Squirmy Worms.

[leene_chan]

So...a few days ago I spied what I assumed were ladybug larvae crawling all over one of my potted parsley plants. I thought, "Gee, these will be useful in controlling the thrips on my rosebush!" and figured that I'd relocate them once the torrential rainfall washed all traces of insecticidal soap from Moondance.

Well, tonight I went outside to cut some parsley to use with dinner. To my chagrin, I discovered that the three larvae had grown significantly and were in the process of having my parsley for dinner.

I didn't know that ladybug larvae ate plants. I don't know if they do or not, but it turns out that these creatures are not ladybug larvae. They're this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Swallowtail_larva.jpg

There are green butterfly eggs all over the bottom of the parsley plant. Naturally, I'm not going to do anything to harm these caterpillars. I'll just move the pot away from the other plants and hope they'll be satisfied with just one...

I'll probably take a picture tomorrow. They're getting pretty lively.

EDIT: The caterpillar's on a parsley plant in that photo, too!

Comments

[twotone]

Would it be gauche to congratulate you on the black swallowtails, when they're devouring your parsley?

I think one of my other LJ friends found a parsley plant at a nursery that also had black swallowtail caterpillars on it. I'm a little envious! Will you be buying fresh grocery-store parsley for them if they finish off the plant they're on?

[leene-chan.livejournal.com]

No, not at all! I think they're pretty cute. :D

I have another parsley plant, so I'll just let them have theirs. The leaves are a little tough this season, anyway...

Apparently another name for the black swallowtail caterpillar is "parsley worm." Monarchs like milkweed, and black swallowtails love their parsley!