Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Raising Butterflies

Things are going pretty well with the 15 caterpillars currently living among us.
Except for the fact that I am almost out of dill in the garden to feed them.
It is amazing the quantity of dill they eat every day,
experts recommend only using home grown dill as store bought could have pesticides. 

The cage is clean, 
this quantity of dill will only last a few hours.

3 Caterpillars have formed Chrysalis,
these would be the first 3 we brought inside.
In this picture you can see the silk pad/girdle the caterpillar forms 
and later the Chrysalis hangs from.


- Look how big they are getting -

I hope they all get busy forming their "J" hooks and go into Chrysalis,
the dill situation is getting serious!

23 comments:

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

I'd overnite ya some dill if I had any :(

Sally said...

You are amazing, Debbie. I'd never even think about raising caterpillars, or planting dill. They're growing fast, woman, you need to canvas the neighborhood begging for home grown dill! :)

xoxo

Sandi said...

Wow...

This is spectacular to see!

I kind of feel like I know a butterfly superhero. :)

jo(e) said...

They are so surprisingly pretty up close!

lil red hen said...

Isn't the life cycle of a butterfly an amazing thing! I saw a zebra swallowtail butterfly this week feeding on the orange flowers of a butterfly milkweed plant. It was in perfect condition; a lot of time the wings will have torn spots.

Ruth Hiebert said...

I had never thought that these guys consume so much dill.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

We are busy too with both Black and Giant Swallowtail caterpillars growing and pooping - just like human babies!

Marie Smith said...

They are getting chunky. They remind me of the story about The Hungry Caterpillar. The grandkids love that story. I’lol tell them about the dill and caterpillars too and show them your blog.

BeachGypsy said...

So neat how they love to eat dill! They are such pretty caterpillars....they will be pretty butterflies!!

Sue (this n that) said...

They're beauties all right. How clever and yet simple is the girdle they've made.
Hope you can find more dill.

The Furry Gnome said...

What you're doing is amazing!

Pam said...

I just think you doing that is the coolest thing!

Angie said...

Debbie - it is mesmerizing to see this process occurring right before our eyes. If I had any dill, I would be shipping it to you, stat!

Susie said...

Debbie, Bless you for raising butterflies. I like the colors on the caterpillars but would freak out it is was on me. LOL. Hope you can get some dill plants from friends. Blessings to you and yours, xoxo, Susie

Changes in the wind said...

Oh such a sweet surrogate butterfly Mom.....

Conniecrafter said...

How cool is that, wow sounds like you are going to have to start growing more dill :)

Brian King said...

You've become quite adept at raising butterflies! I can't wait to see them!

♥ Łucja-Maria ♥ said...

Debbie!
I adore you, you are a butterfly farmer.
Great photos, thank you that I could see.
Hugs and greetings.

italiafinlandia said...

It is so fascinating...

R's Rue said...

Beautiful.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

This is such a fabulous thing to do. You guys are superhero’s. Wow, they really are hungry caterpillars!

Jenn said...

We did this last summer, was fun for us to watch the process. We had one butterfly that couldn't fly so we took care of him and gave him orange slices which they love!

LeAnn said...

Wow, they do eat a lot of Dill and I can see why you are concerned. I hope it all comes together as planned. I always enjoy these posts and I love the photos of the caterpillar.
Sending loving thoughts and hugs your way!