The entire larval stage is about 2-3 weeks (depending on the weather and food availability.) These adults would walk headfirst down the trunk to feeding spots where sap flowed from the tree. We now wish we’d have put him in the tree as this species likes tree sap, or known to let him choose his own food, not try to feed him.Trooper was a happy little butterfly even in his tough circumstances. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Though we had not counted their instars, many field guides suggest they go through four or five growth stages.

The caterpillars continued to grow, and when they outgrew their skin, they molted into their next stage or instar.The caterpillars were easy to identify as those of the Mourning Cloak butterfly (After about five weeks of captivity, we noticed that the caterpillars had entered a new phase of their lives. We never saw the Mourning Cloaks drinking nectar from the flowers in the garden, but they are known to occasionally imbibe on floral nectar. When the adults opened their wings to bask in the sunlight, we could see that the uppersides were almost purple-black and had a brighter yellow to tannish border along the outer margins of the wings. The eggs hatch in concert with the spring leaves, thus ensuring an ample food supply for the caterpillars. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Spiny elm caterpillar poisoning is available below. The caterpillars usually reach full size in May or June and then form their chrysalids and transform into new adults. Ugh — I’m pretty sure that, not knowing what the caterpillars were to turn into, I would have done the same thing and gone for eradication! It was covered with black, bottlebrush-like spines.
How can you possibly time that to coincide with a certain date?

The day it rained Mourning Cloak caterpillars, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Then they show ‘wandering’ behavior as each one seeks out a good place to form a chrysalis & turn into a butterfly.

I’ve since thought that maybe I could have cut the branches and then lodged them in among the branches of some other tree.

The partially eaten leaves gave me an idea.We collected a half dozen caterpillars and placed them in a terrarium. I know that there is no real replacement for Mother Nature but as I found more & more of these dead on my patio (squished, drowned or partial bird/ant food) I began gathering them in a plastic tub with plenty of elm branches till I could figure out what to do. Their dark wings heat up quickly, a necessary trait in colder climates. I am hoping to release some beautiful butterflies in the very near future.Just want to give you an update on my caterpillar colony. Several of those I touched wriggled vigorously, then resumed their quite helpless position.” If anybody has the urge to watch a butterfly emerge, here are some instructions for keeping the chrysalis: It’s really important that the container be large; if the butterfly is cramped when it emerges the wings will not unfold and develop properly. It was very helpful! The border of the wings had a series of irregular scallops and had short projections on both wings. Mourning Cloak Caterpillar Host Plants I had hoped to see one for years but had lived too far south to do that until that day.
(Not from vanity — I’m reading a New York Times article telling how to suppress online information about yourself). Since these caterpillars hang out in groups one might easily brush against several at the same time, increasing the exposure. A couple of years ago a lot of my plants were overrun by Painted Lady cats that are also less than good looking and I sprayed them with BT to kill them, then had to suffer the guilt once I learned what they were… But I have to say, I far prefer the Monarch and Swallowtail larvae, which have always reminded me of the hookah-smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland — LOL ! As for shipping you the caterpillars: they may not survive the trip; if they do you must be prepared to feed them particular foliage until they pupate, and then wait while they metamorphose into butterflies. I wrote it after a mourning cloak flew into my yard on a brilliant summer day and I was thunderstruck with its beauty. These larvae are about 2 inches long. The fattened caterpillars hung downwards on a twig, in the shape of the letter “J.”  About a day later they had transformed into a grayish-tan, spiky chrysalis. That part would be neat to see (and photograph): one description says, “Next the caterpillar arched its body upward entangling the hooked claws of its hind legs in the silk, letting its body hang downward with the head end curved slightly upward. The Mourning Cloak butterfly can live up to 12 months and he had just come out of a chrysalis on the portal ceiling. Caterpillars live in a communal web and feed together on young leaves, then pupate and emerge as adults in June or July. There is also a tremendous amount of excretment as well. Thanks for the blog and all the information!I found a whole lot of them, somewhere between 15 and 20 on a tree-like shrub. DON’T SUPPRESS THIS! It may also eat nectar from flowers.

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