Last year we found an Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar munching on our potted dill plant. After witnessing the metamorphosis, I knew that we had to plant plenty more of its host plant around the garden so that these little black beauties would grace us with their presence again this year. So plant we did-loads of dill, some parsley, some fennel, and some carrots. So it is strange to me that I am surprised that these sleek specimens are flittering everywhere about the garden. Nature always surprises me with its unpredictable predictability.
I mean, do butterflies have a sense of smell? How on earth do they know they difference between parsley and cilantro, for example? But they do. The fuzzy little precursors to our Black Swallowtails are munching their way through our dill just as we speak. Three of them (in varying stages), in fact, are atop our kitchen counter right now.
For those of you who are interested in learning more, I have found The Life Cycles of Butterflies and The Family Butterfly Book really informative and fun to read.
What butterflies are flitting about your garden this summer?
4 comments:
We've been watching, and watching for the monarchs and have seen only one this summer. :(
We've seen plenty of white moths, flitting around the kale plants. . .!
Lovely post!
We've seen a few swallowtails (I think) floating around. I'd love to plant more things in the future that attract butterflies.
So beautiful! I love that you planted a garden specially for your butterfly visitors.
Great picture! I've raised black swallowtails for years now. I know what you mean about how do they know??? They are really amazing creatures. Sadly, since we moved I have not seen many butterflies at all....but I plan on remedying that by next spring hopefully.
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