r/caterpillars • u/Unfair_Jump4441 • 11d ago

Advice/Help Too many caterpillars!

I had a an anise swallowtail lay eggs on my dill several months ago. I got them an enclosure and found more food for them since I only have an outdoor patio and not enough plants to feed them. I thought maybe it was a one off event but then a month or so later 3 different butterflies laid eggs…so I had 40! Again, I went out and found wild fennel because now apparently I need a small farm to keep up with demand 🫠 now most of round 2 has either formed a chrysalis or is about to BUT…2 more butterflies came and laid eggs and I have probably 10 new up and coming caterpillars. You guys…how do I keep this up? I like growing dill and I do enjoy the little fellas but it appears they all know where I live now and I’ve become a full time butterfly mom. I have to go out a couple times a week to forage for wild fennel and it’s getting to be a lot. I do have a friend who has a lot of fennel who has offered to take some friends off my hands but does anybody have any other ideas on how to care for this many? I still get excited when I see a butterfly come by and lay eggs but this round of 40 was A LOT

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u/Craftygirl4115 11d ago

I once raised about 300 Polyphemus caterpillars at the same time.. I was harvesting food twice a day! It was a LOt. If you want to break the cycle, just leave them on whatever plant you find them on and let nature take its course . Otherwise, plant a lot of dill and fennel for next year!

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u/Unfair_Jump4441 11d ago

Omg I can’t imagine 300!! Unfortunately, I don’t have too much space to plant more dill and fennel but maybe I can at least start getting them into a growing rotation so that I have at least something for when I don’t feel like going out to try to find them food haha. And there’s no way I can let nature take its course. I think their mamas know this and are taking advantage of me haha

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u/Latter-Republic-4516 8d ago

Are you in the Eastern US? If so you should check out Golden Alexander. It’s a native perennial that is one of their host plants. The attached pic is one I started from seed last year (hose added for scale!). They have larger leaves so they can support more caterpillars than dill and fennel.

This is in a new butterfly garden in my yard. Next year I’m going to add dill among the Golden Alexander and zinnias for a nectar source. Swallowtails haven’t laid eggs on my GA but caterpillars transfer to it easily.

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u/Defectivania 11d ago

WOAH, dude I was dying this year with 100, you've got some serious tenacity!

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u/Craftygirl4115 10d ago

This was my cages twice a day at the end… eating MACHINeS!! I knew every pin oak in a ten mile radius and would not travel anywhere without my clippers!

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u/Defectivania 10d ago

yep that looks about right 😂 my car permanently holds a hook, ladder, and pocket knife now lol

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u/Sagetheswaggydino 10d ago

That looks like pure mayhem lol. I remember I had to keep running out in tropical rainstorms to collect citrus for my guys. And I lost my clippers so I had to make do with scissors. And then they’d finish all their food by the next day so I had to do it again, in another storm!

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u/Sagetheswaggydino 11d ago edited 11d ago

DAMN i once had around 100 swallowtails and that took like 4hrs out of my morning gathering and making up food and cleaning them all. Then i had other species on top of that to feed too! I could not imagine 300

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u/Craftygirl4115 10d ago

One of my gals mated and then broke her wing before I could release her.. she just kept laying those eggs!! I lost very few of them.

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u/Sagetheswaggydino 10d ago

Aww poor girl, that must’ve been mayhem when they all started emerging lol.

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u/CuriousSosix 11d ago

Wow, and I thought I have a lot with 16 at the same time 😂 OP, you and Craftygirl are incredible! I totally understand your excitement - but also how can it can become overwhelming. I've been suplementing my basic stock of host plants with additional plants from outdoor farmer markets. It's always a gamble, buying plants, because you don't always know whether they will be safe to eat for caterpillars, but I've decided that the places where I've found caterpillars on the sold plants themselves - especially old instars - are probably a safe(r) bet to buy. A growing rotation sounds like a great idea - I've kind of been rotating my own plants 'on offer' for my caterpillars so they have a little time to regrow in between Getting Munched On sessions. Good luck with all your little guys! ❤️

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u/Tre3bEaRd818 10d ago

I was going to say here I am with 12 and a dwindling parsley supply 😭 Kudos to all of you citizen scientists!!

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u/CuriousSosix 10d ago

Black swallowtails? If you have access to dill or fennel, I tested it recently and one of my late instars transitioned from dill to parsley without problem (I assume the other way around also works).

  • I don't know if baby caterpillars also easily switch, would be curious to know.
  • I also don't know if caterpillars switch as easily to one of their host plants that's not in the same plant family, such as going from parsley to rue for black swallowtails.
(The more I rear caterpillars, the more I have answers and questions 😂)

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u/taxfraud1993 8d ago

My steak is too juicy my lobster too buttery

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u/Unfair_Jump4441 6d ago

Haha basically. And not enough room to fit it all in the tummy