I documented my first time raising giant swallowtail butterflies. It took about six weeks from finding the caterpillars and eggs on my tangerine tree to having one emerge from its chrysalis yesterday afternoon.
So I just found your channel and I found some weird critters on my fairly new (less than one year) citrus tree and my first thought was oh no! I grabbed two of them to destroy them but thanks to mobile devices I decided to google them. Voila, they were orange-dog caterpillars that will one day transform into giant swallowtails. I saw an adult fluttering around a couple of days later and was just overjoyed. Needless to say I’ve been babying the others. Funny thing is they were never in my thought process. I planted milkweed last year to feed my monarchs. Yesterday, My son found a hawk moth And now we look for new and emerging forms of life in our garden. It’s like getting a new gift each time. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
Oh, yay, Karen!!! I’m so glad that you looked them up and spared them! Y’all are going to have a ton of fun raising them! Did you see at the end of the video how those two little spiky things come out of their head when you pet them? Don’t worry if yours don’t emerge in a few weeks. They may not come out of their chrysalises until next year! - Isn’t God wonderful to tuck away so many delights in the garden? It is a delight to never know what treasure that you may find out there!!!
@@gulfcoastbutterflygardening when I tried removing them initially the red thingies protruded out right away. Nature and her many secrets or well God and his creativity 🤗🦋. Yesterday (Saturday) when I checked on them we had every size from small to large but we ended up having a freak windstorm and the temperature dropped into the mid to upper 50s. Sunday the plant was almost completely defoliated and Monday most of them were mia. I’m not sure if our local bird population took notice of them. The tree is in a pot and I have some other plants in the same pot but I guess it didn’t camouflage the caterpillars. There are a few left and I have three more citrus trees which I’m going to thoroughly examine tomorrow to see if momma swallowtail deposited any more eggs.
@@karensterling5246 We had that weird windstorm weather too! I have several people who bring me the caterpillars that they find on their citrus trees. Their trees are too small to support many caterpillars and I have lots of trees. Hopefully, the birds were able to snack on your caterpillars! I used to hate the thought of that, but everything must stay in balance!
Awwww! You are so sweet!!! I don’t save them from aphids. Sometimes I wash them off with water, but once I notice monarches laying eggs on the milkweed, I don’t do anything anymore. Ladybugs do come along and eat some of them, but eventually, at the end of the season, they get so gross and sticky that I have to cut them down to the ground and just pray that they will come back next year. And they usually do come back!
Yeah! Those are weird caterpillars! I hope you saw at the end of the video where we were petting one of them and its red anthers came out. They let out a stinky scent also!
Thank you, Georg! Sometimes, if I remember, I will choose to video in 4K, but it’s rare. I bet there’s a way to choose for it to default to 4K, but I’ve never looked into. I should though!
@@gulfcoastbutterflygardening thanks, most people, including me are watching this on monitors that are only capable to produce HD resolution anyway so I doubt if I even get the 4K advantage.
Oh, Jen! It could be two weeks or they may not emerge until some time in the spring! Keep an eye on them and when you see the chrysalis turn slightly darker that will be a sign that the butterfly will emerge soon!
Hello from Michigan near Lake Saint Clair Detroit area,I raise monarch butterflies and black swallowtail butterflies, expanding to the pipevine swallowtail,and the spice bush swallowtail next year,I have 21 rue plants, haven't seen a Giant Swallowtail in my backyard yet,what is a good nectering plant to attract them in,im in zone 6b
Oh, yay!!! That’s awesome that you are raising so many different butterflies! I have yet to see a butterfly that can resist a zinnia! Also, I’ve been growing tithonia (Mexican sunflowers) and everybody loves those too!
LOL! Well, they do love citrus since it is one of their larval host plants! They especially love new, tender leaves, and they can strip a sapling, much to many a gardener’s consternation!
