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 that holds a paper 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’ and there is enough air in the container with the holes provided.
Please leave the containers on a shelf away from direct sunlight and at room temperature. The caterpillars will eat the special diet and when they are about an inch and a quarter long they will push away the frass (caterpillar droppings) and will hang upside down in a “J” form and transform into a chrysalis (pupa) without your help. But if you help they have a better chance of making it. When the caterpillar has eaten half the food, you can open the lid and discard only the frass with a small paintbrush, put the larva back into the container that is still holding the rest of the food, then you put the lid back on without forgetting to replace the paper under the lid for humidity control. Put the container back onto the shelf. Sunlight will cause condensation of the food and moisture is not good for the caterpillars.
The caterpillar will keep on eating the special diet, which is a combination of soy, wheat germ and other nutrients for a several days. When you see a red frass ball, it has finished eating and will hang itself up to transform into a chrysalis by shedding its skin for the last time. When this happens do not disturb the caterpillar or pupa for 72 hours until it has dried and hardened.
The pupa will have hung itself from the paper towel. Do not pull the hardened or mature pupa away from the paper. Take the paper with the pupa attached, from the container and pin it into 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.
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 it’s wings, so your flight cage must have a rough or netting wall for it to crawl up. Slippery plastic containers are not suitable. Inexpensive “flight cages” for emergence may be made from laundry hampers from the dollar store. Use a piece of tulle (netting) fabric over the hole to seal it. I use white tulle and clothespins for this purpose. Another idea for making your own “flight cage” is to use a cardboard box with the sides cut out and covered with tulle cloth.
The pupal stage will last eight to ten days depending on how warm the room is. 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. 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. You may want layers of paper towels on the bottom of the cage to prevent dripping meconium on the floor. 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 for feeding come out. 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-Anna Perna 705-656-1645 lucy@lucyperna.com
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We are proud members of the International Butterfly Breeders Association. The IBBA is an international, non-profit, membership-based trade association promoting high standards of ethics, competence and professionalism in the breeding of quality Butterflies.
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