[ButterflyKim]

Hi there. Totally devastated to find that we have had 6 chrysalis killed but what looks like a mouse. My husband just went down to check the 30 that are just under our deck and there was the mouse sitting looking at him. PLEASE is there anything we can do to stop this happening ??? I am to scared to remove the chrysalis incase we damage them. In the last two days we have had 2 girls and a boy just this morning open. We have 60+ in the garden but now with the pest killing them I am worried. HELP thanks Kim

[Jacqui]

To remove the pupae you can take a spray mister (plastic bottle that when you squeeze it, it sends out a puff of water) and spray each pupa. Make sure you’ve got clean hands – and very gently pull at the pupa to bring it down.

I would not touch soft ones or ones that have turned dark. Hopefully the mouse will leave them.

It is not critical to hang them, although using the mister you should get a fair amount of silk and they can be pinned up. I have raised thousands (literally) by lying them right next to a vertical surface that they can climb up. As the butterfly emerges it grips onto the vertical surface and climbs up and gets the necessary height to spread its wings to dry. I think I’ve sent photos to the website before but don’t have time to look for them now.

[Errol]

If you are sure it’s the mouse eating them, then you’ll have to cut the pupae down. Use a sharp thin bladed knife, or a sharp chisel.

If you handle them carefully you should be able to glue them up somewhere safer. Otherwise tie a piece of cotton on the end of each of their cremasters then hang them up from those.

Or even just lie then down on some soft material, say a towel and on a bit of a slope if possible.

Good luck.

[Author]

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