How to Keep the Larvae of an American Lady Vanessa Virginiensis Alive

Create a caterpillar house. A cardboard or plastic box at least a foot cubed and a piece of cheesecloth for a lid are sufficient. Lay a couple of sheets of paper towel on the bottom to catch caterpillar feces. Add a twig to the cage as a place for the caterpillars to pupate.

Dampen a cotton ball or scrunched-up paper towel and place it at the bottom of the plastic cup. This keeps the leaves fresh without being a drowning hazard to small caterpillars.

Collect Gamochaeta leaves. The plants from this genus are commonly known as everlasting plants, including sweet everlasting, Pennsylvania everlasting and spoonleaf purple everlasting. Ideally, collect leaves from the same plant species you found the caterpillars on. If chemicals have been used in the vicinity, wash the leaves thoroughly and pat them dry with paper towels. Try to avoid using leaves from a plant that has been treated with chemicals itself, especially insecticides, which are lethal to caterpillars.

Push the stalks of the leaves into the cotton ball in the cup. Put the cup in the box.

Guide the caterpillars onto the leaves using a small artist's paintbrush.

Place the cheesecloth over the box and hold it in place with the elastic band.

Add new leaves every couple of days or when the caterpillars have eaten most of the old ones.

Replace the paper towels on the bottom of the cage once a week.

Leave the pupae in alone when the caterpillars pupate. The butterflies will emerge a couple of weeks later.