HELP! I'm looking 4 giant swallowtail host plant in Baton Rouge!!

ams2009

14 years ago

If anyone in the Baton Rouge area (or near Baton Rouge) has any Giant Swallowtail caterpillar host plants and would be willing to spare some leaves, (new tender growth is what they are supposed to eat), PLEASE LET ME KNOW, you can contact me via email, or reply to this post. The female GSTs keep laying eggs and there is not going to be enough foliage to feed all of these caterpillars so I need to find some host plants to get leaves from pretty quick, thanks!!Here is a list of Giant Swallowtail larval host plants...

Giant Swallowtail

- Citrus family, Rutaceae

1. Ptelea trifoliata - hop tree, wafer ash

2. Zanthoxylum clava-herculis - hercules club

3. Zanthoxylum fagara - wild lime

4. Zanthoxylum americanum - prickly ash

5. Citrus spp. - various species, including cultivated

6. Murraya paniculata - orange jasmine

7. Ruta graveolens - rue

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Comments (5)

natal
14 years ago
Have you checked local nurseries? Clegg's, Harb's, LA Nursery? I was at Naylor's today looking at herbs, they didn't look great, but couldn't tell you if they had rue. Whole Foods also sells fresh herbs.
ams2009
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi natal, I called Clegg's, they told me that their citrus trees are treated with systemic inseciticides and pesticides, I actually purchased a navel tree from LA Nursery, they told me it had not been treated with anything, but the two caterpillars that ate leaves from that tree got VERY sick less than an hour later, and they both ended up dying. From what I have learned on this forum, the tree was probably treated before arriving at LA nursery, not at LA nursery, and the nursery worker that I spoke with was probably unaware that there was a systemic insecticide in the soil.

I went to Whole FOods saturday, they had plenty of herbs, but no rue. I had not thought about trying Harb's or Naylors, do they sell organic herbs? I will call and check with them tomorrow. Thanks
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natal
14 years ago
Ams, another thought ... Hilltop's Plant Fest is this weekend. In fact, I'm going tomorrow and need to THANK YOU for this thread! Weeks ago I downloaded the plant list and turns out it was only a fraction of what the final list offers. I'm printing the new list as I type. Have no idea if what you're looking for is offered, but take a look. Good luck!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: click on plant list
User
14 years ago
Mizell Farms,in Folsom, specializes in butterfly and hummingbird gardening. They had their annual butterfly festival two weekends ago. 985-796-4309 www.mizellfarms.com They are usually at the Farmer's market downtown every Saturday so if they have something you want, they could probably bring it down with them and save you a trip.
brumfife
14 years ago
Would you be able to use leaves from a key lime tree? I have a key lime that I'd bought several years ago and the actual tree died from a sucker root growth but I'd pruned it back about 3 months ago intending to dig up the last of the non-productive plant. No insecticides have been used and actually just never got around to digging it up. I'm located in St. Amant, east of Gonzales. If you can use this contact me at brumfife@eatel.net.