Anybody Know What Kind of Caterpillar This Is?
Is this a beneficial bug or not? I think probably not. I noticed him chewing up my parsely plant in this picture. Could this be the same thing eating other things in the garden? I've searched for his picture on the internet but I can't find exactly who he is. When I poked him, he had slimy orange antenae poking out of his head. I wondered if I was a poisoning target! The antenae would immediately go back into hiding after I poked him. I had fun poking him several times for the reaction!
Anyway, it hasn't been a very good year for the garden....
posted by peaknik @ 12:40 PM
3 Comments:
I'm pretty sure it's a black swallowtail butteryfly. They love parsley. Beneficial? I'm not sure. Probably not to the parsley. They are pretty though.
I don't know the official name, but we always called them tomato worms. They'll eat up a tomato plant in no time at all. But I know they like herbs as well -- and who knows what else! Take it and squash it!
For future reference that is not a tomato hornworm. It is a swallowtail caterpillar. The caterpillers feed on plants from the carrot family including dill, fennel, and parsley. Swallowtails are becoming less common and some species are endangered. While they may steal a bit of your parsley it is good to encourage these guys to survive. It's not that difficult to plant an extra row of parsley so there's enough to share and when they finally turn into butterflies you'll be glad you did.
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