Refrigerators and Butterflies

	Refrigerators and butterflies seem like an odd combination, yet some people seem to combine them with success. Here are a few ideas.

If you ever wonder how some photographers get those great stills of butterflies with their wings spread apart, here's a trick they use. They place the butterfly in the refrigerator ahead of time. Later when they place it on that perfect flower, it won't fly away. It will want to open its wings and warm up - giving you time to take that perfect picture.

Some people also will place a chrysalis in the refrigerator to slow down the maturation process. They will later take out the chrysalis and allow it to mature normally when they want the butterfly to appear. You'll need to mist the chrysalis with water every week or so.

I also read about a gardener who took some Pipevine eggs, placed them in the refrigerator and later took them out to mature. Unfortunately, she had no success with this. The moral of the story is to keep the eggs outside and warm.

One gardener even used their wine cooler. Here is an email from him:
"I've used a wine cooler to keep pupae, caterpillars and eggs viable for a while. In a completely sealed container I've kept eggs viable for a week. Now the thing is the wine cooler is set around 55 degrees. Not as cold as your normal refrigerator. Cats I've done as well, but just to slow down their rate of growth. Typically 1 day in, 1 day out. I used this method to have a younger batch of caterpillars catch up to an older batch so I'd have a large number pupating and eclosing at the same time. Did this for my daughters birthday and a friends memorial service for their son.
Pupae, depending on the breed can handle the cooler temp easier I think. I've kept monarch pupae up to 3 weeks in the refrig. 2 days in 1 day out. Swallowtails...who knows. They will go 4 months without any refrigeration at all. I just had 3 Polydamas and 1 EBS eclose last week from September." - (michaelz9)

Judy Burris contributes this story -
"Last October I put almost 100 Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillars in a Gladware container and put them in my refrigerator. They had been eating turtlehead leaves (they had stopped eating for more than a week by this time) and were still very small....probably second instar. They spun a silk nest on one side of the container and stayed there. The container had ventilation holes drilled into the sides, two per side, and a piece of paper towel in the bottom of the container.

"My refrigerator is a frost-free model, so there is air constantly circulating inside. To prevent dehydration, I lightly misted these little buggers with water once each week and changed out the paper towel to prevent mold growth. They wiggled around a bit each time I did this, so I knew they were still alive. This process continued all winter long. In the first week of April I took the container out (every caterpillar survived) and kept it at room temperature and each day provided fresh plantain leaves for the caterpillars to eat. In the wild, they often eat the turtlehead in the summer and switch over to plantain or other plants in the following spring....so I thought I'd give it a try (all of this is my first experience with raising this particular species of butterfly, or any kind for that matter that over-winters as a caterpillar).

"For the first few days, they showed no interest in eating at all, making me very nervous. They would just wander around the container. Finally, they started to eat and reached their full size in about 3 weeks. They all formed a perfect little chrysalis and the first butterfly emerged two days ago. Amazing! If anyone would like to see their complete life cycle, I have the photos on my website on the page called 'Our Garden." ~ Judy
www.ButterflyNature.com