.  Using this open cage technique can work to get females to lay eggs; but, not very often unfortunately.

Neophasia menapia menapia female

Pine White female set up in a small open cage.

Neophasia menapia menapia lays eggs

Female pine white lays a string of eggs on pinyon pine in a small screen cage.