Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Daily pictures #97, 1 by mellielong

mellielong wrote:
I figured if the Giant was flying I'd better go check the rue. And boy am I glad I did! I found a total of eighteen Black Swallowtail cats and eggs. Since both Giant STs and Black STs use rue, it's important to know the difference. As you can see, Black ST cats are well, black. With a little white saddle, of course. Their eggs are cream colored whereas Giant eggs are orange/gold.

I tried to take a picture that showed several stages - the eggs are cream colored to begin with, then they turn gray/silver as the caterpillar is about to come out, and then the little cats are black and white.

The one Black ST cat I had died a few days ago so let's hope this is a nice, healthy batch - and that my rue plant is big enough for all of them!

Melanie