Giant Swallowtail butterfly adventure time!

(CC) Hardly an hour had passed after I saw this Giant Swallowtail laying eggs on my citrus when a huge summer storm came through - hail and everything! Luckily a lot of the eggs hatched and I got to watch the little orange pups grow. One made a chrysalis on a pot on my porch, and after 2 weeks of waiting, it opened up and fluttered away.
As the largest butterfly in North America, Giant Swallowtails are a joy to see among the flowers in the garden, but their main host plants are rue and citrus, so be sure to have plenty planted!
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[@amyw2721]

Love that you’re able to spot all of this! How cool 😎

[@barryauguste9734]

Lovely and amazing video Andrea.... so gentle and calming. Thank you for sharing this little adventure with us all!

[@EileenWstCstGrl]

That's so cool to see! I love how you care about nature and all of its creatures. ❤❤

[@SucsForYou]

Yay! I'm glad you liked it! Bought some rue for the new cats and a Black swallowtail found in in like 3 minutes lol!

[@pimpozza]

I love how you share your plants with the larvae, Andrea.. I always think there's enough to go round.. 😂 Crazy hail.. the world's going mad! Loved the vid.. very, very interesting.. 🦋Wish we got huge butterflies like that in Italy.. I remember seeing so many big beauties in Kauai and they all roosted in a large tree together 💚 The insect world fascinates me.. I love watching ants work.. 😆

[@SucsForYou]

The Hawaiian butterflies sound amazing! I too am a big fan of bug life. As an only child, they kept me company often ha! Just bought some rue plants for the swallowtails. Lady tried to sell me one with a wee caterpillar on it and I was like no thank you, I'm good! 🤣

[@pimpozza]

@@SucsForYou ☘🐛 "No thank you, I'm good!" 🤣😅😂

[@normpinsky7947]

Nice video. Well done!

[@SparkyGirl762]

Beautiful butterfly! So, do the caterpillars eat your plants? 🤔

[@SucsForYou]

Yep! Just the leaves of their host plants - citrus and rue. Doesn't hurt the plants as they'll just grow new leaves 🙏

[@SparkyGirl762]

Ah, ok… so do danger to all your succs! 😁

[@heathertroynak9041]

You’re like the freakin’ Snow White of the desert ! Ok ok, gulf coastal plain. But still!

[@SucsForYou]

Thank you - butterflies are the hungry teenage boys of the winged world I have found 😅 Ten minutes after I brought some rue home for the giant swallowtails, a black swallowtail momma laid eggs on them! 🤌🏽🥹

[@heathertroynak9041]

@@SucsForYou 10 minutes! I’m telling you, all the natures are outside your house talking about you and the word is passing around with their special little buggy gossip circles.

[@SucsForYou]

@@heathertroynak9041 it does seem that way when it comes to the butterflies and new host plants 😁