First Appearance in Our Garden We have two types of Swallowtail butterfly in our garden every summer, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) and the Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). I raised a Black Swallowtail caterpillar in the house last year hoping to see it's stages of transformation. It became a butterfly in early winter which... Continue Reading →
Black Swallowtail unfurled
Finally metamorphosed Remember that little Black Swallowtail caterpillar I kept in the house since August? The one that crawled from the living room dill plant up the curtain and turned into a chrysalis, suspended from our curtain for weeks? I gave up on it after a few weeks. I read somewhere that a chrysalis would... Continue Reading →
Black Swallowtail Chrysalis
He transformed overnight. After he had been suspended in caterpillar form from our curtain for a couple of days, he transformed into a chrysalis overnight. He looks like a piece of bark hanging off the curtain with a little silk thread. I just hope I won't come home and find a butterfly flying around the... Continue Reading →