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#1
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zebra-striped catepillars
i have some zebra-striped catepillars who are all over my parsley -- like a
whole family just appeared one day and began camping out. they are eating the be-geesis out of the parsley, too. are they likely to move on to other plants? should i be concerned? should i pluck 'em off and git rid of 'em? thanks for any help. steve snow -- ======================================= Stephen Snow, MA, National Certified Counselor "Where love stops, power www.commcure.com begins, and violence 704.569.0243 and terror." -- CG Jung ---------------------------------------------------------- TeleCommunity Resource Center (www.tcrc.net) Assn. For Community Networking (www.afcn.org) Charlotte Folk Society (www.folksociety.org) One Special Christmas (www.onespecialchristmas.org) Don Chapman (www.commcure.dom/don) GROW BY GIVING: VOLUNTEER ======================================= |
#2
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zebra-striped catepillars
On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 12:32:52 -0400, "shsnow"
wrote: i have some zebra-striped catepillars who are all over my parsley -- like a whole family just appeared one day and began camping out. they are eating the be-geesis out of the parsley, too. are they likely to move on to other plants? should i be concerned? should i pluck 'em off and git rid of 'em? thanks for any help. steve snow Larva of black swallowtail butterflies most likely. Parsley can take quite a lot of damage and will come back, but if you object to them, the easiest way is to just pick them off and squash them. The will also eat parsley relatives, dill, anise, fennel, Queen Anne's Lace, and the like. If you don't have the right food, they will not be there. Their relatives, the giant swallowtail (yellow where the other one is black) munch on my citrus. Usually the mockingbirds and the wasps get them before they grow more than 1/2 in. long. |
#3
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zebra-striped catepillars
Augh! No! Wait Please! Don't hurt em! They're beautiful butterflies...try
floating row covers if you want your parsley! These little caterpillars are about to give you a greater gift than fresh breath and a garnish for your plate. Jane "shsnow" wrote in message ... i have some zebra-striped catepillars who are all over my parsley -- like a whole family just appeared one day and began camping out. they are eating the be-geesis out of the parsley, too. are they likely to move on to other plants? should i be concerned? should i pluck 'em off and git rid of 'em? thanks for any help. steve snow -- ======================================= Stephen Snow, MA, National Certified Counselor "Where love stops, power www.commcure.com begins, and violence 704.569.0243 and terror." -- CG Jung ---------------------------------------------------------- TeleCommunity Resource Center (www.tcrc.net) Assn. For Community Networking (www.afcn.org) Charlotte Folk Society (www.folksociety.org) One Special Christmas (www.onespecialchristmas.org) Don Chapman (www.commcure.dom/don) GROW BY GIVING: VOLUNTEER ======================================= |
#4
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zebra-striped catepillars
They stick almost exclusively to parsley and dill, and are not likely to
move to your other plants. They will soon finish growing and crawl off to pupate. Butterflies have a hard time of it these days, because of widespread pesticide use, so I always gladly sacrifice some parsley when I'm lucky enough to get the caterpillars. Here's some more information: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/d...USA/mi/895.htm Cheers, Sue Zone 6, Southcentral PA i have some zebra-striped catepillars who are all over my parsley -- like a whole family just appeared one day and began camping out. they are eating the be-geesis out of the parsley, too. are they likely to move on to other plants? should i be concerned? should i pluck 'em off and git rid of 'em? thanks for any help. steve snow |
#5
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zebra-striped catepillars
"shsnow" wrote in message
... i have some zebra-striped catepillars who are all over my parsley -- like a whole family just appeared one day and began camping out. they are eating the be-geesis out of the parsley, too. are they likely to move on to other plants? should i be concerned? should i pluck 'em off and git rid of 'em? Check this: http://www.chias.org/online/thebutte...de/native.html I think you have black swallowtail 'pillars. Pretty catepillars and lovely butterflies, but waay too fond of dill and parsley. If it's possible, and you have more than one parsley plant, you might try relocating them to a Designated Food Plant. Your choices are to sacrfice some parsley and save the butterfly, or, um, save the parsley. As to the other part of your question, they're pretty specific in their eating habits. Not likely to affect many other plants (the above reference mentions wild carrot (Queen Anne's Lace), parsnips (who knew?) and celery. |
#6
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zebra-striped catepillars
Larva of black swallowtail butterflies most likely.
Yup. I grow dill just for them. This year they must have laid dozens of eggs on my dill and there wasn't enough. Some I moved over to my Queen Ann's lace, but I was surprised that a few moved on over to the cilantro I had near by and seemed happy munching it. I never knew they liked cilantro. Next year I will have to remember to sow the dill every couple of weeks so there will be plenty of them for the caterpillars. joelle |
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