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For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Photo#28638
Swallowtail Caterpillar - Papilio polyxenes

Swallowtail Caterpillar - Papilio polyxenes
Fort Bragg, Cumberland County, North Carolina, USA
August 16, 2005

Moved
Moved from Black Swallowtail.

 
How to Safely Move Larva
I have a large number of these in my herb garden and do not want to destroy them. I want to move them. Please advise.

 
Food
Larvae feed primarily on plants of the carrot family (Apiaceae = Umbelliferae), and some in the Rue Family (Rutaceae). Commonly found on Dill, Parsley, Fennel, Carrot, and Rue in gardens, and Queen-Anne's-Lace, Poison Hemlock, and Lovage in the wild. They will occasionally be found on Citrus trees.

If you want to move the larvae you should find them an appropriate host plant. Otherwise they will all die. You could raise them, which is pretty fun. You just keep them in a container and feed them parsley from the grocery store. See here where I raised 40 of these.

Moved
Moved from Papilio.

 
Thanks
for moving all these David.

Papilio polyxenes
Black Swallowtail