"Somethings" are eating my Rue plants. If they are good critters they can have the rue but otherwise....they go.
Can someone ID? I think they are common. And can someone direct me to a good site to look up such beasties?
farizona
2 pix coming up.
Second pic.
These look like butterfly larva- check google for sites with pictures to help ID which ones! I know they feed on parsley- maybe rue as well? Will be watching this forum for updates! MW
Those are Black Swallowtail cats.
http://www.balinka.com/Peg/bfgarden.htm (scroll down a bit)
They also like to eat bronze fennel and parsley if you'd rather give them something else to eat next year - they don't like to move from what they've started eating though. I know, because a few years ago I had so many on the bronze fennel (which I'd planted for them), it was almost gone, so I tried to switch some to the parsley so they'd have more to eat (it is a host plant, so that wasn't the problem), but like little kids who only want to eat one thing, they'd stubbornly crawl right back to the fennel which was nearby - heh.
I had a small bunch late this year, but I think something got many of them. I waited one day to long to take the big ones inside to pupate.
Yours are pretty good-sized, so you may have some pupae soon.
I replied here a couple days ago but I must not have hit the send, just now catching it.
Yes, PanamonCreel, that is what these are. The Rue is next to some good parsley plants but only saw one critter on the parsley so they prefer the Rue.
I will let them stay. I have seen a couple of the Black Swallowtails flying around the little herb planter.
Thanks for the replies.
farizona
