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Sun, Jul 17, 11 at 10:41
| I have counted 13 cats 1/4"-1/2" on a very spindly dill plant.
They are yellowish with black spots and a white stripe down the middle. There are more eggs also. Will this plant support all these cats? I am not looking to intervene. This is the first time I have grown dill and anticipated either a nice dilled-lobster salad or some butterflies. Of course, the cats won! The plant is on my deck with some basil and cilantro. What should I do? Stake the plant? Will all these cats survive? It seems like a meager food-source, once these cats get bigger. Will nature just take it's course and the larger ones win out? Any help/ info is appreciated. Thanks~ Jo |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by misssherry Z8/9MS (My Page) on Sun, Jul 17, 11 at 12:40
| Those aren't swallowtail cats, Jo. Black swallowtails, which are the ones that use dill, are dark brown with a white 'saddle' in their early instars, then they molt into an orange, white and yellow instar, with them being a beautiful green, yellow and white in the final instar. I don't know what your cats are, probably a moth, maybe sawflies. Sherry |
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- Posted by scorpgirl24 z7NJ (My Page) on Sun, Jul 17, 11 at 17:26
| Thanks Misssherry. Just realized (after google search) that they weren't swallowtails. I have so many flying around, I just assumed they were swallowtails. Well, just looked again and they are gone!! Guess it was a hungry bird! If they were moths, glad they are gone-although now...so is my dill!! Keep wondering if those gross hornworms will soon be eating my tomatoes. Wish I could get some butterfly cats!! I have the habitat, the host plants and the adult butterflies. I'll keep looking! Jo |
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- Posted by scorpgirl24 z7NJ (My Page) on Sun, Jul 17, 11 at 22:28
| You know what...I think these were some kind of butterfly. When you said saddle- I found a pic that looked similar. When I said it had a stripe down the middle, I meant across the middle of the body-not lengthwise. This pic was a black swallowtail-1st instar. Anyway, where did these cats go? Do birds eat them? I am sick that they are gone and that they WERE butterfly cats. I took a very blurry pic, but will post it anyway.  |
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- Posted by misssherry Z8/9MS (My Page) on Mon, Jul 18, 11 at 0:12
| It does look like a black swallowtail - I've never seen one that could ever be described as yellow, so I didn't think that was what you had. I'm sorry your cats disappeared. They were probably eaten by wasps or stinkbugs - that's why we raise ours in cages and release them as adults. Here's an early instar cat, though not a hatchling - And here's a later instar-  And here's two last instar cats - the green one is the regular color, the other is the dark form -  Sherry |
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