caterlippars in my parsley
I suspect these hungry guys (2 of 8 that were in our parsley plant) will, in a later life, be Black Swallowtail Butterflies – but correct us if we’re wrong. We’ve got a large Hydrangea bush next to the parsley where they’re making the “big change” – its been fun to watch -worth the parsley they’ve devoured! We live in Southern New Jersey ~ 15 miles east of Philadelphia, PA. Thanks for answering a lot of bug mysteries – we visit often.
Dan M.
Hi Dan,
We are happy you visit often. You are correct, these are Black Swallowtail Caterpillars, often called Parsley Worms or Carrot Worms.
¶ Posted 06 September 2005 § ‡ ° Weird caterpillar in BC
Hi there:
I just found this guy today (Sep 5/05) crawling up the side of my house in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia. Any ideas? He’s got several rows of 4 blue dots each and what look like false eyes on his back, and is about 1.5 inches long. I live next to an apple orchard and asked the owner who said he’d never seen anything like it. Let me know, please!
thx
Bill
Hi Bill,
This is a Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar. Most specimens are green, but we have been getting images of these purplish brown ones this year. They feed on leaves from cherry, birch, poplar, ash and tulip trees. Perhaps they eat apple as well.
Ed. Note: Eric Eaton just provided this addendum: “From what I understand, the swallowtail caterpillars turn brown just before they pupate, which makes sense since they usually pupate on brown surfaces (tree branches, fence rails, and the like). That is a really nice specimen the person photographed. Keep up the great work. Eric ”
¶ Posted 05 September 2005 § ‡ ° Giant Swallowtail caterpillar and unknown caterpillar
I live in central Mexico in Guanajuato state and found this Giant Swallowtail caterpillar crawling across our porch. I ID’d him from the web and found that he belonged on our lime tree that’s many feet from where he was seen crawling. Today he’s happily munching away, though another one I spotted on the tree when I replaced him is no where in sight. I see that you do have a picture of a Giant Swallowtail caterpillar but I thought you might like one without the horns up. He sported his twice when I went to place him back on the lime tree leaves. Kinda cool to see. Otherwise, he looks like bird droppings (which I know is his clever camouflage), especially when he’s still. The other critters I also found on the same lime tree. It seems to be home to several insect species, including a variety of ants, jumping spiders and the itinerant bee or wasp. I spotted these little fuzzy white guys on the underneath side of some of the leaves toward the base of the tree. They’re about 1/4″ in diameter as far as I could tell. They were in kind of a precarious place so I couldn’t get really close. I don’t see anything on your site that resembles them. They’re too small for an asp, I think, and don’t really look like that. Any clues?
Thanks!
Stefanie
Hi Stephanie,
We are happy to post your Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar, commonly called an Orange Dog. Your other image came through as garbage and we can’t view it.
¶ Posted 05 September 2005 § ‡ ° Chrysalis on fennel plant
We had tiger swallowtail caterpillars on our fennel plants recently and I noticed this chrysalis last night. How long until it hatches? I love your website, I’ll definitely be sending pictures in for identification. This was taken in Clayton, North Carolina, August 1, 2005
Ken
Hi Ken,
This is definitely a Swallowtail which is recognizeable because the crysalis is upright and has a support strand of silk around it. Not a Tiger though since fennel is not a food plant. In your area, I would guess a Black Swallowtail which feeds on carrots, parsley, Queen’s Anne Lace and related plants. I am not sure if the Anise Swallowtail ranges in your area. That would be a first choice in the West.
¶ Posted 02 August 2005 § ‡ ° Black Swallowtail Caterpillars
I found these critters on your site, thanks! Your response to another reader suggested you might need another photo, so here’s a close-up of my garden pests.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the image. They really don’t eat that much parsley and you will have a lovely butterfly to follow.
¶ Posted 29 July 2005 § ‡ ° Another Red Pipevine Swallotail Caterpillar?
Dear What’s That Bug,
I found this in Austin, Texas at our Barton Springs trail. Is this for sure a Red Pipevine Swallotail? If so, what plants do they normally eat? I want to paint this wonderful creature and would very much like to include accurate plantlife in my picture. Thanks for your help!
Denise Garza
Hi Denise,
With caterpillars, the best way to determine food sources it to check the plant the caterpillar was found eating. Your Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar, Battus philenor, should enjoy eating upon its namesake Pipevine Family plants, such as Dutchman’s Pipe and Virginia Snakeroot. The plants have toxins in the leaves and the caterpillar absorbs those toxins which make them inedible to birds and other preying dangers. Here is a site with some nice images and information.
¶ Posted 12 March 2005 § ‡ ° mystery cocoons
Dear Bugman,
I think I had better tell this one backwards: While we were out of town last mid-September, our friends babysat our 2 cocoons for us here in Atlanta, Georgia, and to everyone’s amazement, hatched an Ichneumon. They took a picture for us, which I’m afraid I don’t have. However, we checked our bug book, as well as your fabulous site, and are quite sure that’s what it was. Only one of the two cocoons hatched. We had thought (very wrongly) that the caterpillars were monarchs. They were striped, but later we realized that the stripe colors were slightly wrong. They were happily eating parsley (beginning where we found them at a plant nursery), which should have been our first clue that these weren’t really monarch caterpillars. Well, they ate and ate until at last they both curled upside down one evening. The next morning, we had two very strange looking cocoons, as you can see in the pictures I’ve attached. They were not hanging down, but propped right-side up, and leaning back against a thread of silk, with it’s ends attached to the twig like… struts? I think you can make it out in at least one picture (13cocoonsB.jpg). The cocoon that hatched has a hole in it. I am not up for cutting open the second one, but could perhaps be convinced if necessary. So, what in the heck were these things (before they were devoured by the Ichneumon)? I wasn’t able to match the caterpillars to anything in my bug book, or on your site. It didn’t occur to me to photograph them until it was too late. I hope the cocoon photos are enough of a clue! Thanks … we love your site!
Penina
in Atlanta, GA
Hi Penina,
First, your cocoons are not cocoons, which is the word that describes the silken coating spun by most moth caterpillars to cover the pupa. Your butterfly pupa is also called a crysalis. The silken thread and the upward orientation is a dead giveaway that it is one of the genus Papilio, the Swallowtails. The food plant, parsley as well as the striped color would tend to identify the Black Swallowtail, Papilio asterius, as the most likely suspect.
¶ Posted 12 November 2004 § ‡ ° New pics
Hey Daniel,
I have a couple specials for you to add to your archives. I seem to be getting better at my photos. The unknown bug was
found in a drift fence array in West Texas, and none of the researchers could figure out what it was. Can you?!
Wendy A.
Hi Wendy,
The Green Sphinx Caterpillar is probably a member of the genus Eumorpha, formerly Pholus. Notice how the head is retracted into the thoracic portion of the body as well as the absence of a caudal horn. We entertain the possibility that it most resembles Eumorpha pandorus in its green form, but the abdominal spots do not appear to be ringed in black in your photo. This is a caterpillar that comes in both a brown and green form. We love your photo of a Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar, Battus philenor. Most photos online show black caterpillars with red fleshy spines. We might be wrong, but we believe there is a red form as well. Your photos really are great.
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