I fostered probably three 'batches' of these Common Mormons (papilio polytes) and it was a great experience, watching them grow and transform from tiny little caterpillars that are barely a few millimeters in length to this lovely form. Unfortunately, my orange plant did not survive the continuous 'attention' it got from my house cat.
My two bits, if you have a garden or a potted plant and you find caterpillars on them, please give them a chance to grow and move on. It will destroy the work you might be putting in to make the plants look nice and healthy but city life is not helping these winged creatures survive. You could consider reserving some plants for these guys. If you are really interested in fostering butterflies, then you can refer to The Butterfly Site on how to set up a host plant or garden.
My two bits, if you have a garden or a potted plant and you find caterpillars on them, please give them a chance to grow and move on. It will destroy the work you might be putting in to make the plants look nice and healthy but city life is not helping these winged creatures survive. You could consider reserving some plants for these guys. If you are really interested in fostering butterflies, then you can refer to The Butterfly Site on how to set up a host plant or garden.
1 comment:
I totally agree! Keep aside one or two plants to act as cat nurseries. The popular ones for the Common Mormons seem to be lime and Curry leaf plant.
And we need all the winged eye-candy that we can get in this city!
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