A Tale of SwallowTails May 2009

Then the plant looked like somebody had come along and helped themselves to big chunks, leaving long empty stems.

Thank goodness for Google! I visited dozens of sites after searching on the keywords "identify" and "caterpillar" but the one I place I finally bookmarked and will use again was at:

Discover Life - Caterpillars Guide.

However, IF it had shown up on Google the first time I searched, I'd have had my answer at the top of the page at

Back Yard Caterpillars

This little guys can grow up to 2 inches in length, which is about what my guests are. I don't know how long it took them to grow so big, but by the time we discovered them they were already HUGE, so they were about ready to pupate.

Coincidentally, I discovered that these caterpillars eat so much parsley and related veggies like carrot tops, that they are known as "parsley worms" in some parts of the country.

Two went on their walk-abouts before we realized that these caterpillars don't pupate where they've been eating. They walk for a day or so before they settle down to build a cocoon.

We placed the parsley plant inside a net cage we had, and our last little parsley guest did his walk about all around the net, finally building his cocoon right on the zipper at the farthest end of the cage.

I've been reading webpages about butterflies for what feels like hours now. Some butterflies stay in the chrysalis for only 10 to 14 days, while others stay all winter and emerge the following Spring. I can't tell if our little friend has died or if he's going to over winter.

In the meantime, I have found some good links to learn about butterflies on.

Butterflies and Butterfly Gardening in West Virginia

Photo Credit: Texas A&M - Black swallowtail

After checking the cocoon daily for weeks, I admit I had given up hope, and thought my one corralled caterpillar was dead. During the exceptionally hot months of July and August, I only looked at the little guy maybe 3 or 4 times. However, today we all got an amazing surprise.

It was Clawdia Kitty who first got our attention - she was batting at the net cage and dancing around like a wild cat. My husband, Bob, went out to see why she was acting so nuts, and discovered a butterfly inside the net. The scene that ensued at our house would have made a good Keystone Cops movie, as I ran around looking for my purse, which had the camera in it, followed by my scream of anguish as I realized I needed a fresh battery and was afraid I didn't have a spare charged! Lucky for me, Bob did have a spare charged up,, and if I had only put the battery in right side up I'd have saved myself yet another round of frustration. I don't know why it got me so excited, but after having completely given up all hope that the butterfly was still alive, and feeling some guilt that perhaps I had accidentally killed it through my ignorance, knowing it was indeed alive and apparently well was just thrilling.

We enjoyed the butterfly's company for about 5 minutes - snapping photos and taking a very short video -- Bob got it to climb onto his hands so we got a really good look at it. Then it was over ... the little butterfly flapped its wings and soared away. We stood and watched it until it was out of sight.

I then examined the cucoon, which was indeed empty. Trying to remove it from the zipper was almost impossible, and the strands which were holding the cocoon to the fabric are still there, they are incredibly strong!

This was an experience that I would be delighted to repeat. My only regret at this point is that I wasn't able to watch our little friend emerge. I'm ecstatic, however, that it did.