Yes, that sounds like a good idea to me, Catherine. The life of a caterpillar is dangerous, and the mesh covering will help protect yours.
Sherry

Thanks Sherry!
I thought my kids had left one of their old hampers, but they didn't. Then I remembered our collapsible dog kennel. Do you think this will work okay?
The second pic is of one of the cats. I think it is one instar younger than the other one on the plant. I put a couple sticks in there. Do I need to do anything else? Do I need to spray the plant occasionally with water? How long do they pupate? I sure don't want to hurt them, but I have so many birds around.
Let me know what I can do to improve this until they can fly away.
Thanks!
{{gwi:540651}}

{{gwi:540653}}

That's perfect, Catherine.

Thanks butterflymomok!

Its funny.....we take our dog to the vet in that dog carrier, and when I got out, she got very concerned. haha

As they say, "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"!
It will be great if they can grow into butterflies right there, since I don't "grow" them in the house. I never thought of doing this outside, so this might be something I continue to do, instead of just keeping my finger's crossed that they aren't a meal for a bird! :)

That looks a lot like the pop up enclosure I just bought, only mine has more mesh. Yours looks like it will work great. Does that thing really keep a dog contained?

BSTs are fun to raise. They are lazy caterpillars and will hang out and eat and eat until they get big and fat. Then they will purge and look for a place to make the chrysalis. I'm not sure where you want them to pupate. I put mine in an glass aquarium tank and try to encourage them to pupate on sticks. If they emerge, it takes about 10 days during nice warm summer weather. I have 2 that have clearly decided to hibernate this winter.

Well, not really.......Well, it keeps her contained, but she usually makes it roll over in the back of the van, because she's a VERY hyper dog! I think it might make a better butterfly house than a dog kennel!

Do you think the BSTs will pupate inside there, if that's all they have? What if the weather turns cold? Do you think its early enough that they will be okay outside (I'm in central Indiana). Do they migrate south??

Hi Catherine, yes they will pupate in the enclosure with no problem. Probably on the side or top. I don't think the cooler weather will bother them much, since they are a temperate species. I'm not sure where you live, but Papilio polyxenes is indigenous to a large part of eastern and central North American and does not migrate. They over-winter as chrysalises.

They will be okay outside, but will grow faster if you bring them inside into warmer temps. Since there are only 2, they would be easy to tend inside in a smaller container if you prefer. Yours may not emerge this fall, but instead hibernate over the winter in their chrysalises. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to over-winter Swallowtails - I've got both Black and Spicebush swallowtails that will be over-wintering this year.