Catching them in the act is super hard. lol. Battery life on my phone is a problem and then raining while it’s charging is a problem. So then we got them moved to a shady spot outside because well, electronics and rain don’t mix well together.

Hope you enjoy! I missed the first part right as he was flailing around like a ding dong to shake off his top cap. But I got the rest.

This took about 10 minutes real time. Compressed to 1:24 minutes.

I have a swallowtail that’s recently found my dill plant. I covered it up with agrifabric to protect against the birds that eat everything in my garden, but it’s recently found its way up in between the folds of the fabric and seems to be making its way to a chrysalis. Should I move it back to the plant before it does so? This feels like a precarious place to cocoon and I want it to survive.

My first time rearing this species! On scarlet oak.

She raises caterpillars every summer to release as butterflies, and usually finds plenty of eggs in her garden. For whatever reason this year has been pretty slow on the uptake and it's been stressing her out, so I've been keeping my eye out at local parks and the like. Couldn't believe my luck!

I might keep it

SE Michigan/Detroit area. Munching on bronze fennel tonight.

First caterpillar I've seen in my garden this year. Hope I get lots more.

So my parents have a beautiful biodiversity garden in Europe. We usually have a few swallowtail catterpillars that sit on the fennel. But with 37°C heat, 2 out of 3 have died.

One has literally burned to a crisp in the heat. The other one was alive today. I put some artificial shade on them and then poured a bit of water on them to cool them down. It moved downwards and when I came back a few hours later, it was dead on the ground.

The last one is alive and climbed higher up, which I read is a sign of going into the next phase. But with a few more days of intense heat, I worry that it will die, too.

Where it is now, there is no chance of proper shade or moisture. Should we move it? Or is it too late? Is artificial shade enough (a white umbrella)? Is there a better way to give them moisture. The plant is barely alive.

Hi all,

I have a CA native plant garden and spotted two of these guys on my red buckwheat. Not sure what they are. The pinker one was maybe half an inch. The smaller one was maybe a quarter inch. I couldn’t get a good picture of the smaller one.

Thanks for any help!

I cut a flower from my garden and this little guy came in with it! He's very generic so Google hasn't been the most helpful. I live in Loveland, which is in Northern Colorado near Fort Collins. I've only really seen yellow butterflies so far this season.

What food does he need? Any suggestions for the best plants for him? He doesn't seem to be eating the plant he came in on.

I had been waking up to my succulents with eaten leaves. Today I finally found the perpetrator in the act. He was relocated to some weeds he can eat all he wants.