These two Black Swallowtail larva caught my eye while I was planting and pruning in my garden.
This must be the first brood of the usual two or more broods that this species reproduces from June onward. The adult butterflies are seen from April to October.
The adult female butterfly lays just a few eggs on one plant, so the caterpillars can’t eat a great many plants. It rarely becomes a pest in the garden.
Hostplants for Black Swallowtail Larva
The host plants for this caterpillar are in the carrot family. They eat carrots, celery, dill, parsley and caraway. None of which are native to North America. This leads me to believe this is an introduced species. The young caterpillars eat both leaves and flowers. Later instars (larval stages) prefer to eat just the flowers.
Black Swallowtails are found most readily in open spaces. Such as fields, gardens, marshes, deserts and along the coasts. Seldom are they found in forest interiors. As former agricultural land returns to forest, the Black Swallowtail is becoming less common.
A fascinating behavior of Black Swallowtail larva (and all Swallowtail butterflies) is their curious and amusing defense mechanism.
The Orange Osmeterium
All Swallowtail larva have an organ called osmeterium. This organ is attached immediately behind the head. When threatened (or poked gently with a stick, which I did), the caterpillar raises its osmeterium and waves it about. The osmeterium is laden with butyric acid and emits a foul-smelling odor. Some say it is similar to fresh vomit. I didn’t get that close so I can’t say what it smells like. I doubt I ever will.
This caterpillar’s orange osmeterium was quite small. Perhaps this is due to youth. Larger Black Swallowtail larva have organs that are quite impressive. They must terrify birds or some other unfortunate creature who dares to tangle with this caterpillar.
Info bit:
I used this field guide – Caterpillars of Eastern North America: A Guide to Identification and Natural History (Princeton Field Guides)
More on Black Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail Larvae, Last of the Summer Butterflies
Black Swallowtails: How to Identify Them
The Swallowtail Butterfly Family
OK thanks for the suggestion to poke the little guys and see them wave their osmeteriums about. I think I smelled the stinky substance too, but maybe by the time it got to my nose it was so diluted (?) or whatever reason, it smelled *good*: kind of fruity like pineapple soda or pineapple candy! did it a few times on different days, consistent smelling results… –Lorel
I thought the same when I poked this other different looking caterpillar, the smell was delicious, by no means was it foul smelling. He actually was munching on my “Guanabana” tree, which smells delicous as well, but it has a different scent/aroma than the one emitted by the fellow. He also changed in color, he had colored rings, and he could change them from yellow to orange as he would evert his osmeterium. It was amazing, but I wasn’t sure if that scent was safe or not.
I find them readily on my Florence fennel plants. Which is in the same family as carrots and dill….
The caterpillars are so beautiful. But what other native plants do they eat?
You got me thinking there when you mentioned this caterpillar’s host plants. A little digging revealed it is indeed a native eastern butterfly. I started racking my brain to come up with native carrot family members and the only ones I could dredge up were Queen Anne’s lace (the wild carrot plant) and poison hemlock (a deadly toxic herb that resembles Queen Anne’s lace; not the hemlock tree). I’m not sure what the range on these plants are, and I’d certainly love to learn if they’re other, native parsely/carrot member?
Thanks, Sonja
Those are the only ones I could think of also. They MUST be more. If I find more info, I will post it.
Here is a page with some more carrot family plants to look for in the SE that these caterpillars might eat. https://uswildflowers.com/wfquery.php?&Family=Apiaceae
As for ones that are easy to grow, parsnips and angelica are wonderful garden plants.
I found this article after encountering the caterpillars on our parsley plants in SW New Mexico. They had eaten all the plant’s leaves, so I went to move them to another plant. That’s when I discovered what an osmeterium is… And it stung my finger! It put off a fragrance sort of like pineapple and citrus mixed together.
Hi, Kim – Thanks for your comment. Stung by a caterpillar, how many people can claim that! Thanks for the info on the plants. I’ll definitely check the page out.