Cocoons to go

Cocoons

Caring for the caterpillar and cocoon

Cocoons should be kept at room temperature in an upright position and away from all other insects. Do not drop the cocoon or shake it. Do not remove the cocoon from where it is attached to.

Caterpillars should be kept at room temperature in the container. It is not advisable to purchase the leaves from supermarket as they may be sprayed with insecticide which could kill the caterpillar. Stop feeding the caterpillar once it becomes a chrysalis.

Do release the butterflies approximately 2 hours after it emerges from its cocoon.

Egg-Larvae-Chrysalis-Butterfly

I am no guru at rearing butterflies... but here is based on my observations and some online reading about these type of butterflies.

The Life-Cycle

Egg stage - Spot the pale yellow egg in the middle

I do notice butterflies trying to lay their eggs on my plants at times. This egg-laying action is pretty quick - the butterfly will fly all over the plant to assess a suitable area it deems fit for its egg. It will suddenly bend its lower part of the body forward to touch the leaf or stem to deposit its egg. Then it goes over to another spot on the plant and repeats the same action to lay another egg. Well, the butterfly is certainly no marksman as I have noticed eggs being laid in the soil or on the railings occasionally. Also, not all eggs hatch into caterpillars. I guess not all eggs that have been laid are fertilised.

Caterpillar at age 5 days

As the young caterpillar feeds on the lime leaf, it grows larger and sheds its skin every few 

days.

Caterpillar around age 13 days

After a few rounds of shedding, the caterpillar eventually turns green. This is the stage where it has a voracious appetite. When left on the lime plant, it has a tendency to nibble on many different leaves, causing the patchy appearance on the leaves. Because it feeds a lot, it defecates a lot too, and the fecal pellets often drop around the pot. What a mess it makes! Being relatively large, this is also the stage where it is susceptible to the neighborhood birds who visit the plants at times. 

At dawn - getting ready to turn into a pupa

After more than two weeks in the larvae stage, the caterpillar would decide it is time to become a pupae. At night, it will release this green, moss like substance (maybe poop). The caterpillar will then stop feeding and crawl to a suitable hideout where it becomes a chrysalis. Often, they do not remain at the plant to become a pupa. I have seen the chrysalis at my balcony door which is two metres from the lime plants. Sometimes if I cannot find the caterpillar the next morning, I suspect that it has crawled to my neighbours' balcony.

Becoming a chrysalis at night

The first time I witnessed the caterpillar turning into a chrysalis, it was like watching an alien movie. The caterpillar, which since morning was in an immobilised, arched shape, would start to twist its body. This twisting action would last about five minutes. The purpose of this I think is to remove the outermost skin. That led me to conclude that this new inner skin was being formed from that morning when it was immobilised. After it has shed its old skins, its new skin would start to harden and it would again stop moving. Occasionally it would still twitch a little.

Butterfly seen in the cocoon

When will the butterfly emerge? I know for sure it will emerge when the cocoon starts becoming darker in colour on the same day from morning to night. It is as if the outer skin of the cocoon becomes transparent and the wings of the butterfly can be seen clearly late at night. The butterfly will emerge the next morning between 5am to 10am.

Spreading its wings to dry

11 days after becoming a pupa

When the butterfly first crawls out of from the top of the cocoon, its wings are still damp and pretty crumpled. It takes about two hours before it can fly. I have also read that the butterfly will pump bodily fluid into the wings during this time.

Every time a butterfly emerges, I feel like a proud parent as we have journeyed almost a month together to get to this stage. Through the many butterflies that have been born at my place, I have learnt to take precautions to ensure that the caterpillars can survive well to this stage. One of them is to keep the caterpillars in a container instead of letting them roam freely on the plant. Another thing is to keep the cocoons in a safe place, away from other insects such as ants which destroys the cocoons. 

Butterfly mating season is also not consistent. Mostly, only a few caterpillars are found on the lime plant each month. On rare occasions, 10+ caterpillars may hatch at the same time. This is when I also worry that the plant will go bald as I always have to pick about 12 to 15 leaves every night to feed these hungry caterpillars in the container.

Humble beginnings

It all started when I was thinking of decorating my balcony with plants a year and a half after moving into my new place. The balcony was seriously under utilised - save for drying my laundry every fortnight and an occasional hangout place for the neighborhood birds. Now which plants should I grow? I decided to start with chilli padi, lime and sunflower.

Months later, I harvested my first batch of chilli padi that I had grown from seeds. 

Young chilli plant

Ripe chilli fruit

This joy was short-lived, as the plant started to become infested with pesky white flies. 


The sunflower grew well. 

Young sunflower

In full bloom

Seed production

After blooming, the flower started turning brown during seed development. This was the time when it starting attracting various pests!


As for the lime, it took the longest time to grow. It took about two to three weeks before the lime seeds germinated and three years later, two tall one metre plants stand proudly at the balcony. 

Young lime plant

Lime plants standing tall

Sadly, there has not been a single flower from the lime plants. I started noticing black tiny caterpillar-like insects on the lime leaves from time to time. Thinking that these were the offspring of moths, I threw them out of the window! It was not until a few months later that I realised these creatures were actually the larvae of the lime butterfly...