Attracting butterflies has become a very popular gardening pastime. The more nectar plants you provide for adult butterflies, and larval host plants for them to raise their young on, the more butterflies you will have adorning your garden. Plants in the umbel family are the favored host plants for swallowtail butterflies. I planted bronze fennel again this year, not only for its very attractive, feathery bronzy, finely cut appearance, but mostly in hopes of attracting Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies to lay their eggs. It had gotten quite tall by mid-August and leaning over, and nary a single caterpillar to be found.
Finally 7 days ago I saw several tiny caterpillars, looking like nothing more than tiny bird droppings.They quickly grew, and 3 days ago I counted 31 large caterpillars on the one plant. I was concerned they would eat themselves out of house and home.Today there are only 16, and I'm not sure if some have become food for some other creatures, or if they have crawled off to pupate somewhere else. At any rate, there is not a whole lot of fennel left, and I'm hoping the rest will have enough food to complete this stage of their life cycle.
Earlier this week a couple visited the office with a zip lock of grapefruit tree leaves and what could be mistaken for huge,
moving, brown and grey bird droppings. Several types of citrus are the favorite foods of the Giant Swallowtail larvae. I took them home and placed them on my calamondin orange tree, but they didn't seem too interested, and the next day they were gone. But, they were also large enough, I think, to pupate, so hopefully they'll make it to the next stage in life.
So, since northeast Texas is not overrun with grapefruit, or any other citrus yard trees for that matter, on what do all the adult Giant Swallowtail butterflies do for a larval food plant? Hercules' Club, or Tickle-Tongue Tree (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) will do nicely!
Finally 7 days ago I saw several tiny caterpillars, looking like nothing more than tiny bird droppings.They quickly grew, and 3 days ago I counted 31 large caterpillars on the one plant. I was concerned they would eat themselves out of house and home.Today there are only 16, and I'm not sure if some have become food for some other creatures, or if they have crawled off to pupate somewhere else. At any rate, there is not a whole lot of fennel left, and I'm hoping the rest will have enough food to complete this stage of their life cycle.
Earlier this week a couple visited the office with a zip lock of grapefruit tree leaves and what could be mistaken for huge,
moving, brown and grey bird droppings. Several types of citrus are the favorite foods of the Giant Swallowtail larvae. I took them home and placed them on my calamondin orange tree, but they didn't seem too interested, and the next day they were gone. But, they were also large enough, I think, to pupate, so hopefully they'll make it to the next stage in life.So, since northeast Texas is not overrun with grapefruit, or any other citrus yard trees for that matter, on what do all the adult Giant Swallowtail butterflies do for a larval food plant? Hercules' Club, or Tickle-Tongue Tree (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis) will do nicely!
