Raising Black Swallowtail Caterpillars To Butterflies

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Alright, so this one is totally unrelated to “Home Chicken Keeping” but it was such a fun experience I had to write about it! If you’re in the Eastern to Mid Western United States, where Black Swallowtail Butterflies are found, I urge you to try this, especially if you have kids. Every year we usually order the insectlure butterfly kit to raise painted lady caterpillars to butterflies, but this year we planted something in our garden to specifically help us attract Black Swallowtail Butterflies!

Here’s our experience:

Attracting Black Swallowtail Butterflies

When building and designing a butterfly garden we most often think of the plants and flowers that butterflies are attracted to. Black Swallowtail Butterflies love plants such as butterfly bush, zinnias, coneflowers, phlox and other plants that are rich in nectar. Did you know that different butterfly species lay their eggs on specific plants? For example, every butterfly species has different host plants in which they lay their eggs and then the caterpillars feed on that same plant after hatching. Black Swallowtail Butterfly host plants include parsley, dill, fennel and rue. To find these amazing caterpillars we planted some flat-leaf parsley in a small/medium size pot on our deck. By keeping the plant on our deck it was able to stay more protected from other animals feasting on it.

Once the weather got warm enough, in mid to late summer, we watched female Black Swallowtail Butterflies visiting our parsley and laying eggs all over the plant.

If you look closely at the eggs you can see a tiny black shadow in the egg which is the caterpillars inside!

Finding The Caterpillars

Once we saw the eggs all over the parsley we kept a lookout for the caterpillars.

If you know what a Black Swallowtail Caterpillar looks like then you may be surprised to find your plant covered in the tiny black larva that hatch from the eggs. They look very different from a mature caterpillar. Black Swallowtail Caterpillars grow at an alarming rate, but their skin does not grow with them. Each time they outgrow their skin they molt, shedding their skin, and enter a new “instar”. The caterpillars will molt 5 times and so there will be 5 instars (or stages) they will go through before turning into a chrysalis.

Here are some pictures of Black Swallowtail caterpillar instars:

Setting Up A Habitat For The Caterpillars

The first thing we got for our habitat was a large netted enclosure specifically made to raise caterpillars.

We lined the bottom with two layers of paper towels for easy cleaning.

Finally, we took the entire pot of parsley and put it inside the enclosure on top of a planter tray.The parsley was covered in Black Swallowtail larva and this ensured there would be no need for the caterpillars to be handled. Also, it helped having the parsley potted so the parsley would stay alive as it fed the caterpillars and did not need to be replaced daily like it would if the parsley was cut.

Observing The Caterpillars

We brought the entire setup inside for easy observation.

Once our enclosure was set up and we had our caterpillars safely collected inside we were able to watch them grow! Sometimes when you see something every day you don’t realize the daily growth. That is not the case with these caterpillars. Every day they will look totally different and it truly is incredible how their appearance changes with their increased size. They don’t do too much but they are constantly eating! Once they get large enough you can watch them take down a whole parsley leaf in a matter of seconds.

Cleaning Their Enclosure

Caterpillars spend their a lot of time eating and growing so inevitably they create a lot of droppings. Thankfully it’s extremely easy to clean and you don’t have to get your hands dirty. Every time we noticed the droppings collecting at the bottom we quickly removed the entire potted plant with the caterpillars on it and switched out the paper towels at the bottom. That’s it!

Forming A Chrysalis

Right before the caterpillars become a chrysalis you will start to see the caterpillars leaving the plant and exploring their enclosure.

Some may go straight to the top and pick a spot quickly and others may explore and possibly even venture back to the plant to pupate.

Once they choose their location they will first spin silk (almost like a hammock) to adhere to the part of the enclosure, branch or wherever they choose. They then will take on the shape of an upside down J and leave their final stage as a caterpillar.

About 24-48 hours after attaching the chrysalis will form. The color of the chrysalis will vary between shades of brown and green.

Transforming Into A Butterfly

Before the butterflies emerge, the pupa will get dark and you will be able to see their wings through the pupa.

Anywhere from 7-20 days after forming a chrysalis a Black Swallowtail Butterfly will emerge from the chrysalis. It’s wings will be wrinkled and wet and the new butterfly will need time to dry off. After emerging from the chrysalis the butterfly can stay in the enclosure for up to 24 hours.

You can tell a female and male Black Swallowtail Butterfly apart by their coloring.

Releasing The Butterflies

After first witnessing them as tiny eggs the best part, to me, is getting to release these beautiful butterflies! In our yard we have some flowers such as zinnias, marigolds and butterfly bush so we release them close to those plants in hopes they will stick around for us to watch them.

This was such a fun experience for our entire family, especially our kids! Raising caterpillars in general is fun but getting to incorporate our plants and garden through every part of the process definitely made it extra special. I do not know much more about caterpillars or butterflies beyond what I’ve written in this article, but this was a simple, fun activity we were more than happy to share with you.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Let me know in the comments if you decide to do this!