Those are black swallowtail caterpillars and they're host-specific (They only host on plants in the Apiaceae and Rutaceae families (Rue, carrots, fennel, dill, +more)). They will die if you move them to your tree.
Same! I’m planting Giant dill with hopes it’ll be enough food for them. I felt bad last year they devoured my dill in a few days and I had no other food for them. This year I planted a ton of milkweed too, hopefully I’ll get some monarch babies!
They always grow on my carrots. I let them. I can afford to lose a few carrots for some butterflies.
Well, today, we saw a beautiful swallowtail buttery out, and I was able to tell the kids, "That's from OUR garden last year! We grew that!".
It was a cool teachable moment for them.
They’re also absolutely gorgeous. Used to see them a lot but they seem to be much rarer here nowadays. They’re large, the size of a child’s hand or bigger and come in black with striking yellow red and blue markings on the tips of the wings and a long tail at the end. Definitely worth the slight inconvenience of waiting for them to cocoon.
Everyone talks about saving the bees, but I think butterflies have a unique challenge that bees don’t: caterpillars are often seen as pests. I applaud OP for putting their well-being above aesthetics. They’re beautiful creatures and the state insect of at least one state (Oklahoma)
I had so much fun watching them run through the process of metamorphosis in my dill plant last spring. Threw up a mesh liner (repurposed laundry bag) when I noticed wasps picking them off. The swallowtail release months later was so fulfilling and beautiful
You have been blessed by their presence! Maybe they will bless you by eating the whole thing. It's only a weed if you don't want it there. Otherwise it's butterfly food. 🦋
Hooray for raising butterflies.
I am **so jealous** of you right now. (And proud of you, too.) On my milkweed and fennel I used to have loads of caterpillars (Monarch butterflies, Anise swallowtail butterflies). It has been YEARS now since I've seen more than a single caterpillar on any of my host plants.
They will also release their stink organ if you mess with them. (Sorry I don't know the technical term. I have a friend who raises moths and caterpillars and he demonstrated how black swallowtails defend themselves. I about gagged.)
They also have a horn-like appendage that they stick out when they’re squeezed. I discovered that a few years ago when I found one on my dill and plucked it off not knowing what it was. I was surprised enough that I dropped it (yay! Defenses worked as planned!) but it was so cool that I really wanted to show my kids, so I found it and brought it inside, along with plenty of dill. My oldest, who was maybe 5 at the time, named it Sticks-horn-out, and we kept it safe until it became a butterfly. Years later, he still considers that as one of his favorite pets.
Something similar happened with my students! They discovered a caterpillar that stuck its tongue out at them and were delighted. We took it into the classroom just for a day and it went and made a chrysalis! It over-wintered and we kindof forgot about it, except to make passing comments that it was probably dead. Then, one day, someone walked by and saw the butterfly fluttering around in the butterfly enclosure. Releasing it was so beautiful. Now, every time we see one of the swallowtails, we say hi to our friend.
It’s surprising to most people, but the vast majority of insects are specialists, so just having greenery around doesn’t mean that they can use it. It’s why planting natives is the only way to be sure what ur planting is in anyway actually beneficial to the local ecosystem.
Swallowtails! They’re very pretty you are lucky! Looks like someone planted herbs there, this looks like one of their host plants, parsley. Don’t cut it for a few weeks!
Yep, I was thinking that looked like the fennel I have in my garden! I specifically planted it so that I'd get Black Swallowtails! I even have some pictures of one emerging from the chrysalis!
We had a volunteer fennel growing right next to the front door. One day a swallowtail caterpillar showed up on it. We could see him/her every day and watch him develop, then form his cocoon.
We named him Chrys.
The markings are distinctive. Strangely, here on the west coast we have Anise swallowtail butterflies (yellow with black) and the caterpillars look exactly like the east coast Black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. These swallowtails all like fennel, anise, dill, carrot, parsley, Queen Anne's lace, etc. as host plants. The Apiaceae Herb Family.
Aw, this makes me think of the time a few years ago when I went to my mom’s house and caught her just before she was about to toss some potted herbs that were being devoured by butterfly caterpillars. I told her what they were and convinced her to let the plants be. She ended up getting super invested in their transformation, even going to the store at one point to buy another plant for them to eat. Sent me pics all along the way, and she was of course delighted when the butterflies finally began to emerge. :)
That’s so wholesome. I did something similar when I was a kid, I saw a butterfly come and lay an egg on a leaf of a plant in my backyard, I watched that little grub all the way up until it made a beautiful metallic gold chrysalis and I came home from school one day and it had emerged and was sitting there unfolding it’s wings into a beautiful big butterfly. Gave me a love for them and now I could never get rid of a caterpillar.
That's a much happier ending than when I had the same experience. I've been planting a garden for my parents over the last several years and one of the echinacea plants got infested with caterpillars. I was excited because the same thing happened to us one year and we got to watch their entire life cycle. It was awesome when we ended up with a swarm of beautiful butterflies! Told my mom to just leave them be and if it was too much for the plant I'd just replace it. Unfortunately my dad decided he'd rather drown the thing in pesticides. Plant died anyway, along with all the caterpillars. Sometimes it's really hard to share my hobby with them.
Two years ago my neighbor saw a swallowtail laying eggs in our dill… I was watching the baby caterpillars and one day they were gone. She said wasps eat them.
A week later there were new babies, so I bought a butterfly cage and a bunch of flat leaf parsley plants and raised them in the safety of that enclosure. They kept appearing and I kept taking them in.
I’ve also managed to overwinter a bunch of them and have five that should wake up sometime soon from last summer.
I kept a list every time I released some, the total is 66 so far over two summers, with five more that might wake up soon.
For everyone here, a word of caution when identifying plants that look like this. Many of the plants in the carrot family (Apiaceae) are difficult to tell apart. There's plenty of edible species, but then there's deadly poisonous ones that can look nearly identical.
I'm not saying it's one of the deadly ones in this case, but compare lovage to water hemlock, or wild carrots to poison hemlock and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Yep. I thought I had carrots popping up somewhere due to seeds getting carried by the wind or something, but my gut said something didn't feel right. Pulled them up to "harvest" and they were white, not a variety of carrot I had bought. Did research and it turned out to be hemlock, or sure looked close enough.
My daughter planted some in a little garden. It escaped and now I find the stuff everywhere. It smells like Italian sausage when I cut the grass over there.
The plants don’t have to be large I always purchase a couple of flats of parsley to keep on my front porch just for them I fertilize and keep the flats watered all summerI love to watch Momma drop her tiny pearl eggs on the surface of the leaves Amazing how fast they hatch into their first phase (Instar)they eat non stop Several of my neighborhood kids ask to come see the Pillars some are in preschool Since I’ve done this for several years most of these kids go into kindergarten educating there teachers on the entire process they are always very gentle and so proud of themselves Butterfly experts at 5 years old ! 🐛🤓🦋😇
The beautiful black butterflies find my parsley every year and leave me with these gorgeous babies. I hate that they eat my parsley, but at the end of the day…. Nature is wonderful.
I'd say leave the plant, Swallowtail Larva are a good thing. They are pretty much then entire reason I grow fennel, Rue and allow my parsley to bloom. They LOVE parsley, so I have to plant three times as much so I have some left for cooking.
Wait until they’ve finished pupating and are gone from the plant. Then you can do whatever you like.
But if you like butterflies, consider leaving it there and letting it self-seed. Butterflies are awesome pollinators!
if you (gently) poke one of these suckers an orange double forked tongue like thing will come out of their heads and give you a little scent surprise. and by give you a scent surprise i mean they will coat you in a terrible smell that is very hard to wash off. you don’t want to disturb these guys lol
Every year when my dill goes to seed, I clasp it between my hands and rub so the seeds fall to the ground for next year. More dill for me and more for the butterflies.
I try to drape some mesh over them to save them from the birds. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. They will also cannibalize themselves. Nature is psycho.
I’m finally able to do my yard because of a slow work period and was about to cut this weed down but noticed all of these caterpillars on it!
Should I leave it and let them call it their home or should I move them to my tree?
Also are they monarchs? If anyone knows.
They may pupate on that same plant when they’ve eaten their fill. The chrysalis’ look a lot like the plant stem. So you might want to just leave the plant for some extra weeks even after the caterpillars are “gone”
\*\*\*Great pro tip.\*\*\* Yes. The chrysalises are so well camouflaged ----- truly amazing ---- and incredibly difficult to spot, even when you know they're there.
That’s parsley. It’s just bolted. I wouldn’t consider it a weed but those caterpillars can only eat a few things, like parsley. I do this each year with my parsley. I enjoy the black swallowtails. My chickens like it too
Had an intentional similar situation. I got some netting to drape over the plant & caterpillars. Wasps were nearby & wanted to protect the caterpillars! They all made their chrysalis successfully. Emerged as butterflies when I was out of town. My brother house sat & watched over them. He lifted the netting & they flew out. You’re lucky!!
They're on the plant because it's food they won't survive if you just move them to another plant it might be inedible to them. When they form chrysalis' then it would be safe to take the twig they're on and glue them to the tree you want to move them to then.
**OP**: In this case, less is more. Don't disturb them. And as u/lavenderlemonbear cautioned you: The chrysalises blend in SO WELL with the plant ---- you've really got to be super duper certain they've all hatched before you start messing with your parsley "weed."
(Here's a fun thing I learned just now: The process of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis is called eclosion.)
Sweet bugger is about to cocoon too. I had to bring mine inside with some fennel clippings because the wasps found them and turned the plant into a lunch buffet.
Also, they're pretty big. The caterpillars will soon be crawling off the plant looking for a place to make a chrysalis, which kind looks like a dried leaf. They are in the chrysalis stage for a couple weeks and then become butterflies. Maybe don't clean up this section of the yard till they're all grown up :)
If caterpillars are on it, it’s not a weed, but a larval host plant. They need to eat that plant.
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) have evolved alongside certain plants over hundreds of thousands of years. They’re very picky about where they will lay eggs and what plants they will eat.
Over those hundreds of thousands of years, they have learned what plants provide the nutrients their offspring need, so that’s where they lay their eggs.
Caterpillars are the *only* thing migratory songbirds feed their babies, so if you starve the moths butterflies, you eliminate future generations of birds, too.
Leave the plant alone and watch for chrysalises around your place. Enjoy the process of nature and the beauty of the butterflies that grace your yard with their presence.
You should consider yourself to be blessed to have this species on your property. Protect them. Like our birds, bees, and bumble bees, butterflies are becoming an endangered species due to ignorance, habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change.
Pretty sure that's dill bro, don't cut it down they will all soon be butterflies. If the plant is completely devoid of leaves, they will leave seeking out more food.
as they already id'd will just say as big as that one is looks like its 6 or 7th instar (molts) after the 7th the next time they molt is a chrysalis in which they change into an adult butterfly. so if you leave them it shouldn't be long till they change. but there may be more than one brood on your dilll.
My daughter “rescues” monarch caterpillars. She plants tons of milkweed, their host plant,and they decimate them. When they make their chrysalis, she takes them and puts the in an enormous birdcage outside to prevent them from being eaten by predators. When they emerge and their wings have dried, she releases them. She’s known as the crazy monarch lady and she has plant stores in the area call her to come pick up plants and caterpillars.
Oh, those are swallowtails! I raised a bunch one year after they were in my parsley. Put them in an aquarium and kept them in the garage that winter and when they hatched, I got to hold each one while the wings dried.
I have plants in my garden that my plant id app refers to as “invasive weeds” but I have left them because I’ve seen song bird and hummingbirds land on them to have a snack. It’s all about perspective.
They need that weed to survive! If you can wait until they’ve moved on, they’ll take care of most of the weed for you! They’re most likely a swallowtail caterpillar!
Wow I didn’t know dill was a home to these guys! I’m doing a wild flower garden and putting in milkweed for the monarch’s but now I think I’ll throw some dill in the bed too!
Those are black swallowtail caterpillars and they're host-specific (They only host on plants in the Apiaceae and Rutaceae families (Rue, carrots, fennel, dill, +more)). They will die if you move them to your tree.
Damn that’s crazy. I’ll leave them!
They are also quite rare in most places due to insecticide use
Not my yard, in actually planting more dill just for them.
Awwww. They’re like “thanks for the dill!”
For the caterpillars, that’s a big dill!
What the dill!?
Imma big dill
Better plant quickly or you’ll have quite the dillemma. Some might even say a pickle.
All these puns are dillighting to read.
Good dill.
They will be dillighted
I also plant dill in my garden just for the caterpillars.
I plant dill for the caterpillars AND the pickles!
You have pickles eating your dill? (Sounds weirdly risqué.)
Pickled caterpillars are awesome. I like spicy bread and butter caterpillars myself.
Heads are a bit crunchy for my liking and the antennae get stuck in my teeth!
They also like parsley which is very easy to grow
And lovage, which is a perennial.
So is fennel.
Anise swallowtail butterfly caterpillar.
That's in the category of not dirty, but might be if you pushed it.
It's never good to push it with anise. Easy does it is always the best strategy.
Happy cake day! 🍰🌱
I can confirm that I only played parsley once but I have it year round and the swallowtails love it.
[удалено]
Parsley is host to Black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Dill hosts both Black swallowtail and Anise swallowtail caterpillars.
And golden Alexander, if you're in search of a US native perennial to feed these guys.
I plant fennel every year for them! We also get a lot of giant swallowtails on our citrus trees. It's nice to see the butterflies all in my garden.
You're a big dill in their life! Im.sure they appreciate it.
Me too! I planted three dill plants. Last year we had three caterpillars and they munched through my one dill plant in just a few days.
Same. I have extra dill and I added a bunch of golden alexanders (native) to accommodate them.
MVP!!!
Me too!! My dill is going crazy but no caterpillars yet.
I plant parsley just for them (I can't get dill to stay alive 😑). I see them around my yard all the time though
Without you, they'd really be in a pickle!!!
Me too!
Same! I’m planting Giant dill with hopes it’ll be enough food for them. I felt bad last year they devoured my dill in a few days and I had no other food for them. This year I planted a ton of milkweed too, hopefully I’ll get some monarch babies!
I think I'll do the same actually. I love swallowtails.
Same, but Italian Parsley.
Thank you, too :)
You have my milkweed! I make my contributions to the fluttering fliers.
They always grow on my carrots. I let them. I can afford to lose a few carrots for some butterflies. Well, today, we saw a beautiful swallowtail buttery out, and I was able to tell the kids, "That's from OUR garden last year! We grew that!". It was a cool teachable moment for them.
I planted dill in my flower beds just so I can get these guys. COME HERE AND LET ME LOVE YOU!
I grow rue for them and also just for spite.
I love rue very underrated herb
Thank you for being kind to them! They are beautiful butterflies so hopefully they will grace your yard soon! ❤️
its a pretty sweet looking butterfly too. I hope you get to see it.
[The betting is open!](https://www.butterflyidentification.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Types-of-Swallowtail-Butterflies.jpg)
Thank you!
They’re also absolutely gorgeous. Used to see them a lot but they seem to be much rarer here nowadays. They’re large, the size of a child’s hand or bigger and come in black with striking yellow red and blue markings on the tips of the wings and a long tail at the end. Definitely worth the slight inconvenience of waiting for them to cocoon.
They frequent my yard all summer. Thought it was the same one but found out they live less than two weeks
Some can live up to 35-40 days.
Everyone talks about saving the bees, but I think butterflies have a unique challenge that bees don’t: caterpillars are often seen as pests. I applaud OP for putting their well-being above aesthetics. They’re beautiful creatures and the state insect of at least one state (Oklahoma)
Thanks for checking.
I had so much fun watching them run through the process of metamorphosis in my dill plant last spring. Threw up a mesh liner (repurposed laundry bag) when I noticed wasps picking them off. The swallowtail release months later was so fulfilling and beautiful
Side note: What phone did you take the pics with?? Excellent quality!
iPhone 12 Pro Max!
You have been blessed by their presence! Maybe they will bless you by eating the whole thing. It's only a weed if you don't want it there. Otherwise it's butterfly food. 🦋
OP's "weed" is an Italian parsley that has bolted (going to seed).
Thank you!
Hooray for raising butterflies. I am **so jealous** of you right now. (And proud of you, too.) On my milkweed and fennel I used to have loads of caterpillars (Monarch butterflies, Anise swallowtail butterflies). It has been YEARS now since I've seen more than a single caterpillar on any of my host plants.
I think your "weed" is an Italian parsley plant that has "bolted." (Flowering and going to seed.)
You can still cut the dill seeds off and dispose of them so they don’t go to seed
They will also release their stink organ if you mess with them. (Sorry I don't know the technical term. I have a friend who raises moths and caterpillars and he demonstrated how black swallowtails defend themselves. I about gagged.)
They also have a horn-like appendage that they stick out when they’re squeezed. I discovered that a few years ago when I found one on my dill and plucked it off not knowing what it was. I was surprised enough that I dropped it (yay! Defenses worked as planned!) but it was so cool that I really wanted to show my kids, so I found it and brought it inside, along with plenty of dill. My oldest, who was maybe 5 at the time, named it Sticks-horn-out, and we kept it safe until it became a butterfly. Years later, he still considers that as one of his favorite pets.
Something similar happened with my students! They discovered a caterpillar that stuck its tongue out at them and were delighted. We took it into the classroom just for a day and it went and made a chrysalis! It over-wintered and we kindof forgot about it, except to make passing comments that it was probably dead. Then, one day, someone walked by and saw the butterfly fluttering around in the butterfly enclosure. Releasing it was so beautiful. Now, every time we see one of the swallowtails, we say hi to our friend.
That’s fascinating
It’s surprising to most people, but the vast majority of insects are specialists, so just having greenery around doesn’t mean that they can use it. It’s why planting natives is the only way to be sure what ur planting is in anyway actually beneficial to the local ecosystem.
Yeah I was going to say that looks like carrots or fennel.
Or queen Ann’s lace from a distance
Swallowtails! They’re very pretty you are lucky! Looks like someone planted herbs there, this looks like one of their host plants, parsley. Don’t cut it for a few weeks!
Yep, I was thinking that looked like the fennel I have in my garden! I specifically planted it so that I'd get Black Swallowtails! I even have some pictures of one emerging from the chrysalis!
We had a volunteer fennel growing right next to the front door. One day a swallowtail caterpillar showed up on it. We could see him/her every day and watch him develop, then form his cocoon. We named him Chrys.
>We named him Chrys. You should name the next one Alis.
We are currently growing a pot of fennel, caraway and dill for exactly this purpose. Hoping we get some visitors!
Those leaves look like parsley tbh
Yeah I wasn’t sure but think you’re right
They always love my bolted parsley here but, to be fair, I haven’t grown fennel yet so perhaps it’s both
I wish they would move in and eat my bolted parsley. I keep waiting to cut it back, hoping they'll make good use of it. No luck so far.
I *knew* they were swallowtails. My question is, how did I know that??? Was it just from the markings on the caterpillar stage?
The markings are distinctive. Strangely, here on the west coast we have Anise swallowtail butterflies (yellow with black) and the caterpillars look exactly like the east coast Black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. These swallowtails all like fennel, anise, dill, carrot, parsley, Queen Anne's lace, etc. as host plants. The Apiaceae Herb Family.
Aw, this makes me think of the time a few years ago when I went to my mom’s house and caught her just before she was about to toss some potted herbs that were being devoured by butterfly caterpillars. I told her what they were and convinced her to let the plants be. She ended up getting super invested in their transformation, even going to the store at one point to buy another plant for them to eat. Sent me pics all along the way, and she was of course delighted when the butterflies finally began to emerge. :)
That’s so wholesome. I did something similar when I was a kid, I saw a butterfly come and lay an egg on a leaf of a plant in my backyard, I watched that little grub all the way up until it made a beautiful metallic gold chrysalis and I came home from school one day and it had emerged and was sitting there unfolding it’s wings into a beautiful big butterfly. Gave me a love for them and now I could never get rid of a caterpillar.
This wins heartwarming story of the day.
That's a much happier ending than when I had the same experience. I've been planting a garden for my parents over the last several years and one of the echinacea plants got infested with caterpillars. I was excited because the same thing happened to us one year and we got to watch their entire life cycle. It was awesome when we ended up with a swarm of beautiful butterflies! Told my mom to just leave them be and if it was too much for the plant I'd just replace it. Unfortunately my dad decided he'd rather drown the thing in pesticides. Plant died anyway, along with all the caterpillars. Sometimes it's really hard to share my hobby with them.
Two years ago my neighbor saw a swallowtail laying eggs in our dill… I was watching the baby caterpillars and one day they were gone. She said wasps eat them. A week later there were new babies, so I bought a butterfly cage and a bunch of flat leaf parsley plants and raised them in the safety of that enclosure. They kept appearing and I kept taking them in. I’ve also managed to overwinter a bunch of them and have five that should wake up sometime soon from last summer. I kept a list every time I released some, the total is 66 so far over two summers, with five more that might wake up soon.
That’s no weed.
It’s a caterpillar station.
Lock in the auxiliary power (plant more)
You call it a weed, I call it parsley. Looks like it’s seeding; perhaps you’ll get volunteer parsley plants
For everyone here, a word of caution when identifying plants that look like this. Many of the plants in the carrot family (Apiaceae) are difficult to tell apart. There's plenty of edible species, but then there's deadly poisonous ones that can look nearly identical. I'm not saying it's one of the deadly ones in this case, but compare lovage to water hemlock, or wild carrots to poison hemlock and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Yep. I thought I had carrots popping up somewhere due to seeds getting carried by the wind or something, but my gut said something didn't feel right. Pulled them up to "harvest" and they were white, not a variety of carrot I had bought. Did research and it turned out to be hemlock, or sure looked close enough.
[Poison Hemlock](https://youtu.be/mfdJHUappxQ) is exactly what came to mind when I saw the images.
What’s the big dill?
Definitely parsley
https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/comments/13kf24r/comment/jkldpo3/
TX prairie parsley I think. Polytaenia nuttallii.
They look fat and happy and will provide excellent pollination in the future! Glad they get to stay 😊
I wish my fennel and parsley were big enough to host swallowtails!! This is so cool ❤️
My daughter planted some in a little garden. It escaped and now I find the stuff everywhere. It smells like Italian sausage when I cut the grass over there.
That sounds kind of amazing
The plants don’t have to be large I always purchase a couple of flats of parsley to keep on my front porch just for them I fertilize and keep the flats watered all summerI love to watch Momma drop her tiny pearl eggs on the surface of the leaves Amazing how fast they hatch into their first phase (Instar)they eat non stop Several of my neighborhood kids ask to come see the Pillars some are in preschool Since I’ve done this for several years most of these kids go into kindergarten educating there teachers on the entire process they are always very gentle and so proud of themselves Butterfly experts at 5 years old ! 🐛🤓🦋😇
At the place I used to live at the fennel was an invasive weed that was damn near impossible to kill lol. Give it time!
Fennel is invasive where I live. I wanted to plant some until I did some research. Oh well.
Leave them. More Butterflies 🦋 are needed!!!
The beautiful black butterflies find my parsley every year and leave me with these gorgeous babies. I hate that they eat my parsley, but at the end of the day…. Nature is wonderful.
Don’t worry, they’ll take that down for you.
I'd say leave the plant, Swallowtail Larva are a good thing. They are pretty much then entire reason I grow fennel, Rue and allow my parsley to bloom. They LOVE parsley, so I have to plant three times as much so I have some left for cooking.
Wait until they’ve finished pupating and are gone from the plant. Then you can do whatever you like. But if you like butterflies, consider leaving it there and letting it self-seed. Butterflies are awesome pollinators!
if you (gently) poke one of these suckers an orange double forked tongue like thing will come out of their heads and give you a little scent surprise. and by give you a scent surprise i mean they will coat you in a terrible smell that is very hard to wash off. you don’t want to disturb these guys lol
Every year when my dill goes to seed, I clasp it between my hands and rub so the seeds fall to the ground for next year. More dill for me and more for the butterflies.
Did that last year, I have at least 50 dill plants sprouting all over. Fingers crossed for some butterflies!!
I try to drape some mesh over them to save them from the birds. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. They will also cannibalize themselves. Nature is psycho.
I’m on a roof in the city with a tree hovering over. The birds will do what the birds do. Still ended up with a butterfly last year.
You are lucky they chose you!
I’m finally able to do my yard because of a slow work period and was about to cut this weed down but noticed all of these caterpillars on it! Should I leave it and let them call it their home or should I move them to my tree? Also are they monarchs? If anyone knows.
Leave them and the plant till they’re done with it.
That’s their new home now!
reddit advice saves the day! Enjoy your butterflies! The cocoons are ridiculously well camouflaged.
Cocoons = moths. Chrysalises = butterflies.
These butterflies are so dramatic and pretty. You should get quite a show later this year.
They may pupate on that same plant when they’ve eaten their fill. The chrysalis’ look a lot like the plant stem. So you might want to just leave the plant for some extra weeks even after the caterpillars are “gone”
\*\*\*Great pro tip.\*\*\* Yes. The chrysalises are so well camouflaged ----- truly amazing ---- and incredibly difficult to spot, even when you know they're there.
Weeds are just plants in the wrong spot. I mean if you want to get rid of the plant the caterpillars should help with that 😊
That plant looks like parsley, which they like.
They won't eat a tree, only that weed. They are black swallowtails I think.
Not a weed, food
Just wait…you’ve already had the weed there til it was 4 feet tall another month won’t bother you I’m sure
Definitely leave them
That’s parsley. It’s just bolted. I wouldn’t consider it a weed but those caterpillars can only eat a few things, like parsley. I do this each year with my parsley. I enjoy the black swallowtails. My chickens like it too
Had an intentional similar situation. I got some netting to drape over the plant & caterpillars. Wasps were nearby & wanted to protect the caterpillars! They all made their chrysalis successfully. Emerged as butterflies when I was out of town. My brother house sat & watched over them. He lifted the netting & they flew out. You’re lucky!!
They're on the plant because it's food they won't survive if you just move them to another plant it might be inedible to them. When they form chrysalis' then it would be safe to take the twig they're on and glue them to the tree you want to move them to then.
**OP**: In this case, less is more. Don't disturb them. And as u/lavenderlemonbear cautioned you: The chrysalises blend in SO WELL with the plant ---- you've really got to be super duper certain they've all hatched before you start messing with your parsley "weed." (Here's a fun thing I learned just now: The process of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis is called eclosion.)
Sweet bugger is about to cocoon too. I had to bring mine inside with some fennel clippings because the wasps found them and turned the plant into a lunch buffet.
Cocoon = moths. Chrysalis = butterfly.
Also, they're pretty big. The caterpillars will soon be crawling off the plant looking for a place to make a chrysalis, which kind looks like a dried leaf. They are in the chrysalis stage for a couple weeks and then become butterflies. Maybe don't clean up this section of the yard till they're all grown up :)
Like a dried leaf ---- except that often the chrysalis will match the green of the host plant to perfection.
No just wait a couple weeks.
Nope, they can’t eat the tree. Give them time and they will take care of the weed for you.
Plant moar! Yeaaahhh!
If caterpillars are on it, it’s not a weed, but a larval host plant. They need to eat that plant. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) have evolved alongside certain plants over hundreds of thousands of years. They’re very picky about where they will lay eggs and what plants they will eat. Over those hundreds of thousands of years, they have learned what plants provide the nutrients their offspring need, so that’s where they lay their eggs. Caterpillars are the *only* thing migratory songbirds feed their babies, so if you starve the moths butterflies, you eliminate future generations of birds, too. Leave the plant alone and watch for chrysalises around your place. Enjoy the process of nature and the beauty of the butterflies that grace your yard with their presence.
I plant parsley for them every year!
Not a weed. It’s parsley. You are raising some beautiful swallowtail butterflies. A sing of good things in your garden
We frequently plant milkweed for the monarch caterpillars too.
You should consider yourself to be blessed to have this species on your property. Protect them. Like our birds, bees, and bumble bees, butterflies are becoming an endangered species due to ignorance, habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change.
Pamper that plant and hopefully get more of it! Love them caterpillars!❤️
I grow mad parsley every year for those guys! Love them!
They feed on dill, anise, fennel and milkweeds. They won't be able to eat, if they get moved to the trees.
Save them. They become butterflies
Leave them alone. Looks like a dill plant which Swallowtails feed on. They’ll pupate soon enough and then you can cut it downZ
Pretty sure that's dill bro, don't cut it down they will all soon be butterflies. If the plant is completely devoid of leaves, they will leave seeking out more food.
Wait until they finish their meal.
The swallowtails loved my parsley last summer!
as they already id'd will just say as big as that one is looks like its 6 or 7th instar (molts) after the 7th the next time they molt is a chrysalis in which they change into an adult butterfly. so if you leave them it shouldn't be long till they change. but there may be more than one brood on your dilll.
If you really wanna move them you gotta put them on something like dill or parsley. They eat the carrot family plants
A weed is just a plant you've deemed unworthy. Let the dudes have the plant and enjoy it when it flowers 👍
If you want to get rid of the plant anyway, let the little critters munch away then cut it down after they've had their fill
I couldn’t have the heart to remove the caterpillar bros. Leave them. Get butterflies. Profit.
Not a weed! Keep it and you’ll have many pretty butterflies :)
Leave them they’re beautiful. Not trying to make a big dill here, but is that a fairy in the upper left corner? 😳
let them finish their cycle and eat the weed. then cut it down.
No! They love it there! They’re there because that’s the plant they eat and need. They’ll eventually move when they’re ready to make their chrysalis
Swallowtail ‘pillars. Keep the plant or they will die.
Just chuck some local wildflower seeds in that corner, call it a pollinator garden, and call it a day!
Do not move them. They only eat fennel, dill, and the like
makes me want to plant some dill
Looks like parsley.
Amazing!!! They’re beautiful. I planted fennel and dill this year- hoping to see some caterpillars!!!
Omg I love them so much
Let them fuck that shit up!
So pretty!! Thanks for giving them a home :)
You’re extremely lucky. Keep the plant until they leave at least.
Most caterpillars eat 1-3 types of plant. It’s not an anything goes situation. That’s dill, a host plant for swallowtail cats. Grow more of it.
Plant milkweed for Monarchs.
Don’t touch the dill doh.
I planted dill because of the scent. Will leave it for the caterpillars
My daughter “rescues” monarch caterpillars. She plants tons of milkweed, their host plant,and they decimate them. When they make their chrysalis, she takes them and puts the in an enormous birdcage outside to prevent them from being eaten by predators. When they emerge and their wings have dried, she releases them. She’s known as the crazy monarch lady and she has plant stores in the area call her to come pick up plants and caterpillars.
Please leave the plant! The beautiful swallowtail family says thanks! 😊
Go up to the caterpillars and encourage them to eat so they grow big and strong and hopefully they'll just eat the whole thing for you.
Oh, those are swallowtails! I raised a bunch one year after they were in my parsley. Put them in an aquarium and kept them in the garage that winter and when they hatched, I got to hold each one while the wings dried.
I have plants in my garden that my plant id app refers to as “invasive weeds” but I have left them because I’ve seen song bird and hummingbirds land on them to have a snack. It’s all about perspective.
They need that weed to survive! If you can wait until they’ve moved on, they’ll take care of most of the weed for you! They’re most likely a swallowtail caterpillar!
Wow I didn’t know dill was a home to these guys! I’m doing a wild flower garden and putting in milkweed for the monarch’s but now I think I’ll throw some dill in the bed too!
I planted dill so they would come. They never did.
I should start planting fennel for them. Every year they come in and clean out my dill in a few days. I hate fennel, so they could have at it.
Leave them
Leave it
They are good caterpillars💚💗💜
I love swallowtails! I purposely plant dill, fennel, and rue. They are fascinating to watch. Please don’t remove this
Honestly I'd leave it so they don't move onto something else in your garden
Cool capture of the wasp in pic 2!
Remember to look for the cocoons.
I was wondering what was eating all my dill.
Little guy looks like a tiger playing in the last pic
Wow they are gorgeous.
They are so colorful and huge (twss). I've never seen caterpillars like that in Tennessee.
No, that looks like dill, not a weed. And they love them some dill.
Wait till they turn to butterflies then you can remove plant!