"The Butterfly Hotel" will soon close for the Season-nearly all have matured.

"First Flight #1: Black Swallowtail Butterfly, Glenview , IL"

"First Flight #2: Monarch Butterfly, Glenview, IL"

Black Swallowtail Butterflies:

Three summers ago, we noticed small "caterpillars" on the dill plants in our garden; Google images ID'd these the Black Swallowtail. But a day or so later we noticed the creatures were gone--eaten by birds or insects.  So I learned how to nurture eggs (little white specks) and small caterpillars in a large container (kept out of direct sunlight) indoors (on sprigs of cut dill I renewed each day). There are many YouTube and internet instructions for the procedure. But you need an ample supple of their food, fresh and on-hand, in this case dill.

About a week later, the creatures grow large: they eat-eat-eat and they poop a lot (you have to clean the container frequently!) Then they purge---it's as messy as it sounds---and go into a cocoon-like form on a small branch you supply in the container. About 10 days after that: Bingo! You have a lovely Butterfly. Give him a couple of hours to fill out and you are ready for the "Release Ceremony"! Small children go giddy over these shows! My neighbor and I each have a super abundant source of nectar for them: practically wall-to-wall flowers in our modest suburban lots.

Monarchs

Years ago, a friend supplied me with a few Milkweed seeds which I planted in a sunny area. Finally we had enough plants and started noticing Monarchs around; we started nurturing their eggs as well. The procedure is quite similar, the results the same; Monarchs are a little less messy, since they do not purge. A generous supply of Milkweed, or variety of, is essential!

The most interesting thing to me was observing that individuals among our "guests" had individual traits (even though members of each species looks alike). As caterpillars, some are more active, aggressive, etc; as butterflies some are more or less tolerant of the human hostess. For the past two weeks we have seen one Monarch "Patrol The Yard" in regular patterns to run off any other butterflies--yet I can get quite near to it, even offer to pick it up.

Census this year: 13 Monarchs and 20 Black Swallowtails released to pollinate  and reproduce.