I have SEVERAL of these juicy caterpillars all over my 6' Dill plant! Boy are these things hungry! When I try to pull them off by picking them up mid-body, pair of small bright orange antennae comes out at the head. Yeah - that kinda made me pull back rather quickly. Anyway, after touching this thing every so slightly, I noticed and pretty um.....'undesirable' odor on my fingers. Ok - what IS this thing PLEASE?!?!?!?
a future butterfly..........love it! Those "pair of small bright orange antennae" are just a warning to predators.
well, THATS nice...any idea what KIND of 'baby' butterfly this is?
i don't remember the name but dill is a host plant for them. count yourself lucky!
Swallowtail?
It's probably a Black Swallowtail caterpillar:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/6/
Ha! I might be lucky, but 'mama' ain't happy! She loves her dill! OK- Thanks for the lead. I'll look up the Swallowtaila and see if I can make a positive match. BTW - why am I 'lucky' to have this devouring my dill?
Awww Gum, they are one of the most beautiful butterflies on the planet!
Don't worry, as soon as the cardinals see them they will be gone :(
Wondermus! Gorgeous butterflies, gorgeous birds to follow....Now THAT explains why I always have a bunch of Cardinals in my yard too! LOLOL I guess Im just the luckiest guy on the planet! Hmmm....where are those Lotto tickets? LOL Thanks all, so much for another solved mystery. This is my first day on the site and I'm loving it!
Oh you lucky girl!!! Dill is a host plant for the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly, which is so beautiful to have floating and flitting through your garden. Once they go through their cycle, they tend to be homebodies if there are sufficient nectar flowers nearby. They like so many flowers. Just look on DG at the list of flowers they like or google EBS (there are so many good sites)and if you don't have one or two of their favorites already in your garden, purchase something from the list. You will be richly rewarded. And they will probably recreate the cycle again if you keep you dill plants growing. If you have fennel growing, you may get the Anise Swallowtail too, another beauty.
