There’s something about a giant swallowtail gracefully flying into the garden that catches my eye and makes me stop to admire its beauty. The wild lime tree, one of its host plants, is planted right outside of my office window, so the giant swallowtail catches my eye from time to time when visiting the garden. 

The best part is I watched her leave many eggs behind.  So, when I had a minute, I checked the tree in the area I saw her mostly, and found four eggs! 

I have decided to stop raising caterpillars inside of a butterfly house and let the lifecycle unfold in nature.

With that said, I found a new way to help caterpillars if needed . . .

I have seen ideas to use mesh bags on the plants. So, I added the bags to the leaves that had eggs. This measure has been taken as the little caterpillars seem to always vanish a few days after they hatch.

I am excited to share that all the eggs have hatched and I have baby swallowtail caterpillars growing on my wild lime tree.

I am hoping this measure, while leaving them in their environment, will help them continue to grow, so they can form their chrysalis.