Fennel Predator! :(

[cheferos]

Found 6 or so little caterpillars on my fennel today. The fennel doesn't seem too much the worse for wear, but one of the dang things was eating the Dill, which DOES seem worse for wear :(

I picked them off, though it's a bit hard to do so, knowing that they turn into these:

(fyi: swallowtail butterflies)

Comments

[kightp]

Ooh.

Swallowtail caterpillars (and monarchs, too!) love milkweed more than anything. Maybe you should plant some - far away from the vegetables!

[cheferos]

Good idea! *kiss*

Now, where can I get some! lol

[kightp]

Well, it's a weed. And there's even a native Texas variety. But it looks like you can buy seeds, too!

[cheferos]

Double muah to you :)

[ladyjaneinlace]

Ack!! Couldn't you take them down the road and put them out on the roadside, where all those wildflowers and weeds are?? I'm sure they could find something to eat there, and still turn into butterflies... :(

[cheferos]

Well I didn't kill them, just put them down on the grass hoping they aren't strong enough to climb back up 3 feet to the fennel :)

[ladyjaneinlace]

*whew* Ok then. :)

I'm not sure I've seen any milkweed out in the pastures near your house; I'll have to have a look maybe this weekend. If the little beggars need transplanting again, they'll have plenty to eat if I can find some.

[cheferos]

Kewl. As you might guess, if you know the story, I'm loathe to kill anything that could be a butterfly :) That's a main reason I tried not to be lethal.

[kylakae]

Yay, how exciting. I'd share my dill to have these beauties!

[cheferos]

One solution: Plant LOTS of Dill. They can't POSSIBLY eat it all if we plant enough lol.