Giant Swallowtail egg found on my little Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliate) today.

I pulled 11 cats and 1 egg off this morning. There are more out there. I noticed that there seem to be a lot of little spiders and ants all over the Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliate) leaves. I am thinking that is all the more reason to rescue as many as I can and get them to adulthood. I hope that they are not impossible to hand rear. Any suggestions are VERY welcomed. Sherry? Elisabeth? Anyone? :)

I would use Wet Block, sticking the leaf petiole into a moistened piece. I would then create an enclosure where humidity stays up and predators stay out.
I use inverted vases on saucers or, when I can get them, bell jars. Change the foliage every two to three days to keep fresh food at hand at all times. At this time, all frass (poop) can be removed and the enclosure be cleaned. The best time to refresh the food is right after they molt. The cats will then be ready for some fresh food. Hope this helps

John

Plant the hoptree and they will come.

Info on raising GSTs is linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Your method of raising Giant Swallowtails

Congrats, congrats, Angie!!

There are many ways to raise caterpillars. I've found that giant swallowtail caterpillars are big targets of many predators, so if you can keep them safe, that would be wonderful.

You know how Ptelea leaves are in threes? I've found that the individual leaflets stay fresh in water picks for a long time. You don't have to cut off the entire trifoliate leaf, which is a waste, if you only have one cat on it - by the time the little bitty caterpillar ate its leaflet, the other leaflets would have gone bad.

Other than keeping them safe, they're easy to raise, at least they have been for me. I haven't seen a giant swallowtail since last year, though, so I'm missing them!

If you run out of Ptelea leaves, you can feed them rue leaves, which they don't like as well, but will eat.

Good luck!

Sherry

Thanks guys for all of the suggestions. I went back up to the tree and counted at least 12 more cats on it. I do see lots of ants and siders on the leaves, so I think that I will try to save as many cats as possible. I also have some Rue growing in the yard, so it is available as a backup if I run out of Hoptree leaves. I see that these cats get really big. Are they very voracious eaters like the Monarchs?~~Angie

No, they eat very little relative to their big size, Angie. They're not at all like monarchs and pipevine swallowtails, who are very active caterpillars that eat a lot. Giant swallowtails are very sluggish, too - sometimes you might think they're dead, but they're not.

Sherry

Angie,
Just wanted to add my congratulations. Giants are on my bucket list, as well. I planted several containers of Rue, hoping that would attract them. But, they are still tiny seedlings. Maybe I'll start looking around for a Hop Tree. Enjoy those babies, and keep posting pictures if you can.

Martha

Congratulations, Angie! You sure have been getting a lot of different kinds to raise, and I'm very happy for you! :) This must be Giant Swallowtail time because I've had a female coming around lately laying eggs on the gas plants (her favorite thing to lay on the past couple of years) and rue. I haven't walked up further in the yard yet to see if she left me any presents on the wafer ash trees.

My wafer ash trees have grown MUCH faster than my paw paw trees. The paw paws are still much shorter than I am and they've been in the ground for a few years (I can't remember offhand just how many). I just planted the wafer ash trees two years ago and they're both much taller than the paw paw trees. The one wafer ash is almost a foot taller than I am, so I'd describe them as very fast growers.

I'm including a picture that Amber just took for me yesterday of a bunch of eggs that the GST laid the other day.

Again, I'm so happy that you're getting to raise all of the kinds of butterflies that you've been wanting for a long time! :)
Cathy

This post was edited by caterwallin on Sun, Jun 1, 14 at 13:56

Thanks Sherry. That is good to know. I think that I may have enough food to get them through to pupation then. That Hoptree really put on a lot of growth. I'd say it quadrupled in size from last year! I went up today and pulled some more cats off the tree. Some that I counted yesterday were missing today. So, I guess they got eaten. Wish I had pulled them all yesterday. Anyway, I have 18 cats now, and I may yet find some more.

Martha..thanks for the congrats! am so excited. I am not advocating this seller over any others, but I was very well pleased with the size and condition of the Hoptree that I purchased from Mail Order Natives down in Florida.

Hi Cathy, my friend! Thanks for the good wishes. That is a beautiful shot of the eggs. Wow! Yes, this Hoptree seems to be a fast grower, and that is a wonderful thing when we are talking host plantings. My Pawpaws that you sent to me look so great! I will send another pic of them to you sometime soon. They have done so well.

Congrats!!! I would love to see them again. I rarely get them. Our area is getting so developed. A new metro line to DC is opening soon.

Giants love red Pentas and Lantana.

Here is a link that might be useful: Movie of Giant nectaring red Pentas

Did you know that giant swallowtails are kinky?

{{gwi:472492}}

But they're beautiful -

{{gwi:334043}}

Sherry

Congrats! Hope I get as lucky too--have my new little Ptelea tree too. Love all the pics--such gorgeous butterflies.

You have given me hope! I have also only seen giants a few times as they were passing through. I started some wafer ash from seed though and they are getting some size to them now. I'm going to have to start looking them over regularly even if I don't actually see a giant flying around.

Unfortunately the wafer ash I planted in the ground last year looks like a spindly palm tree at the moment. I don't think it likes the location I picked at the outer edge of my crabapple tree which is mostly shaded. I still have the other tree sapling in a large pot in more sun and it looks much more filled out. I still have to figure out where to plant it....along with three wild black cherry saplings I still have in pots as well!

Thanks for posting this, it really gives me some hope. I haven't seen much activity yet this year and have yet to even see a monarch!

Ok guys, I have already noticed one thing. That Hoptree seems to be a magnet for ants and spiders. I wish that I had collected all of the little cats when I found them on Saturday because when I went back on Sunday to get them, a lot of them were missing. Today, there is no sign of any cats or eggs. So, I have learned to collect the cats right when I see them. I am trying to document growth, and so I snapped this pic of one of the little guys next to a straight pin which measures 1 1/2 inches. I have read that the 5th instar cats are 2+ inches! Is that true?

Thanks runmede. I am so excited to have actually succeeded in enticing them to my yard. Just wish I had seen that mama who came through. :)

Sherry..Love the pics. Gosh, that looks like something out of the Kama Sutra. Sakes alive! Hey, when these tiny guys wander off the plants, do you think that I should return them? I am assuming that they are wandering off to molt, but I worry about them getting back to the plant because they are so very small.

Thanks bernergrrl! I will say that you should check that tree often. These cats seem to be here today and gone tomorrow.

Molanic..So very happy to have given you hope! As I said before, I have only seen 2 adult Giants in the almost 7 yrs that I have lived here. So, for me to get cats, is BEYOND thrilling to me. Do not give up!!! :)

I'm not sure what you mean about wandering off the plant, Angie - I thought you had brought them all in to raise. As long as they're in your cage, safely protected, I wouldn't worry about them wandering off the plant, since many cats do that when they molt.

I don't remember measuring giant swallowtail cats, but 2" long sounds about right.

I always thought they looked like monkeys with a cap on -

{{gwi:472497}}

Sherry

Thanks Sherry. Yes, I meant wandering off of the cuttings inside the enclosed rearing container. I recall reading something about Cathy finding hers dead inside the container, but I guess if they can wander off, then they would have the ability to wander back on if they so desired. :0)

Angie,
So sorry to hear about your tiny cats disappearing. I guess there are more spiders and other creatures out there than we even realize, but we learn from experience. Not to worry, I'm sure we all go through that. I've had it happen.

So far (knock on wood) I've never had problems with anything getting the Giant Swallowtail cats out on the gas plants. I've been letting them out on the plants until they get a little bigger. I guess you've read about the problems that I had with trying to raise them from eggs and little cats. A lot of them end up dying because of that wandering off the plants thing that they do. I guess only a couple of us have had those problems though. I'd try putting mesh bags around the stems outside, but I'd be afraid that I'd forget to move them and they'd run out of food. Yes, that would be like me even though I'd know that I had cats. I hop around between lots of projects and get sidetracked. If I have cats in containers here on our back porch, though, where they're there "in my face", I know that I won't forget to feed them.

I have figured out that for me (I mean for the GST cats' sakes), I should leave them out on the gas plants until they're past that real tiny stage, and then I gather them up and they'll be alright. It's strange that it happens like that, but it does. Now, I haven't tried raising them inside on wafer ash from tiny on up yet. I had only tried raising them inside on the rue. Come to think of it, I don't know if I tried raising them on Dictamnus from the beginning either, but I don't think so.

About your question, Angie, I'd just let them go if they wander off of the plants. I've come to a conclusion (I guess my own personal belief, really) is that by continually trying to put them back on the rue, I'm probably causing them more stress than if I'd just leave them alone. It was just hard to watch them die and feel helpless about it. I guess I've somewhat figured it out, though...now, if the predators will just cooperate and stay away from the eggs and cats until I bring them in to raise! I might just bring a few in and try to raise them on the wafer ash and see what happens. I'll have to cross my fingers and hope that I have better luck than I had with raising them on the rue. Of course, since I think she probably laid the majority of her eggs on the gas plants, I might as well bring mama GST's eggs in on that and raise them on that too (in addition to trying the wafer ash).

I'm glad that your paw paws are doing so great. Out of the dozen that I planted in our back yard that year, 11 of them have survived (I planted a wafer ash in the dead one's place), but I have yet to see a Zebra Swallowtail. If nothing else, I guess we might be eating a lot of paw paws eventually. My trees are much smaller than yours, ranging from 2-4 feet. They must love Georgia! And you, of course. :)
Cathy

This post was edited by caterwallin on Mon,...

Back in 2009, I had partially kept track of the Giant Swallowtails' growth as I was raising them. I have no idea why I stopped at the size that I did though.. I remember measuring one soon before it got to that pupation stage and it was 2-1/4" long. Whether they all get that long, I'm not sure because I didn't measure all of them, but they probably get close to it if not exactly that length.

Here is what I have saved in a Word file from 2009:

Giant Swallowtail Age and Size:
Hatchling: 1/16âÂÂ
1 day old: 1/8âÂÂ
2 days old 3/16âÂÂ
3 days old 1/4âÂÂ
4 days old 5/16âÂÂ
5 days old 7/16âÂÂ
6 days old 1/2âÂÂ
9 days old 3/4âÂÂ
12 days old 15/16âÂÂ

I have no life! LOL

Thanks Cathy, and (((HUGS))))) to you! You have a very valuable life. Thanks for all that you do. :)

Aw, thanks, Angie. That made my day, and (((HUGS))) to you too!

Hello ladies,
I'm new to the site and wondered into your conversation. You all sound like such good gardening and butterfly buddies and so excited, I just had to add my congratulations about the egg and cats.
When my girls were little, we raised monarchs and shared pics of the various stages with their classmates. It was a wonderful experience for everyone concerned.

We used embroidery hoops at either end of a tub of fine netting and placed the leaves inside. We used paper towels on the bottom and just replaced them when they were soiled daily.
Your photos are lovely.
Again, congrats on your success.
Yvette

leatfhead, You mentioned Wet Block to keep cuttings fresh. I am sure you did not mean the knitting tools found on my Google search. Can you tell me where to find this? Thanks,

Terri

Congrats! I have also had an explosion of Giants due to my hop tree exploding :) My one comment is that at least at my house, the giants aren't picky and move from hop tree leaves to rue easily. I have both plants (cuttings) in my butterfly rearing cage because I also have black swallowtails. The giants are on both plants.