![]() I hope you get lucky enough to be visiting Ballentine when this happens! It's so satisfying to see them fly off to begin their adult lives. The caterpillars created their chrysalises and we've released several butterflies so far. We bought two mesh laundry baskets and once several of the caterpillars were large enough, we placed the mesh baskets over the entire plant they were on and weighed down the edges with rocks. Towards the end of the summer, we decided it was time to protect the caterpillars and allow them to form chrysalises and become butterflies. Very young Black Swallowtail caterpiller: they look a bit like bird poop! DID YOU KNOW? IT TAKES BETWEEN 6,000 AND 9,000 CATERPILLARS TO RAISE A SINGLE BROOD OF 6-8 BABY CHICKADEES? We were happy to know that we were helping birds feed their young.īlack Swallowtail eggs - tiny green dots that are about 1mm to 2mm in size We let them hatch and grow and disappear, presumably into the stomachs of birds and other predators. It took the butterflies a couple of weeks to discover our plants, but we were ecstatic to see the first eggs on our herbs. To that end, we decided that the first round of caterpillars in the spring would be strictly available to the birds. Our purpose was twofold: (1) Feed baby birds and (2) help raise the next generation of Black Swallowtail butterflies. The other varieties did not fare so well in our SC heat. If you're curious, the fennel grew really well, as did the regular dill, curly parsley, and flat parsley. In the right side, we planted varieties of dill (yellow: dill blue: bouquet dill red: fernleaf dill). In the middle section, we planted varieties of parsley (yellow: curly parsley blue: flat parsley red: fine curled parsley). In the left side, we planted Bronze Fennel. You can see how well the clover grew in the first photo of this post. The entire bed was seeded with clover to keep down weeds - and had the added benefit of being a fantastic habitat for anole lizards and several species of small toads and frogs. The solution is to plant enough for everybody! Because they'll eat herbs that we humans also like to eat, these caterpillars are sometimes considered a nuisance. This includes the herbs fennel, dill, and parsley, as well as wildflowers like Queen Anne's Lace, Golden Alexander, and Mock Bishopweed. ![]() They are one of the easiest caterpillars to grow for, since they'll eat nearly anything in the carrot family of herbs. FEMALE BLACK SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLIES HAVE MORE BLUE MARKINGS. ![]() Here at the Ballentine Library, we decided to turn our raised garden beds into a haven for Black Swallowtail butterflies.Īdult male Black Swallowtail butterfly DID YOU KNOW? MALE BLACK SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLIES HAVE MORE YELLOW MARKINGS THAN THE FEMALE. Here's a short list of examples from the National Wildlife Federation website. You'll need to know what butterflies and moths live in your area and what their caterpillars like to eat. They only lay their eggs on milkweed because their caterpillars only eat milkweed, although the adult Monarchs will nectar on many flower varieties. ![]() The most famous example is the Monarch butterfly. Most butterflies are pretty specific about what plants they'll lay their eggs on. You can use containers, a flower bed, a raised garden bed, or you can even plant a tree. ![]() There are many ways to go about creating a Caterpillar Garden. Older Black Swallowtail caterpillars: they have black, white, and yellow stripes with yellow spots It's also one way to help make sure that these beautiful creatures, as well as the birds, lizards, and mammals that eat them, are around for future generations to enjoy. You can do the same in your own backyard!Ĭreating a Caterpillar Garden is a great way to learn about the life cycle of butterflies up close. This season (spring and summer 2022), we decided to create a Caterpillar Garden. Richland Library Ballentine has a three-level garden bed. ![]()
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