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Garden Gate:  Black Swallowtail Caterpiller  |
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Candy C.
True Blue Farmgirl
823 Posts
Candy
Mescal
AZ
USA
823 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 06 2010 : 5:15:01 PM
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I have a couple of dill plants in the garden this year. It has been a couple of years since I grew dill (don't know why because I love it and use it making pickles! ). When I was watering this morning, I saw a big caterpiller on one of the plants. I remembered from a couple of years ago that it was some kind of pretty butterfly. I just looked it up and it is a Black Swallowtail caterpiller. Guess he gets to stay! 
Candy C.
Farmgirl Sister #977
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Jun 06 2010 : 6:02:36 PM
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They will destroy your dill!
Farmgirl Sister #17
Blog
www.eggsandherbs.com
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msdoolittle
True Blue Farmgirl
1152 Posts
Amanda
East Texas
USA
1152 Posts |
Posted - Jun 06 2010 : 6:23:10 PM
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Yep, they will, but that's why I plant LOADS of dill and fennel. They will feed on both. I love butterflies!
FarmGirl #1390
www.mylittlecountry.wordpress.com |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2010 : 03:30:05 AM
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I planted parsleylast year and thought for sure the chickens had destroyed the bed.
Discovered the other day that the parsley made it....BUT there at the time was one of those tiny swallowtail catepillars. Last night that caterpillar had almost quadrupled its size!
I have planted dill, fennel and now parsley just for the butterflies. But yes, they will reek havoc if they are unwanted.
Kind of funny how some of our tiny silkie chicks avoided the catepillar too. Like they know it will taste really bad! |
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Candy C.
True Blue Farmgirl
823 Posts
Candy
Mescal
AZ
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2010 : 2:54:54 PM
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I didn't see the caterpiller today when I watered, don't know where he could have wandered off to. I checked both plants too. If there gets to be too many or the plant looks like it is suffering, I will squish them but in the meantime, I will let them munch.
Candy C.
Farmgirl Sister #977
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. |
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knead2garden
True Blue Farmgirl
359 Posts
Ashley
Spring City
TN
USA
359 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2010 : 4:05:13 PM
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I love butterflies, too!
~Ashley
"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught." -Baba Dioum |
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Gloria Bonde
True Blue Farmgirl
103 Posts
Gloria
Hot Springs
SD
USA
103 Posts |
Posted - Jun 07 2010 : 6:56:11 PM
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I love those big caterpillars. I grow lots of dill and parsley in hopes of seeing those beautiful black swallowtails. The parsley is always in some stage of growth. Last years parsley overwinters, goes to seed this year and makes new plants that overwinter. I let it grow where it will. I garden in zone 4 and have lots of pics on my blog
www.DakotaGarden.com |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Jun 08 2010 : 08:03:43 AM
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I always grow "extra" parsley and dill for the monarch and swallow tail butterfly larvae. I have a flower box especially for them with lantana and a few other of their favorites. They seem to leave the rest of my "edibles" alone, then :)
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Garden Gate: Black Swallowtail Caterpiller |
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Black Swallowtail Caterpiller
