Well I swear I posted this but I don't see it.....A friend sent me a pic of a Black Swallowtail and said it was eating her orange tree. I checked my resources and nowhere did I see this happening. She sent me this quote:
"In a similar vein, Black Swallowtail larvae are attracted to parsley, carrots, celery, and other plants in the Parsley Family containing the three chemical compounds known as anethole, anisic aldehyde, and methyl chavicol. It happens that the leaves of very unrelated orange trees also contain these chemicals, so Black Swallowtail larvae eat them as well". From backyard nature.net
Could this be true????????????
Thanks
Need confirmation on Black Swallotail host plant
No. If she's got swallowtails eating her orange trees (here in North Texas) she's got Giant Swallowtails. Black and Giants share Rue as a host, which is in the Rutaceae, the citrus or rue family, but Black Swallowtials do not utilize orange trees.
Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com
Thank you! that is what I told her, then she started to Google and came up with that information from Backyard Nature.net.