These are on my dill plants. What kind of babies are they?
What Kind of Babies are These?
I have a whole family of them!
Those are Black Swallowtails http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=1356. Later instars are gorgeous! http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/images?l=1356 They feed on Dill, Parsley, Queen Anne's Lace (pictured), fennel, Rue, etc If you collect them and for some reason run out of weeds to feed them, you can buy organic parsley @ the grocer or a health food store. You must wash it thoroughly . Frequently, organic herbs are treated w/ Bacillus thuringensis which essentially acts like ground glass in the gut of caterpillars. It does wash off though. I plant Bronze fennel for mine. It is beautiful and easy to grow.
Maggie
Cool! I told DH not to spray the dill with bt the other day because I knew there were eggs of some kind on there, so he didn't. I know nothing about raising butterflies, but I'll try to help them as much as possible!
If you take them in, then the predators will have less opportunity to kill them or make them sick. Check out the sticky link http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/744103/ for info on how to raise them and what to raise them in, etc. Here is another informative link http://www.butterfliesetc.com/ This page has lots of info http://www.butterflyfunfacts.com/aboutus.php Here is their FB page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brooker-FL/Shady-Oak-Butterfly-Farm/210158045413?ref=ts
Maggie
I figured I could just take them over to Sheila's house and let her foster them for me. LOL Wonder if she's in the market for some new babies to raise. hmmmmm.....
Probably. I've never seen her turn one down that I can recall!
Maggie
Are mine Black Swallowtails too? I think they're on Dill (it came up wild in my flowerbeds, I didn't plant it).
Carla
Carla, you have the giant swallowtail. Sheila taught me how to raise them last year. They also love rue and citrus.
I don't know, Lou .... my Google search indicates that Giants look like big blobs of bird poop. Now I'm *really* confused.
Carla
I think the eggs are what looks like bird poop.
Carla,
You have Black Swallowtails. They will eat plants in both the parsley & sometimes the Rutacae family including Rue & Citrus. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/images?l=1356 http://www.butterflygardeningandconservation.com/butterfly/st/black.php
Giant Swallowtail cats do look like wet, shiny poop except in the smallest instars. http://www.butterflygardeningandconservation.com/butterfly/st/giant.php They mostly eat Citrus and reportedly Hop Tree and Rue although I've never seen it. They love Hercules Club http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62606/ & Wild limehttp://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62606/ here in Jax.
Both types of swallowtail eggs are orangish although BST eggs are much yellower, especially when first laid. They darken as they get closer to hatching, finally turning very dark gray.
I think the BSTs are the prettiest cat but the GST is a gorgeous butterfly.
Maggie
Well phooey! I think a wasp got to my babies before I could rescue them. :(