Lucy's Butterfly Farm
HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR PAINTED LADY CATERPILLARS (LARVAE)
The Painted Lady larvae come together in a larger container and must be very gently transferred one by one to the smaller containers. Do not transfer the caterpillars if they are motionless as they may be going through an instar. This is when they moult their skin and grow. They will start moving around again after they are done. You may wait a few days after you receive the larvae until they are a bit larger to do the transfer as there is plenty of food in there with them. Do not touch the larvae with your fingers, use the little brush provided. A small container is provided for each larva with a lid with a paper underneath to absorb excess humidity. It is not necessary to add any more air holes to the lids. Using a spoon divide the painted lady food between the small containers and then place the larva gently on top of the food or on the side of the container. It does not matter if the food is chunky at the bottom they will eat it just the same. Cover the top with the lid using the paper filter as in the sample provided. Remember to keep the lids on the containers at all times, as caterpillars are little ‘escape artists’. There is enough air in the container with the holes provided. This year I am pleased to provide bio-degradable containers.
Please leave the containers on a shelf at room temperature away from direct sunlight. The caterpillars will keep on eating the special diet, which is a combination of soy, wheat germ and other nutrients for a several days. When the caterpillar has eaten half the food, you can open the lid and sweep out the frass (caterpillar droppings) and webbings with a small paintbrush. Put the lid back on without forgetting to replace the paper under the lid for humidity control. If the paper is wet replace it with clean, dry coffee filter paper. Put the containers back on the shelf. Sunlight will cause condensation of the food and moisture is not good for the caterpillars.
When you see red frass balls, they have finished eating. They will attach themselves to the paper on the lid, hang upside down in a “J” form and transform into a chrysalis (pupa) without your help. When this happens do not disturb the caterpillar or pupa for at least 24 hours until they have dried and hardened.
The pupa will have hung itself from the paper under the lid. Do not pull the hardened or mature pupa away from the paper. Take the paper with the pupa attached, from the container and pin the paper onto the side of a flight cage, about three inches from the bottom hanging in a natural position. This is high enough for the butterfly to spread its wings completely and dry them when it emerges. If your chrysalis does not attach itself properly just rest the chrysalis on the bottom of your flight cage and the butterfly should emerge as usual. You should line the bottom with paper towels and place any loose pupa on top.
If the pupa is pinned too high in the cage, the butterfly could fall and become damaged. If the emerging butterfly falls from its chrysalis, it must be able to crawl up again in a hurry to dry its wings, so your flight cage must have a netting wall for it to crawl up. Slippery plastic or glass containers are not suitable.
Please note: Inexpensive “flight cages” for emergence may be made from pop-up laundry hampers from the dollar store. Use a piece of tulle (netting) fabric over the top hole to seal it. I use white tulle fabric and clothespins for this purpose.
The pupal stage will last eight to ten days depending on how warm the room is. The pupa will turn dark before emergence. If the emergence time seems likely to occur over the weekend and you wish to delay it a little so that you may view the emergence with the class, you can refrigerate the pupa for two days. Use a clean, sealed container to keep them from drying out too much. NOT FREEZE BUT REFRIGERATE. Then take them out of the refrigerator and pin them back in the cage to wait for the adult butterfly emergence to occur. Please never leave the insect, in any form in direct sunlight without shade. Handle the larvae as little as possible especially during moulting or pupation.
After emergence they will take a day or so to dry their wings. Do not be alarmed by the red liquid that you see during emergence, it’s not blood. It’s called meconium and the butterflies use it to pump up their wings. You may want layers of paper towels on the bottom of the cage to prevent dripping meconium. The butterflies will usually not nectar immediately after emergence. If you keep them for longer than two days they will need to nectar. A little Gatorade (yes, the drink!) on a cotton ball on a plastic lid at the bottom of the flight cage will attract them if they are ready to nectar and provide the sweetness they require. You may see their little proboscis tube for feeding come out.
You may witness mating within two days of emergence. If you see two butterflies attached, they are mating.
Releases should be planned in time for egg laying which usually occurs from 5—7 days after emergence. At this time female butterflies will begin to search for appropriate host plants on which to deposit their eggs.
Please be sure to release on a warm day (24C) and never in the rain and well before 6pm. The butterflies will immediately try to find nectar plants on which to nectar and or seek shelter for the night.
At normal room temperature, growth of the caterpillars will be rather fast. From 7 to 11 days after you receive them, the caterpillars will have finished their growth and will have changed to the pupa stage (chrysalis). Butterfly larvae form chrysalis, characterized by a hard casing surrounding the pupae. Butterfly larvae do not spin cocoons, cocoons are protective casings built by moth larvae. At room temperature the Painted Lady butterfly remains in the egg stage for 4 days, in the larval stage for 12 to 18 days, and in the pupae stage for about 8 days. Painted lady butterflies begin laying eggs within 4 days after they emerge from the pupae stage.
Enjoy your Painted Ladies!
Lucy Perna 705-656-1645 lucy@lucyperna.com www.lucysbutterflyfarm.com
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