I found this caterpillar on my rue plant today. Does anyone know what it is?
CLOSED: Is this a "good guy" or a "bad guy"?
Looks to be the Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) caterpillar ..
See > http://bugguide.net/node/view/4745 .. and .. http://www.naba.org/chapters/nabambc/construct-species-page.asp?sp=Papilio-polyxenes
Quoting:
Larval Food Plants: Members of the carrot family (Umbelliferae) including cultivated species such as carrot, fennel, parsley, celery, and dill on which the large, handsome caterpillar is sometimes a pest; larvae are said to grow faster on cultivated species! Also many wild umbellifers, especially the abundant alien weed Queen Anne‘s Lace (Daucus carota).
- Magpye
That definitely looks like it. And I have those butterflies all over the yard! This critter definitely is eating my rue, but it's tough enough to deal with it, so if it makes more butterflies, that's fine with me!
Those beauties have such an awesome array of colors on them too ..
- Magpye
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