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Butterfly born in my house! #861066

Asked March 10, 2024, 6:03 PM EDT

I have a beautiful Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly in my home office. I live in Chaska. I discovered it last Monday, Mar 4 when I went to pick up what I thought was a leaf my dog had tracked in. The leaf started to walk. It was a butterfly and it is now Sunday and this lovely critter is amazingly still alive. I have been providing a little honey-water (ratio 1 to 10) on a paper towel and I am guessing that it has been drinking some. It has not flown yet, as far as I can tell, but can flap its wings and walk. I keep my house at 66 so it may be too cold for it to fly. I am going to be going out of town in a couple of weeks and would like to find a home for it until Real Spring when it can survive outside. Any suggestions? Do you know of anywhere with live butterflies, like a zoo or conservatory? I am happy to take it wherever it is welcome.

Carver County Minnesota

Expert Response

Thank you for your question.

It is indeed a beautiful creature. Most adult butterflies typically live for no more than three weeks and often less than that. For this reason, if you did locate some place to which you might bring it, there would only be a very short period of time left in its life span. While this is unfortunate, it is simply the fact. By the time you leave town, this butterfly may have already died. My suggestion is to just keep on providing the care and nurture that you have started and enjoy its immediate presence. Unfortunately butterflies are not the pets that dogs and cats are. If you were to release it outside, it would not survive for very long with the cool night temperatures that are in the immediate forecast for Chaska. See the following for additional information:

https://ansp.org/exhibits/online-exhibits/butterflies/lifecycle/ - :~:text=Most adult butterflies live only,and may live several months.

https://www.sargentwelch.com/http://www.sargentwelch.com/images/Swallowtail_Butterflies.pdf

https://www.joyfulbutterfly.com/life-cycle-of-a-butterfly/

I wish that there could be better news to provide you regarding the butterfly that you now have. Just enjoy its immediate presence.

Good luck. Thanks for consulting us.

An Ask Extension Expert Replied March 11, 2024, 6:40 AM EDT

Thank you so much. Will just take it day by day. The butterfly's presence has felt like a gift and a reminder of how miraculous nature is. With all our human ingenuity, it is impossible for us to create a butterfly. We simply cannot make a single one. B

On Mar 11, 2024, at 5:40 AM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:


The Question Asker Replied March 11, 2024, 7:41 PM EDT

So beautifully said.  

Thanks for sharing with us.

An Ask Extension Expert Replied March 11, 2024, 7:59 PM EDT

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