They may eat some dill. But I'd gladly sacrifice the foliage for these beautiful butterflies.

Maybe pick off half of them? Likely predators will get their share too.

Dennis

Fika, they're not harmful at all.....unless you consider having your dill completely eaten to the nub a problem, lol.

Personally, I wouldn't like it very much if that happened to my only dill plant. The caterpillars are voracious...a lone individual can make a large portion of your dill disappear overnight.

The usual strategy for butterfly and caterpillar lovers is to grow lots of other plants for them to feed on. Black swallowtails use parsley, fennel and carrot tops, among others. Plant more dill, and move the cats from the your plant to the others.....they won't mind.

I grow a couple of lemon trees in containers solely for the Giant Swallowtails to go crazy with during the summer. I also grow extra hosts plants for other swallowtails and even plant sacrificial tomatoes for hornworms.

But I don't feel one bit guilty about eliminating them if there are just too many and you shouldn't, either, if that's what you decide to do.

Birds don't much like swallowtail caterpillars. Their primary predators are paper wasps, who swoop down to grab the cats, sting them to paralyse, then stuff them into the nests for the wasp larvae to feed on.

Well unfortunately it is my only dill plant and I actually do use it quite frequently in my cooking (have you seen the price of fresh herbs at the market?!). I will buy a few parsley plants but for now... those caterpillars have got to go! Thank you sooooo much... you've been most helpful.

Well unfortunately it is my only dill plant and I actually do use it quite frequently in my cooking (have you seen the price of fresh herbs at the market?!). I will buy a few parsley plants but for now... those caterpillars have got to go! Thank you sooooo much... you've been most helpful.

Agreed, harmful to the plant, beneficial to humans who enjoy seeing the butterflies.

I can absolutely appreciate not being willing to share your lone dill plant with caterpillars, even those that will turn into a beautiful butterfly. If possible, you could prevent access to your plant so the eggs won't be wasted on your plant. I don't know what might work specifically for you, but generally, maybe some kind of screen/wire 'house' might be possible for your dill plant? If the adults can't lay eggs on your plant, they will find another plant, (like the parsley plants you mentioned, or maybe another dill plant) where the caterpillars may have a chance to fulfill their destiny to become butterflies. This would also save you the time and aggravation of inspecting your plant for unwanted visitors and finding a way to deal with them, preventing the issue altogether. Further caterpillars would be on the parsley to begin with, no inspecting of dill needed.

One should definitely have things 'their way' in their garden, and it's not practical to share your food to the point that there's nothing left for you. The fact that you are here asking about them instead of just smashing them and moving on without further thought made me think you might be interested in this suggestion.