First Swallowtail Butterfly Hatched - by Sunscape

Isn't it a beauty? This is the first one to hatch from this summer's caterpillars that I found on the fennel and parsley.

Here he is sitting on the fennel while I clean his butterfly cage. I changed out the branches for fresh ones daily for them.

Mika is watching the butterfly emerge where I hang the cover on the porch. She is intent on checking out what is happening.

While I sat watching it, it fell right onto my arm. It was still filling out its wings when it fell from the cage. It is totally helpless at this point, so I had to cut a zinnia flower from the garden and placed the butterfly onto the flower.

It was hours later, and it was still sitting on the Zinnia when it started to rain really hard. I brough out one of my butterfly houses and put it into the cage for the night to keep it safe from the elements.

The following morning, I walked the Swallowtail out to the butterfly garden. It stayed in that garden for most of the afternoon, then it started to rain again, and I didn't see where it flew off to for cover.

I still have two cocoons left in the cage that I'm hoping will hatch this week. They usually hatch between 12 - 16 days on average. All of the Monarch butterflies have hatched for this year and are off enjoying their adventures.

We are supposed to have a week of nice weather, so that will be perfect timing. I will keep you posted on the progress.