Black Swallowtail Butterfly Life Cycle Photo Gallery by spicebush at pbase.com

Black Swallowtail Butterfly Life Cycle

Photos of the life cycle of the the Black Swallowtail Butterfly: Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis
The caterpillars eat plants in the carrot family, celery, dill, fennel, parsley, Queen Anne's lace.

After the adult butterfly lays the eggs, it takes about 2 weeks for the caterpillars to hatch. They spend approximately 2 weeks feeding on the host plant until they leave the host plant to find a place to pupate. During the warm summer months, they spend about two weeks in the chrysalis before the butterfly emerges. However, during the end of the summer, the caterpillars that pupate will spend the winter in the chrysalis. If you want to overwinter a black swallowtail chrysalis, you should keep it in a shed or garage. If you keep it inside where it is warm, the butterlfy will emerge during the winter months when there is no food.

Click on >>SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLIES at the top of the page to view the life cycles of the tiger swallowtail, spicebush swallowtail, and the pipevine swallowtail butterflies. If you want to view photos of other butterflies that you can see in Pennsylvania, click on >> "Butterflies in Your (Pennsylvania) Back Yard" at the top of the page.

Black Swallowtail Eggs on Fennel	Black Swallowtail Caterpillar	Black Swallowtail Caterpillar Eating Fennel	Caterpillar on Queen Anne's Lace
Black Swallowtail Caterpillar on Queen Anne's Lace	Black Swallowtail Caterpillar	Pupating	Black Swallowtail Chrysalis
Ready to Emerge	Just Emerged

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Ezio		25-Jun-2009 13:30
I never did know what the eggs looked like. I'm glad I got to see your page cauz now I know that I have at least ten soon to be caterpillars on my dill!! :D

Hobo Sam		18-Jun-2009 15:33
Thanks That helped me alot!

science teacher, Kathy		27-Oct-2008 22:18
We are expecting a freeze tonight so my students and I paid a visit to our butterfly garden today. It is Oct. 27th. We were surprised to find swallowtail caterpillars everywhere. Lots and lots of them. I am wondering what I should do if anything to help them tonight. I watered the garden to try and protect it from the freeze. Any quick response is helpful today.

Guest		23-Oct-2008 17:55
HI

Guest		30-Sep-2008 15:44
Been raising several Eastern Black Swallowtails in NY over the course of the summer. Our last butterfly has not emerged from the chrysalis yet. It's been four weeks. All the others emerged within 10-14 days. Is this butterfly dead? If not, how long will it take to emerge and what do I need to do to prevent it from emerging during the winter months?

gage blackmon		25-Sep-2008 23:23
i love catapillers .they are the best .and so what do you like?ilovecaterpilas

DeAnna		20-Sep-2008 22:30
Sorry, I forgot, is it better to have more than one -- we can always go back, Wal Marts parsley plants had 3 or 4 more on them. :) Thanks!

DeAnna		20-Sep-2008 22:29
I don't know if this is where I need to ask, but I found your site after my 4 year old found a caterpillar at Wal Mart and asked the lady if she could take it home. We have it in a bug house with some parsley for food, I don't actually have a parsley plant, just pieces off of it in there. I'm wondering if it will do ok in there. If it becomes a Chrysalis soon, should I overwinter it outside in the plastic bug house or put that in the garage? Its still in the 70s-80s here in the day, and we don't really get colder weather until early November at the earliest. Just wondering, she's all excited thinking her chubby little caterpillar is going to be a butterfly -- don't want to kill the poor thing though. Thanks!!!

Guest		10-Sep-2008 19:50
Where can you expect to find the chrysalis? We have lots of the caterpillars on our parsley and are curious where they go. Murfreesboro, TN

Rue		10-Sep-2008 15:00
I have been raising black swallowtails for two years now in central Alabama. In the last two days I found fresh eggs laid. I noticed in your post about overwintering. It is still in the high 80's and low 90's here with high humidity and plenty of flowers but, according to your calculations these eggs will be ready for crystalis in about a month. I would take them outside when in crystalis but I noticed that some type of paraside had bored into two early crystalis I found in May and they never emerged so to protect them I have been doing it all inside. Will I need to overwinter the caterpillars from these eggs or when should I expect to have to overwinter crystalis from future eggs? Any info you could provide me about the process would be great? Thank you.

Guest		18-Aug-2008 05:11
For the past four summers, I have been collecting & raising Monarch caterpillars from numerous milkweed patches around my town, but was surprised and delighted today to come across, for the very first time, two different caterpillars I had never seen before. I had always known that some type of butterfly used Queen Anne's Lace as a host plant, but did not remember what it was, or what exactly to look for, so had never really bothered seeking them out, although the plant is absolutely profuse in many of the same locations where I search for milkweed. Today, when I was turning over milkweed leaves in search of Monarch eggs and larvae, I happened upon the first mysterious stranger on a stem of nearby Queens Anne's Lace, and I knew I had come across one of the unknown caterpillars whose name still escaped me. Before I left that particular meadow, I had come across a second, larger specimin as well. I put both of them in my bucket-full of milkweed leaves and Monarch babies, threw in several stems and leaves of Queen Anne's Lace, and drove on home. It wasn't until a bit later, after searching the internet, that I knew for sure that I had two black swallowtail caterpillars. I found a small, long-unused aquarium that I scrubbed out, went out into my garden and broke off two fat stalks of Italian flat-leafed parsley,and introduced my two new houseguests to their new accomadations. The larger of the two fairly raced for the parsley and started immediately chomping away at it, but the smaller guy is still on its original stem of Queen Anne's Lace. I really don't know very much about raising these guys, so if anyone has any helpful info for me it would be much appreciated.

sarah		11-Aug-2008 13:15
How long is the life cycle of the black swallowtail caterpillar, from caterpillar to chrysalis? I have raised them before, but am unsure how many days until they pupate? Thanks

Guest		25-Jul-2008 16:22
Do the caterpillars overwinter before emerging as the butterfly? If so, how? Karen in OH

Dawn		19-Jul-2008 02:16
I just noticed the caterpillars on my dill this evening. I want to photograph them daily to see what all happens. I can't wait!

marie		05-Jul-2008 20:35
I had about 18 of the black swallowtail caterpillars on my parsley plant. They almost eat every bit of it before turning into chrysalis. Now at least one beautiful black swallowtail butterfly emerges everyday. What a treat

Gwenda		18-Mar-2008 12:21
I wintered five of these in my laundry room. Was surprised to see one had emerged yesterday. I'm afraid to let it go ... it's 40-50 degrees here... drops at night. I've searched for flowers and put them in. Anything else I can do? Gwenda in N.C.

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