Let me second this advice with some anecdotal follow up. Most
Swallowtails I have noticed seem to prefer Umbilifers such as Parsley
or Fennel. I have a large stand of Bronze Fennel which I keep around
as much as a host plant for Swallowtails as I do for cooking, with
nary a problem with the other plants in the garden.

so enjoy the Swallowtails.

Dave

On Wed, 02 Jul 2003 19:39:33 -0500, J Kolenovsky
wrote:

Butterflies only frequent certain host and larval plants and hardly
nothing else. Many plants host a particular type of butterfly.

Regarding your black swallowtail -
http://www.whatsthiscaterpillar.co.u...s/picture3.htm
and the main index page for the whole site is
http://www.whatsthiscaterpillar.co.uk/


DigitalVinyl wrote:

The other day I spotted a mostly black butterfly in the garden. I was
surprised to find it very attracted to some of my parsley. After some
research I ID'd as a female Black Swallowtail. SHe was laying eggs,
which I can spot in between the curly leaves.

Now I have more parsley growing than I can use So i would have no
problem letting the ones on this plant grow--but am I inviting a
voracious catepillar into the garden by doing this? I'm sure they
would probably eat far more than that one bush of parsley.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener

Dave Fouchey, WA4EMR
http://photos.yahoo.com/davefouchey
Southeastern Lower Michigan
42° 35' 20'' N,
82° 58' 37'' W
GMT Offset: -5
Time Zone: Eastern