This is Jared. We found him as a caterpiller (with his 2 brothers, Jeff & Tobias) in our #parsley plant last October ;) We brought them inside, put them in a small #butterfly habitat, fed them plenty of greens & watched them grow. A few weeks later, one by one, they each picked a spot, suspended themselves with a few strands of silk & formed into a chrysalis.
When 2-3 weeks had passed & they still hadn't emerged, we read about how some late season caterpillars will "overwinter," meaning they will stay in their chrysalis stage until Spring, when it's warm enough to come out. We perched the habitat up on a bookcase & began our patient wait.
Well, Jared decided it was warm enough in the house this past Saturday, to make his debut! We now have this beautiful, fully grown, Black Swallowtail Butterfly... Unfortunately, it's too cold here now to release him outside, but we're enjoying being able to watch him! Hopefully his 2 brothers (who are still hanging out in their cocoons) will wait a few more months... 🐛>🦋 #nature #caterpillars #butterflies #chrysalis #blackswallowtail #statebutterflyofnj #winterwonder #itstartedintheparsley
