Butterfly's

[animaliaadvocate216]

I don't know where to put this and I'm hoping a moderator will put it where it belongs. I want to try to start keeping caterpillars to turn into butterflies come this next spring. Does anybody here dabble in butterflies to give me a little bit of information on how to keep them?

 

[Schledog]

I raise Monarchs every year from egg to butterfly. It’s as simple as acquiring a caterpillar and providing it with food while keeping it moist. What species are you going to keep? I’ve only kept monarchs but a few species (painted ladys, hornworms) have prepared diets where others like monarchs need a LOT of leaves. Multiple per day when they are big. What specific questions do you have?

 

[animaliaadvocate216]

Honestly I don't care what species. I would like to see the full transformation and metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a butterfly. What species would you recommend as being the easiest to keep and most hardy, as to keeping them healthy as possible? I live in Missouri, the Midwest, I don't know what species are available to me yet, but I will find out come next spring. I mainly want to raise them to release them after eyewitness and researching the metamorphosis.

 

[Schledog]

Well if you want you can raise painted lady butterfly’s which are available online literally any time of the year or you could wait till early June (at least here in Minnesota) until the monarchs come back and lay their eggs. There is a lot of great YouTube videos on raising monarchs. I’d check out MrLundScience, he’s got some great videos on monarchs.

 

[animaliaadvocate216]

Well if you want you can raise painted lady butterfly’s which are available online literally any time of the year or you could wait till early June (at least here in Minnesota) until the monarchs come back and lay their eggs. There is a lot of great YouTube videos on raising monarchs. I’d check out MrLundScience, he’s got some great videos on monarchs.

Thank you . Besides monarchs what else is close to the same husbandry? If that's even an issue. I'm new to inverts as a whole, I have 6 different species of arachnids but I want to branch out two other invertebrates. I plan on getting several blue death feigning beetles, that's the one species that started this entire thing. But I really want to experience other invertebrate activities .

 

[MintyWood826]

What species would you recommend as being the easiest to keep and most hardy, as to keeping them healthy as possible?

Monarchs seem to be the most fragile; this may only be because I've read about the most diseases/parasites about them. BUT, they should have a very high survival rate as pets, as in 95% +. For choosing a species, just choose one that appeals to you and is available either WC or online (only a few are legal to ship across state lines).

I started out by buying painted lady kits with artificial diets, but eventually I got sick of the caterpillars being kept like that, having to live in their own frass (fun fact, it changes colors according to what they eat). I ended up feeding the last group with thistle and I now stick with monarchs.

Thank you . Besides monarchs what else is close to the same husbandry? If that's even an issue.

I've raised painted ladies and monarchs using hubandry tips from https://monarchbutterflygarden.net. Most of the website is specifically for monarchs, but I think I saw some swallowtail-specific articles as well. I assume different butterfly species have very similar care requirements, but not identical (as some chrysalids of certain species will need to be overwintered). Make sure the host plant you use is compatible with the species you choose.

I use a net cage to house them. Cut some of the host plant and keep the stem of it in water, but cover the water so caterpillars don't drown. **Don't underestimate how much they eat in later instars.**

I planted a small butterfly garden and it is rewarding to find eggs laid on the milkweed.