Rearing Caterpillars
Help Support Local Butterfly Populations By Caring for Caterpillars
Jun 30, 2009
What follows are two simple homes you can make for your caterpillars, both use limited materials which are inexpensive and are easy to obtain.
Caterpillar Home Type One
This type of box is good for any of the caterpillars that feed on nettles for example Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells, Peacocks or Painted Ladies.
You Will Need
- Card board box (shoe box is ideal)
- Scissors
- Sticky tape or glue
- Piece of fine fabric (muslin is a good option as the hole size is very small and the caterpillars cannot get out)
- Small jar
- Cotton wool
- Elastic bands
- Ruler
- Pencil
Eight Simple Steps to Follow
Step One
Measure in 2.5cm (1") all the way around the top of the lid and draw a rectangle.
Step Two
Cut a hole in the lid following the pencil marks.
Step Three
Cut the fabric slightly bigger than the hole already cut into the lid then stick into place using the tape or glue. Make sure there are no sticky bits left otherwise you may find the caterpillars get stuck.
Step Four
Stand the box on its end.
Step Five
Find some food for your caterpillars. You must make sure it is the right food otherwise your caterpillars will go very hungry.
Step Six
Place some water in the jar then put the food plant into the water.
Step Seven
Stuff some cotton wool into the top of the jar, this will stop your caterpillars dropping into the water, as they won’t be able to get back out again.
Step Eight
When you have put your caterpillars onto the plant, place the jar and plant into the box and fix the lid in place with the elastic band
Caterpillar Home Type Two
This is a good container for caterpillars that will turn in butterflies like the Large or Small White.
You will need
- Large ceramic flower pot
- Soil
- Cabbage plant (or you could use a turnip)
- Large lampshade frame (with the fabric removed)
- String
- Fine mesh with small holes
Five Simple Steps to Follow
Step One
You can either grow a cabbage from seed in your pot or ask someone you know who grows cabbages if you can have one and transfer into your pot.
Step Two
Turn the lampshade upside down and place over the top of your cabbage.
Step Three
Place your caterpillars on the food plant.
Step Four
Carefully wrap the mesh over the shade and fix around the pot securely with the string.
Step Five
When they have eaten all the leaves on the plant, transfer to a new plant.
Care of Your Caterpillars
- Keep in a cool but light room.
- Change the food plant on a regular basis.
- Cover the floor of the box with blotting paper which can be easily be removed and replaced every day.
- To transfer your caterpillar from one plant to a new one you can use a small paint brush or just move the leaf and when they crawl onto the new plant remove the old leaf.
- Always make sure the water pot is stuffed with cotton wool.
- Make sure you have lots of stems for the caterpillars to crawl up and when they are ready to turn into chrysalis they have something to climb and hang from.
- When they have turned into chrysalis do not move them and keep an eye on them everyday.
Care of Your Butterfly
- When the butterfly has come out of the chrysalis, put some nice nectar flowers in the box (for example buddleia) so they can have a little feed before you release them near their food plant.
- If you do not have any flowers then you could mix one spoon of honey, one spoon of caster sugar and a cup of warm water to make a little food for them then put this mixture into a very shallow dish on the floor of the box.
- Release them about four hours after they have emerged this will give them time for their wings to grow and hardened off.
- If it is raining very hard then do not release your butterfly until it has stopped raining and never pick up by their wings.
- Check there is a good food source prior to releasing.
- Never release an alien species into the local environment.
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