Egg-laying season?

[butterflymom3]

I live in Arlington, TX. I've had butterfly gardens for several years, but this is the first year I've had any success at all...and that has been only with the eggs and caterpillars (limited success there!). This year I learned that those big red hornets feed on caterpillars. No wonder they all disappeared in previous years! duh Many of the caterpillars I had this year died and turned to watery yucky stuff inside...gross! (some kind of parasite, maybe? The eggs hatched indoors in a caterpillar pavilion) I don't want to give up, but I haven't seen any eggs in a couple of weeks. Mostly what I've had are black swallowtail eggs, laid on rue, fennel, or dill. I know that some butterflies lay after their host plants have quit growing and must over-winter before they hatch. But, I can't find any info on what is the egg-laying season for the swallowtails. Also, last year I had what a friend calls "bird turd" caterpillars (another kind of swallowtail, I think). They were on my dill plants, but I haven't seen any of those this year. It's been super hot (100+) and very dry lately. Am I out of luck until spring? Thanks for any info you can provide! :hmmm:

[Commander]

Hi there,

Yes, in nature, caterpillars and much of the early life stages of butterflies are vulnerable to predation and parasitism. We have the same problem here in SouthEast Asia too. Parasitic wasps and flies are the bane of butterfly breeders. Hence as you have discovered, if you want to give the caterpillars a better chance, you may have to take them out of the wild and keep them in breeding cages, releasing the adult butterfly only upon eclosion.

We have a few US members here who may be able to point you to the appropriate resources to answer your questions. Perhaps they could jump in and help you on those.

Welcome to ButterflyCircle. :cheers: