Ann wrote:
Charlie expounded:


I'm curious. Maybe I'm the only one to have done this. I smell a lot
of things, I mean I sniff things.

The Black Swallowtail catepillars, when gently touched, poke out their
antennae, or whatever they are called,

It's called an osmeterium, and all swallowtails have one.


get all kinds of defensive and
leave a smell on your finger that is really .......pungent.

The reason that they get defensive is because the wasps that want to
parasitize them like to lay their eggs on the back of the caterpillar's
head, where it can't reach around and pick the parasite egg off. The
osmeterium (the orange forked organ) is on the back of the caterpillar's
head where it has the best shot of deterring the wasps with its pungent
parsley fart. In my experience it's not a very effective way to deter
wasps. Unless I find the pillars by the 2nd instar, latest, when they
still look like a tiny bit of bird poop, there's almost no chance that a
wasp hasn't got to it. I found one in my parsley and put it in a bug box
with as much food as it wanted. It's pupating now. Should be out in a
week or two. Then, after a photo op, I will release it, of course.



Have you done this, and does the Anise Swallowtail react (and smell)
this way?

Care
Charlie


I was wrong. I found smaller ones that look exactly like the younger
ones on the Black Swallowtail page. So I can't tell you if they smell
or react like the Anise Swallowtail. Sorry!

But I do enjoy them! G