A Lesson in Patience

Last fall Jack found this guy:

A swallowtail caterpillar!  Or at least I think that’s what he’s called.  My neighbor, Beth, a butterfly expert, told us that he would eventually transform into a swallowtail butterfly, so we gave him lots of parsley (courtesy of Beth who grows it in her garden just for this purpose) and waited.

He ate A LOT.  Just like the hungry caterpillar in the book.  Conversely, he also pooped a lot, a bunch of tiny little black balls! 

Eventually he got into position at the top of the bug keeper, strapped himself on, and stopped moving.

September 6

We watched and watched but he didn’t change much.  One day we checked on him and…

September 10

September 12

And then we waited and waited and waited.  Beth told us it should take 7-10 days, if I’m recalling correctly.  But it never happened.  Eventually, I put him down in the basement hoping he might decide to join us in the spring.

A few weeks ago I remembered him and brought him upstairs into the warmth.  I didn’t announce it because I didn’t want to disappoint Jack if he was actually dead in there.  But yesterday, Jack walked by the bug keeper and said, “Hey!  Who put a butterfly in the bug keeper?”  Holy cow!

(Note all of the little black poop balls from last fall at the bottom of the cage)

And of course, an empty chrysalis:

I can’t believe we missed seeing him emerge!

Unfortunately, our weather is too cold to release him yet.  For now we are keeping him in his bug keeper and he’s drinking from a cotton ball soaked in sugar water (Beth’s idea, of course).

When the temperature is consistently above 60 degrees  during the day with no freezing night temperatures, we can release him.  His life span is short, so I’m hoping it warms up soon so he can go enjoy the outdoors.  In the meantime, he’s helping us feel like warm weather is just around the corner.  He was definitely worth the wait!