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Fri, Aug 12, 11 at 12:03
| After lamenting the fact this morning that I've seen no more Pipevine Swallowtails since I lost all the babies to the tiny wasp this spring, I spied this mama pipevine swallowtail visiting my pipevines and leaving eggs just a few minutes ago! She is missing one of her tails but still very active on this beautiful morning. I promised her I'd bring her babies inside to raise.
~Mary femail Pipevine Swallowtail
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| Wonderful! I planted pipevine, but only have about a 1' vine. It didn't exactly grow as predicted on the Internet. I hope there are no eggs, because I don't think that is enough to feed a cat. LOL |
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- Posted by misssherry Z8/9MS (My Page) on Fri, Aug 12, 11 at 13:16
| Woohoo - congratulations! Pipevine swallowtails are very easy to raise in a cage, Mary, which reminds me, I need to check mine out - they probably need more food. It seems like every Mama pipevine swallowtail that lays eggs for me is a bit worn looking. 'Can't ever remember a newly-emerged-looking one laying eggs. Sherry |
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- Posted by mary_littlerockar 7b Central Arkansas (mleek@sbcglobal.net) on Fri, Aug 12, 11 at 13:54
| Woohoo ... I just brought in 25 Pipevine Swallowtail eggs to raise. They have a brand new rearing cage and I will keep it inside, where those wasps can't get to them. Do you think I need to spritz the leaves along, to add a bit of moisture to the leaves the eggs are resting on? We keep the house at 72 and with this heat, the air-conditioner runs practically non stop, making it quite dry inside. Before, the rearing cage was outside on the deck and the air had a lot of humidity so I didn't do anything to the leaves. ~Mary |
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- Posted by misssherry Z8/9MS (My Page) on Fri, Aug 12, 11 at 14:35
| I don't know about spritzing the leaves, but that might be a good idea, because I know air-conditioning reduces the humidity hugely. The humidity can be 85% outside but only 40% inside. I'm raising mine on my shaded front porch, so I don't add any water. I haven't had any luck raising any kind of caterpillar in my air-conditioned house. The red-spotted purples I brought inside to raise because they were on willow, which I needed to keep cooler, died, but then they appeared to have a virus. Maybe somebody else who's raised them inside an air-conditioned house will have better advice, Mary. Sherry |
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- Posted by misssherry Z8/9MS (My Page) on Sun, Aug 14, 11 at 16:54
| I can't believe how many PVS cats are on my vines, plus the ?25 or so I'm raising myself. I found several new clusters of eggs on the few vines that didn't have any on them, which upset me, because this is where I'm gathering leaves for the ones I'm raising. Well, one of the clusters looks to be duds - YAY! The eggs have turned a clear color, and there are no hatchlings anywhere near them - never thought I'd be glad for duds! Here's just one group in the herd out there -  Sherry |
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- Posted by bettyd_z7_va 7 (My Page) on Sun, Aug 14, 11 at 18:06
| Ohhhhh! Our favorite here! Congrats! Betty |
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