Unfortunately, as development grew the butterflies began to fade away. Nowadays, you rarely see them. But thankfully, a 28-year-old aquatic biologist at the California Academy of Sciences, Tim Wong, is single-handedly taking action to repopulate this beautiful creature, and he’s doing it all in his own backyard. Various stage of pipevine swallowtail growth (from bottom: eggs, different growth stages of the caterpillar, chrysalis, full butterfly). Credit: Tim Wong
Butterfly collectors consider the wings from the California pipevine swallowtail — or, Battus philenor hirsuta, to be the most magnificent in North America. 

These beauties start their life-cycle as tiny red eggs that hatch into a very large orange-speckled caterpillar; then it has a gestation period of up to two years, finally, it emerges as a beautiful blue butterfly glimmering with oceanic tones. 

On a normal day, Wong works in the science museum taking care of 38,000 animals, including albino alligators, Japanese stingrays, and octopuses. In his free time, he is devoted to raising butterflies and taking care of the garden from where they eat. 

Since he was a child, he became very intrigued and passionate about these creatures. He would spend his days in an open meadow near his home, catching, studying, and raising any butterflies that he could find. Wong said: I first was inspired to raise butterflies when I was in elementary school. We raised painted lady butterflies in the classroom, and I was amazed at the complete metamorphosis from caterpillar to adult. 

Therefore, it’s no surprise that once he learned about how increasingly rare the pipevine swallowtail had become in San Francisco he made it his personal mission to bring the butterfly back. Wong started by researching the butterfly extensively. He discovered that when the butterfly is in caterpillar form, it only feeds on one plant – the California pipevine (Aristolochia californica). This plant is exceptionally rare to spot in the city, so it wasn’t easy to find when he went on a search for it. 

“Finally, I was able to find this plant in the San Francisco Botanical Garden [in Golden Gate Park] and they allowed me to take a few clippings of the plant,” Wong said. Once he had his plant clippings, using self-taught techniques, he managed to create the most incredible butterfly paradise in his backyard. 

Wong explains how he built this paradise: [I built] a large screen enclosure to protect the butterflies and to allow them to mate under outdoor environmental conditions — natural sun, airflow, temp fluctuations. 

The specialized enclosure protects the butterflies from some predators, increases mating opportunities, and serves as a study environment to better understand the criteria female butterflies are looking for in their ideal host plant. Caterpillars pupate into chrysalises, remaining in this state for up to several years before emerging as butterflies. While inside, their bodies liquefy and reform as completely new creatures. Credit: Tim Wong
Once his paradise was complete the next step was for him to find some caterpillars. Wong managed to find a group of 20 caterpillars outside the city from private residences that had lots of vegetation. 

He brought them back to his backyard and released them onto the plants to feed. “They feed as a little army. They roam around the pipevine plant from leaf to leaf, munching on it as a group,” he said. About 3-4 weeks later, the caterpillar pupates and forms an outer shell known as a chrysalis. 

Inside that shell, the insect liquefies itself and either develops into a butterfly in around two weeks or stays dormant for up to two years. When the butterfly is in this delayed development stage, it’s called diapause.

  The adult pipevine butterfly usually hatches from its chrysalis in spring, but sometimes can be spotted flying around from February to October. 

The creatures usually live for only two to five weeks, depending on temperature, predation, and food availability. During its short life, the females spend it laying their eggs on the pipevine plants. 

According to Wong, they typically lay their eggs in clusters of five to 30, which he carefully collects and incubates them indoors, away from predators like spiders and earwigs. 

“From there, the cycle continues,” he said. Once the eggs hatch, Wong raises the caterpillars at home, then brings them to the San Francisco Botanical Garden’s “California Native” exhibit. He has been doing this same routine for years already and has successfully introduced thousands of caterpillars to the garden. 

While other conservationists have succeeded in repopulating the pipevine butterfly in Santa Cruz and Sonoma, none have been successful in San Francisco. Tim Wong’s backyard butterfly enclosure includes the California pipevine plant, along with other native flora, to make the butterflies feel at home. Credit: Tim Wong
Wong said: Each year since 2012, we’ve seen more butterflies surviving in the garden, flying around, laying eggs, successfully pupating, and emerge the following year. That’s a good sign that our efforts are working! 

Wong’s actions can teach us all a lesson about how we too can help species such as this butterfly to repopulate all on our very own. While he does caution that raising butterflies takes a lot of work and special understanding of each species’ natural history, there are still much simpler ways that we can contribute. 

It’s as simple as restoring native habitats to flourish and boost endemic butterfly populations and other local species. For example, by planting native flora host plants, weeding (to allow easier access to food sources) and avoiding pesticides.
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