Lucy's Butterfly Farm
HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR PAINTED LADY CATERPILLARS (LARVAE)
The Painted Lady larvae come together in a deli-style container with special food 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 the travel container. Do not touch the larvae with your fingers. Please use the little brush provided. Smaller containers with lids are provided and with a paper to go underneath the lid to absorb excess humidity. One, two or three larva per container is ideal. It is not necessary to add any more air holes to the lids. There will be enough air in the container with the holes provided.
Using a spoon divide the painted lady diet (food) equally between the small containers and then transfer the larva gently (using the brush) on top of the food or on the bottom of the container. It does not matter if the food is in chunks at the bottom, they will eat it just the same. Cover each container with the lid with the paper under the lid as in the sample provided. Remember to keep the lids on the containers at all times as caterpillars are little ‘escape artists’.
Please leave the containers on a shelf or table at room temperature away from direct sunlight. Direct sunlight will cause condensation of the food and moisture is not good for the caterpillars. 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 caterpillars have eaten about half the food, you can open the lid and sweep out the frass (caterpillar droppings that look like balls) and webbings with the small paintbrush. Put the lid back on without forgetting to replace the paper under the lid for humidity control. If the paper is moist you should replace it with clean, dry coffee filter paper. Put the containers back on the shelf.
When you see red frass balls (caterpillar droppings), the caterpillars 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 pupal stage will last eight to ten days depending on how warm the room is.
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 containers and pin the paper onto the side of your flight cage, about three inches from the bottom hanging down 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 to the paper just rest the chrysalis on the bottom of your flight cage and the butterfly should emerge as usual. You should line the bottom of the cage with paper towels and place any loose pupa on top. You will notice the pupa will turn dark just before emergence.
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 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.
After emergence the butterflies will take a day or so to dry their wings. Do not be alarmed by the pinkish/red liquid that you see during emergence, it’s not blood. It’s called meconium and the butterflies use this liquid to plump 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 need nectar immediately after emergence. If you keep them for longer than two days they will need to nectar. A little Gatorade (yes, the drink!) any flavour will do (orange is what I use), on a cotton ball on a plastic lid at the bottom of the flight cage will attract them. If they are ready to drink nectar this provides the sweetness they require. You may see their little proboscis come out for feeding.
You may witness mating within two or three days of emergence. If you see two butterflies attached, they are mating. Please do not pull them apart.
If possible releases should be planned in time for egg-laying which usually occurs from 5—7 days after emergence assuming mating has occurred. At this time female butterfly will begin to search for appropriate host plants on which to deposit her eggs.
Please be sure to release on a warm day (24C), never in the pouring rain and well before 6pm. The butterflies will immediately try to find plants on which to nectar and/or seek trees in which to 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 as do moth larvae. At room temperature the Painted Lady butterfly remains in the egg stage for 4-5 days, in the larval stage for 12 to 18 days, and in the pupae stage for about 8-10 days.
Painted lady butterflies are hardy little creatures and beautiful too. Enjoy your painted ladies and gentlemen.
Lucy Perna
705-656-1645
lucy@lucyperna.com
www.lucysbutterflyfarm.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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