Chrysalids in Hardwick

[Wendy Howes]

A few weeks ago I rescued maybe 8 or 9 Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars, along with their sassafras host leaves and branches, just before the town mowed that section of the roadside. I placed branches, leaves, and cats in my butterfly enclosure, but couldn't watch them closely because the bouquets were pretty dense, and the caterpillars were very successful at hiding. They were of all different stages. I never discovered what happened to half of them, but last week the fourth and final caterpillar pupated. The chrysalids will overwinter in the enclosure with a roof overhead but otherwise exposed to natural temperature fluctuations throughout winter and next spring/early summer. It's a great feeling to watch them emerge in summer after such a long wait period.

Wendy Howes

Hardwick