If you wait too long, caterpillars may already be in their pupa or butterfly stages of life. Searching too early in the year will make finding caterpillars difficult or impossible.
Look on any leaves or shrubs that you pass by. Seeing small holes or areas cut away from leaves can indicate that a caterpillar was recently eating it. Look carefully. Many caterpillars have natural camouflage and can be hard to spot.
Milkweeds can attract monarch butterfly caterpillars. Spicebush swallowtails are known to prefer the spicebush plant. Zebra swallowtails enjoy being near the paw-paw plant. Dill, fennel and parsley can be a good places to find black swallowtail butterflies.
Be gentle with your caterpillar. Many caterpillars will be small and easy to hurt. You can put the leaf and the caterpillar directly in a small bug cage if you have one ready. It’s a good idea to take many of these leaves so that your caterpillar will have plenty of food to eat when it gets home. Keep an eye on your caterpillar. Make sure it doesn’t fall or blow off of the leaf. Don’t take too many caterpillars from one place. You should collect five caterpillars at most.
Improper care of a caterpillar can result in it being harmed or dying. You can use certain physical characteristics such as length, color and shape to learn the caterpillar’s species. The type of plant you find your caterpillar on can be a helpful clue when identifying which species it belongs to. Some caterpillars may turn into butterflies. Other caterpillars could turn into moths. Moths and butterflies will each have their own unique care requirements.
The cage should be at least three times the size of your caterpillar. There will need to be proper ventilation in the cage to allow air to enter and exit. The cage should have room for some sticks, leaves and small branches. Make sure the cage doesn’t have anywhere your caterpillar could get stuck or cut on. You can add in optional strips of paper to collect any messes the caterpillar might make. A simple plastic jar with holes punched in the lid will work just fine as a caterpillar home.
Feed them the exact same type of leaf that you first found them on. Provide fresh leaves everyday. Leaves have to be soft, not crunchy. Remove old leaves from their home.
You can simply wash the caterpillar’s leaves in water and put them in the cage. The droplets of water that are leftover will be enough to keep them hydrated. Some caterpillars may need more or less water, depending on the species. You’ll need to identify and learn the needs of the species you are caring for. Don’t add too much water. You only need to provide small beads of water to the leaves. Large amounts of water can easily drown your caterpillar.
Some caterpillars will build their chrysalis and hang it from a leaf or a wall. You may need to move the chrysalis to another enclosure if the original is too small to accommodate the butterfly or moth when it hatches. Provide sturdy twigs or stems for caterpillars who like to hang their chrysalis. If you aren’t sure what kind of caterpillar you have, adding a small layer of dirt for a moth to pupate in can be a good idea.
Some butterflies can hatch in only 8 days. Other butterflies may take months to hatch, spending the winter in their cocoon. You’ll need to keep the chrysalis in an environment that has an ideal temperature and humidity for that species of moth or butterfly. You should lightly mist the chrysalis each day to provide moisture. The chrysalis will become transparent right before the butterfly is about to emerge.
Release the butterfly or moth in the same area that you found it in originally. Make sure the butterfly has enough room in the cage to stretch its wings out. If the cage is too small, your butterfly or moth may develop deformed wings. Add some twigs to the cage for the butterfly to rest on and stretch its wings.
