I love to have fresh herbs to pick when cooking. Nothing better than their just-picked flavor and heady fragrance.
Since my yard is mostly shade, I’ve planted my herbs in pots so I can put them in the most sunny spots. This year I noticed that my parsley was covered, I mean covered, with scads of caterpillars. There were more caterpillars than leaves on my small plant!
Not knowing at the time whether they were friend or foe to my cooking essentials, my husband picked them off and put them on another plant – I think a large shrub nearby. Here’s what they looked like:
I thought for sure this was a yellow tiger swallowtail caterpillar because a few weeks later, we had quite a few flitting around our yard. Upon further research in the insects’ section of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Web site, I found it is indeed a swallowtail caterpillar, but it’s a black swallowtail caterpillar. I haven’t seen ANY black swallowtail butterflies. Weird.
This caterpillar is also called a parsley caterpillar or parsley worm because it eats toxins from host plants in the carrot family – carrots, parsnips, parsley, dill, and even Queene Anne’s lace. According to Texas A&M, it’s a bad-tasting caterpillar so birds and predators won’t eat it. No wonder there were SO many on my parsley.
What cool caterpillars (or butterflies) are hanging out in your yard? Check out these tips for searching your own yard for caterpillars.
Birds and Blooms contributor, Tom Allen, answers questions about caterpillars and butterflies.
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Aren’t these fun? For more info, check out this post I wrote about Black Swallowtails a few months ago: http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/2011/04/30/focus-on-natives-eastern-black-swallowtail/
Thanks, Jill. I’ll check it out!
I raise these caterpillars. They are very prone to wasp predation–where wasps either carry them off to the nest to lay eggs in, or the wasps lay eggs in them where they are. I’ve had several swallowtails emerge from a chrysalis only to be a wasp. Interestingly, swallowtails also eat angelica. Did you pet your swallowtail and have him put out his licorice-scented anthers?
Interesting, Benjamin. We didn’t pet him.
I had 30 on a single dill plant and 8 on a bronze fennel in my herb garden just last week. This week they are not there and I dont see any crysalis formed. Oh no, I hope the wasps did not get them. What can I do?
Wow that’s cool. I’m not sure what might have happened to them. Like I said, we had many also, but no butterflies??? I believe Jill (southeast) put a link in these comments to her earlier post about the black swallowtails. There may be more information there. She also works to raise them…she may be a good resource for your answer!
My cousins gave us a few chrysalis and we have been raising them this year with our 8 year old daughter. We went for a while without seeing any on our parsley. Now we have about 50! We actually had to find more food for them! We have been able to watch the whole process from them shedding skin as they grow to forming the chrysalis and even as they emerge as a beautiful butterfly! What an amazing and fun experience they are.
How fun!
In my trees in front of my house I had – what looked like – spatters of marshmallows on the branches. Some are still there but, there are black spots on them now. Anyone have an idea what they were?? Some though they might’ve been spider sacks.
Thanks!
Hi Ann –
It may be the webs of the Fall Webworm – native to North America; prevalent in Ohio. Mother nature will probably take care of any worms/webs (birds, wasp, etc. eat them).
But the black spots – that could signal a disease of some sort. You can knock the webs out of the tree for starters. And our gardening community may be of add’l help: http://community.birdsandblooms.com/ and I’ll keep my ears open for any more information about the spots.
So interesting. I have many Monarchs the last 3 years since I have done a shore line restoration along my lake property with all native plants and water plants. I have had caterpillers and also crytalis also
This year I have the swollowtails Yellow and I think the black ones I see are swollowtails also. If I see green caterpillers Ill know to treasure them now. So glad to see this blog TY
Thanks, Nancy. Glad you enjoy it. We sure enjoy interacting with our readers! Have fun with your caterpillars and butterflies.
I don’t know why anyone would think that black swallowtail caterpillars would be toxic, as they eat herbs that WE eat! The Monarch cats ARE, as they eat milkweed which has a nicotine-like alkaloid in it.
My experience with black swallowtail cats is that they are SO WELL camoflaged, and they also repel enemies by using the osmeterium, which is the two soft horns they poke out from their heads when threatened.
I have found they will eat fennel, dill, parsley, Queen Ann’s Lace, or rue. I wondered about the rue, but I found it is related to the citrus family, which is what the giant swallowtail cats eat, so maybe there is some crossover. I have raised them for many years and can never get enough of watching them grow and change. Did you know that the word ‘chrysalis’ is Greek for ‘golden case’? It truly is, as a jewel of a butterfly emerges from every one!
I’m so excited to see this blog. We purchased a couple parsley plants at the local nursery just for the 5 caterpillars on them. Finally one is in a chrysalis. It’s been getting cooler here in Kansas. Earlier than normal….Do you think this one will fly this season or wait till next year? Thank you for all of the wonderful info.
The reason you haven’t seen any black swallowtails is that the caterpillars were removed from their larval food source, the parsley, and they don’t eat whatever shrub they were placed on and therefore didn’t survive. Better luck next time.
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