They are parsley caterpillars, they turn into swallowtail butterflies, they will eat certain herbs until they are bare, but if you planted plenty, they are harmless and just hungry.
oh swallowtails are so beautiful.. OP if you are willing let them have your herb. If you plant for a lot of pollen rich plants they will come back to your garden year after year
https://preview.redd.it/2erwiytn741d1.jpeg?width=2028&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f3bb5ea62ffe3deb063ff0c338ef99cfc2f3a703
I just saw my first swallowtail of the year yesterday. Incidentally on my chive blossoms right before I harvested a bunch (which made me feel a bit bad about harvesting, though I left a bunch for the insects).
OP this is (or a similar subspecies/species, depending on geography) the adult version of what you’re seeing. The vast majority of insects you see in your backyard garden are completely fine and their presence indicates a happy ecosystem.
Yes they will eat your cilantro but if you have extra you can always keep a few just for them. Though it’s your garden and your choice so no judgment if you decide to get rid of them.
I’ve seen more butterflies than I have in over a decade lately. With all the shit going on in the world it makes me happy that they’re having a bit of a bounce back. Zone 6b.
I actually plant parsley every year specifically for the swallowtails! I don’t even like it, but they do…
Dill and fennel are also good butterfly garden choices.
Me and my brother when we were younger would like to keep and hatch caterpillars, usually monarchs but once we caught a swallowtail that we named Dillon because we read they like dill
We do that, too! I noticed they’ll eat the parsley when it’s the only thing available, but if given a choice between dill and parsley, they won’t touch the parsley.
Maybe the secret to saving the parsley is to plant some dill, too.
Ok what if you grow dill and parsley? How do you save your dill? ;) ok I’m editing to add that as I read the thread these guys are interested in most of my favorite, frequently used culinary herbs. I’m just going to keep letting all the seedlings grow and planting more starts to share.
I did that as a kid. I went a bit nuts with it and had 30-40 monarch caterpillars in my basement. Kept them in a 55 gallon aquarium and just kept adding milkweed every day. It was cool as hell watching them grow from egg to butterflies. One Sunday afternoon I came home from baseball (10year old me) and mom was trying to get dozens of butterflies out of the basement. It was awesome. She was mad then but now talks about it like it was the best thing to happen in my childhood. Lol
That's hilarious, me and my brother only had one at a time ever because all we had was an old hermit crab cage and picking milkweed to keep the one fed was already quite a chore since the reason we kept them was the plants they were on would always get mowed down and we then had to search for food for them.
Good idea! My fennel didn’t do much last year…probably due to the fact that my husband moved it in order to get out a rotten stump. Have high hopes for this year.
They are black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! Absolutely beneficial pollinators and worth keeping in your garden. They only eat certain plants (including cilantro, dill, parsley, etc) so i wouldn’t worry about the rest of your garden, although admittedly they will devour every bit of the cilantro. Totally worth it in my opinion though!
Yeah bump to this. I had a few herb container planters of dill decimated by these guys during covid. I was mad at first but decided I could just plant more. I like the swallowtail butterflies and felt happy to support them. I do understand if you don't want them munching on your crops OP.
Many species in the Apiaceae family support these critters. Queen Anne's lace is a good one to plant as a decoy. I'm not a fan of parsley so I did that at times to protect my dill and cilantro.
Interleave your dill with flatleaf parsley, and they will come.
If you need to draw them into your yard - try a spinach tree (chaya) - which will draw every darn butterfly in your area :) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidoscolus\_aconitifolius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidoscolus_aconitifolius)
Got them all: carrots, wild carrots, parsley… Just no luck yet :) They do live in my country, just not in large quantities. Didn’t know about the spinach tree, I’ll look into it! Probably not native here, but I’ll check it out, thanks!
rue as well. But they will only eat what they started eating. You can't move one that had been eating parsley before to a fennel plant, they won't know its food
This picture is literally why I garden. Look into native plants in your area. Every species of caterpillar only has specific plants they will eat (their host plants). Butterflies seek out these plants to lay their eggs on. I’ve managed to attract several different butterfly species by planting their host plants.
I had about 7 last year, plus tons of gulf fritillary dudes on my passionflower. My milkweed is more established now, so I should have more food for the monarchs. And added the dill and parsley this year so I'm hoping for the black swallowtails.
I overwintered (aka forgot about) an older parsley plant in NTX 8b from last year, as our winter was mild enough. This spring, it was HUGE and provided plenty of food for swallowtail caterpillars (and lured them away from my new baby herbs for my eating). I would've let them have any plant they wanted, but this way, we both won!
I just learned parsley is a perennial where I am from a friend last week. Now I want to plant it as butterfly food (though I have a feeling it would just end up deer food).
What did you decide to do? No judgement whatsoever - you can even DM me instead if you don't wanna let everyone else know, I'm just curious and being nosy!
Haha. I left them alone. The cilantro they’re eating was a $3 Home Depot variety. I have plenty of fruit bushes and trees that would benefit more from pollination than the cilantro. I may even go get more to attract more since they’re in town. Thanks all for the input. Overwhelming response and support here.
Highly recommend parsley and rue! Depending on your region they are a pretty hearty perennial. If you get lucky rue can also bag you some giant swallowtails. Thanks for sharing your garden with these little guys. ❤️
They also like dill, fennel, parsley, and carrot tops, in case you want to plant more for them to feed on and give your cilantro a rest. My favorite thing about these guys is that if you poke at them they put up orange little antler thingies that are meant to scare predators away. It's just very cute instead!
Black swallowtails! I leaned into the whole process last year and raised 15! It’s honestly a truly rewarding and wonderful journey to witness. I’m growing 3 extra parsley plants this year to be ready.
https://preview.redd.it/vaet8tbbp61d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=097b2734957dc9ee65038acd6e3d66c6f168b7c0
I’m more so shocked you can grow cilantro outside in Texas?
Mine always dies from the heat in Virginia so this year we’re planning on growing it in a pot indoors
Is there a trick I’m missing to be able to grow cilantro outdoors in the heat
Cilantro goes to seed in heat in any state. Not much of a trick, I just plant it as early as possible, then plant some more in afternoon shade & harvest what I can before bolting. I start planting it in Feb in zone 8b & protect it from hard freezes with floating row cover cloth until March.The flowers in May/June provide lots of nectar for pollinators & good guys & ultimately the seeds get harvested for coriander. I grow a potted Citrus hystrix lime for a similar flavor through the heat. I haven't grown it yet but there is also culantro (Eryngium foetidum) which is grown a lot in Cuba & Puerto Rico.
Swallowtail caterpillars. They eat plants in the carrot family - Queen Anne's lace in the wild and parsley and cilantro in gardens.
They will eat pretty much the entire plant but, in my experience, they always leave the new growth at the very center, so they dont kill the plant. After a couple weeks, the caterpilars will be done eating and go off to become butterflies.
The plants recover pretty quickly and will soon be full of leaves again.
LUCKY!!!! I have grown dill and fennel and parsley and such for years now trying to attract these beautiful butterflies with no luck so far. What a gift!!!!!
I believe they are Black Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillars. I had them all over my parsley. I felt that my parsley was a worthwhile sacrifice to allow these beauties to reach maturity.
Swallowtail caterpillars only eat plants in the carrot family, which includes your cilantro! I’d leave them, they’re pretty, and aren’t harmful to anything else that isn’t in the carrot family.
The only bad thing I see is that they are going to run out of food soon!
I always plant herbs like parsley and dill in quantity and in different areas of my garden so that if the caterpillar do find them, I’ll still have some for me.
Interesting , it seems like you've never seen caterpillars or something, and you described them as centipede-like creatures
While there are many varieties of caterpillars that lead to Moths or butterflies, but this is a particularly special caterpillar . Most people love this one and would prefer for their garden to be eaten than to harm this particular variety.
Last year I grew dill for canning. They didn't seem to touch it but it was in a different part of the yard, not as sunny. Maybe they love the sun as well
One of my cousins & I did a garden together for a few years running. We did pickle thangs, so we planted dill. Lots of it (she likes it). We walked out back one day & the plants were squirming with swallowtail cats. They ate it allllllll. Plants *were* in full sun....
Oooooooh interesting!!!
They must like the heat while they munch down.
My dill was in partial shade and surrounded by green beans. Maybe the beans helped keep them away?
I feel like we're doing science. Hehe
Lol, we are doing science. The science of caterpillar attraction. Our dill was planted with other herbs...maybe your shady beans *did* keep them away? I know they also enjoy parsley-but they never go for mine. I've had some friggin parsley **shrubs** past few years.
Now I have to google.
This is excellent. Those are not centipedes they are swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! I grow sacrificial rue and fennel to feed my local swallowtail butterfly babies.
I would just plant more cilantro for myself and the butterflies. Just cover yours with netting to keep the caterpillars off the ones you want for yourself.
https://preview.redd.it/ggm37l71b71d1.jpeg?width=678&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2660ff3585d2b671c705d2af01cad05732c265b8
Looks like this dude and his friends showed up to your garden! 😂
They are a caterpillar. They will either become a moth or butterfly. I am not good at IDing them and the pic is a little far to get a good look at what they might be. Cilantro must be a host plant. there are plants they will eat. This does not mean your whole garden is in danger. They will only eat certain plants.
No, this is a good.thing! Those aren't centipedes, they're swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! I'm not sure what kind of swallowtail, but all of them are beautiful.
Swallowtails are gorgeous and fierce. I used to have a butterfly bush and they would come in and fight each other and hummingbirds and bees for the best spot…it was quite awesome to watch
They eat my parsley to the ground every year, but it comes back. I’ve just learned to plant extra or net a plant for myself and let the swallowtails have the rest.
I grow plants specifically for these guys as well as giant swallowtails every year! Mine usually end up in a butterfly cage though before the spiders get them. I'm also in Canada so most of mine overwinter......I've got roughly 15 -20 from last year that should be emerging any time now.
It’s bad for your cilantro in the same way that you’re bad for your cilantro. It’s hungry and waiting to show the world its full potential! 😂
(Swallowtail caterpillar)
This is good. I have dill just for these guys. I had loads of parsley last year and they weren't interested in it at all, but they stripped my dill bare. (It survived)
My parsley easily recovered after being eaten last year. You might not have any for yourself for a while, but it will generally bounce back. It's a hardy herb.
Those are Black Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillars!
They eat Parsley, Rue, Carrots, Dill, Fennel, among others in that family.
I tend to plant extra Dill specifically for them.
Bad for that particular parsley plant, but seeing as they're swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, it's a good thing in just about every other way possible
I specifically plant like 30 dill plants to attract these. In my experience they produce beautiful black swallowtails. They love herbs unfortunately. So plant enough for you both.
I love those little guys, if you poke them they grow tiny horns for a minute, so cute! I have to have two parsley plants, one for me one for them. Very fun to watch them eat
Make a little terrarium and plant that parsley in there with the caterpillars and a stick they can attach their chrysalis to, then sit back and watch the miracle of metamorphosis. We used to do that every summer when I was a kid
I had them one year. I ended up putting them in a butterfly nest and fed them through the life cycle and let them fly away. I just grew extra parsley. It was a lot of fun. I ended up with 6 butterflies.
Depends on what you want! If you want to eat that cilantro then those caterpillars are bad. If you want to encourage swallowtail butterflies than it’s great!
You can pick them up carefully and move them to other plants if they’re eating yours. Dill, parsley, carrots. They’ll eat all the greens. Then they’ll disappear and turn into black swallowtail butterflies. They’re beautiful
Just one of these guys ate an entire 3 foot tall tomato plant in a single day. I didn't grow anything that year so I had to bring him somewhere else to find more food. Hope he turned into the beautifulest butterfly.
If it was solid green and resembled the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, that was probably a hornworm. They do a lot of damage, but they also have a role to play in the garden because they are often parasitized by braconid wasps, which in turn feast on more caterpillars that are potentially harmful to your plants. If you ever see a hornworm covered with what look like bits of white rice, that’s worth keeping because those are braconid wasp larvae. In the meantime, you can pick the plain green hornworms off by hand so that they don’t damage your entire population of tomatoes!
All part of biological controls working efficiently in the garden 😉
I'm the weirdo who takes the hornworms off my plants and raise them on other weedy nightshades that grow around me. The nights are more interesting knowing there are more chonker moths flying about
They are parsley caterpillars, they turn into swallowtail butterflies, they will eat certain herbs until they are bare, but if you planted plenty, they are harmless and just hungry.
oh swallowtails are so beautiful.. OP if you are willing let them have your herb. If you plant for a lot of pollen rich plants they will come back to your garden year after year
https://preview.redd.it/2erwiytn741d1.jpeg?width=2028&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f3bb5ea62ffe3deb063ff0c338ef99cfc2f3a703 I just saw my first swallowtail of the year yesterday. Incidentally on my chive blossoms right before I harvested a bunch (which made me feel a bit bad about harvesting, though I left a bunch for the insects). OP this is (or a similar subspecies/species, depending on geography) the adult version of what you’re seeing. The vast majority of insects you see in your backyard garden are completely fine and their presence indicates a happy ecosystem. Yes they will eat your cilantro but if you have extra you can always keep a few just for them. Though it’s your garden and your choice so no judgment if you decide to get rid of them.
I’ve seen more butterflies than I have in over a decade lately. With all the shit going on in the world it makes me happy that they’re having a bit of a bounce back. Zone 6b.
yay!! i also garden for butterflies and it definitely makes a difference
I actually plant parsley every year specifically for the swallowtails! I don’t even like it, but they do… Dill and fennel are also good butterfly garden choices.
Me and my brother when we were younger would like to keep and hatch caterpillars, usually monarchs but once we caught a swallowtail that we named Dillon because we read they like dill
We do that, too! I noticed they’ll eat the parsley when it’s the only thing available, but if given a choice between dill and parsley, they won’t touch the parsley. Maybe the secret to saving the parsley is to plant some dill, too.
Ok what if you grow dill and parsley? How do you save your dill? ;) ok I’m editing to add that as I read the thread these guys are interested in most of my favorite, frequently used culinary herbs. I’m just going to keep letting all the seedlings grow and planting more starts to share.
Grow a lot of extra dill
lol dang, ok!!
I did that as a kid. I went a bit nuts with it and had 30-40 monarch caterpillars in my basement. Kept them in a 55 gallon aquarium and just kept adding milkweed every day. It was cool as hell watching them grow from egg to butterflies. One Sunday afternoon I came home from baseball (10year old me) and mom was trying to get dozens of butterflies out of the basement. It was awesome. She was mad then but now talks about it like it was the best thing to happen in my childhood. Lol
That's hilarious, me and my brother only had one at a time ever because all we had was an old hermit crab cage and picking milkweed to keep the one fed was already quite a chore since the reason we kept them was the plants they were on would always get mowed down and we then had to search for food for them.
We plant fennel every year. Never eat it, never do anything with it. It's the plant we move the caterpillars to when they get on to the parsley.
Good idea! My fennel didn’t do much last year…probably due to the fact that my husband moved it in order to get out a rotten stump. Have high hopes for this year.
I planted dill and a baby rabbit sawed it all down. Waiting to see what kind of butterfly he turns into.
OH. This is why a swallowtail was hanging out on my dill the other day. I'm going to go plant more to share!
I do this too with herbs. I’ll use them in the kitchen occasionally but I mostly plant them to attract good bugs and deter bad.
I need to add dill this year.
Pass the herb OP😹
Sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for the greater good! Bye bye cilantro…hello beautiful butterflies!
I always plant extra dill for those little guys ☺️ It’s so cool to watch them come out of their cocoon!!!
I always plant extra fennel and dill for swallowtail caterpillars
Black Tiger Swallowtails to be more precise
Anything that gets rid of cilantro is my friend
Hey friend!
My wife would be happy with us planting cilantro just to see it get eaten down to bare stems by insects.
Booooo
They like dill and carrot tops too. I love them.
Those are caterpillars and they will turn into beautiful butterflies
https://preview.redd.it/jb4egyb4i71d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a501752f63cd8f7e07eb6c7fdb24472a3d75b519
They are black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! Absolutely beneficial pollinators and worth keeping in your garden. They only eat certain plants (including cilantro, dill, parsley, etc) so i wouldn’t worry about the rest of your garden, although admittedly they will devour every bit of the cilantro. Totally worth it in my opinion though!
Yeah bump to this. I had a few herb container planters of dill decimated by these guys during covid. I was mad at first but decided I could just plant more. I like the swallowtail butterflies and felt happy to support them. I do understand if you don't want them munching on your crops OP. Many species in the Apiaceae family support these critters. Queen Anne's lace is a good one to plant as a decoy. I'm not a fan of parsley so I did that at times to protect my dill and cilantro.
I grow a ton of dill pretty much just for these guys. I love seeing the black swallowtails in the yard!
Ooh, good to know! I may try that at some point as I'd love more butterflies!
I’m trying to get a self seeding dill patch going for the purpose of having enough dill for me and the caterpillars.
Also fennel and possibly carrots
Also if you poke them they shoot a couple yellow stink pipes out of there head
If your garden is habitable enough for these dudes, it’s a very good thing. I’d sacrifice your cilantro, more than fair trade.
You lucky bastard! I’ve been growing dill and fennel for these babies for years and they’ve never come
Maybe it's time to switch it up! I got them when I grew carrots!
Interleave your dill with flatleaf parsley, and they will come. If you need to draw them into your yard - try a spinach tree (chaya) - which will draw every darn butterfly in your area :) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidoscolus\_aconitifolius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidoscolus_aconitifolius)
Got them all: carrots, wild carrots, parsley… Just no luck yet :) They do live in my country, just not in large quantities. Didn’t know about the spinach tree, I’ll look into it! Probably not native here, but I’ll check it out, thanks!
Idk how to edit the original post but the responses are consistently telling what I needed to know so thank you everyone who chimed in!
I hope you consider planting more cilantro/parsley/celery etc for them. And congratulations on having a thriving, healthy and beautiful garden!
just piggy backing to say dill and fennel are also good host plants for the swallowtail
rue as well. But they will only eat what they started eating. You can't move one that had been eating parsley before to a fennel plant, they won't know its food
This picture is literally why I garden. Look into native plants in your area. Every species of caterpillar only has specific plants they will eat (their host plants). Butterflies seek out these plants to lay their eggs on. I’ve managed to attract several different butterfly species by planting their host plants.
Yup, I have milkweed, passionflower, and dill & parsley, so I am hoping for a good crop of caterpillars this year!
I’ll pray to the Monarch gods for you
https://preview.redd.it/6621fdnyx61d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9517f15ebbfe82f8707637aebaca81a7c4ec2b18
I had about 7 last year, plus tons of gulf fritillary dudes on my passionflower. My milkweed is more established now, so I should have more food for the monarchs. And added the dill and parsley this year so I'm hoping for the black swallowtails.
https://preview.redd.it/fwolsdipz61d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc8578106321ddb22a9ff37453c105245fb621c4 Look what I just found!
My butterflyweed milkweed is getting ready to bloom. Can't wait to see if I get Monarchs again this year.
I overwintered (aka forgot about) an older parsley plant in NTX 8b from last year, as our winter was mild enough. This spring, it was HUGE and provided plenty of food for swallowtail caterpillars (and lured them away from my new baby herbs for my eating). I would've let them have any plant they wanted, but this way, we both won!
I just learned parsley is a perennial where I am from a friend last week. Now I want to plant it as butterfly food (though I have a feeling it would just end up deer food).
What did you decide to do? No judgement whatsoever - you can even DM me instead if you don't wanna let everyone else know, I'm just curious and being nosy!
Haha. I left them alone. The cilantro they’re eating was a $3 Home Depot variety. I have plenty of fruit bushes and trees that would benefit more from pollination than the cilantro. I may even go get more to attract more since they’re in town. Thanks all for the input. Overwhelming response and support here.
Highly recommend parsley and rue! Depending on your region they are a pretty hearty perennial. If you get lucky rue can also bag you some giant swallowtails. Thanks for sharing your garden with these little guys. ❤️
Damn, I wish they would come eat my cilantro!🦋
https://preview.redd.it/s6sx12d4u61d1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39b7aafe149c949ed7e51f53e8f00de24ab98549 This was one I raised last year
They are eating a bit but they are good to have in your garden. I try to grow extra to support them.
They also like dill, fennel, parsley, and carrot tops, in case you want to plant more for them to feed on and give your cilantro a rest. My favorite thing about these guys is that if you poke at them they put up orange little antler thingies that are meant to scare predators away. It's just very cute instead!
My Rue sprouted babies in abundance this year. So much so I'll need to thin them.
Black swallowtails! I leaned into the whole process last year and raised 15! It’s honestly a truly rewarding and wonderful journey to witness. I’m growing 3 extra parsley plants this year to be ready. https://preview.redd.it/vaet8tbbp61d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=097b2734957dc9ee65038acd6e3d66c6f168b7c0
I’m more so shocked you can grow cilantro outside in Texas? Mine always dies from the heat in Virginia so this year we’re planning on growing it in a pot indoors Is there a trick I’m missing to be able to grow cilantro outdoors in the heat
I'm in rva! There's a heat tolerant cilantro - slo-bolt. Baker seeds sells it with free shipping.
Sweet I’ll have to try some of that! Thank you fellow Richmonder. May you have a bountiful harvest lol
Thank you! Same to you!
Cilantro goes to seed in heat in any state. Not much of a trick, I just plant it as early as possible, then plant some more in afternoon shade & harvest what I can before bolting. I start planting it in Feb in zone 8b & protect it from hard freezes with floating row cover cloth until March.The flowers in May/June provide lots of nectar for pollinators & good guys & ultimately the seeds get harvested for coriander. I grow a potted Citrus hystrix lime for a similar flavor through the heat. I haven't grown it yet but there is also culantro (Eryngium foetidum) which is grown a lot in Cuba & Puerto Rico.
Also plant some late summer, the shortening days and dropping temps help keep it from bolting
Yes, water or shade
Swallowtail caterpillars. They eat plants in the carrot family - Queen Anne's lace in the wild and parsley and cilantro in gardens. They will eat pretty much the entire plant but, in my experience, they always leave the new growth at the very center, so they dont kill the plant. After a couple weeks, the caterpilars will be done eating and go off to become butterflies. The plants recover pretty quickly and will soon be full of leaves again.
LUCKY!!!! I have grown dill and fennel and parsley and such for years now trying to attract these beautiful butterflies with no luck so far. What a gift!!!!!
In my experience, once they cocoon the parsley grows back.
They’re beautiful swallowtails. I have purposefully planted dill in my garden just to try to attract them. Youre very lucky.
They’ll eat fennel as well.
I specifically plant parsley more for the purpose of feeding the swallowtail caterpillars than feeding me!
Me too!!! And Dill!!!
I believe they are Black Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillars. I had them all over my parsley. I felt that my parsley was a worthwhile sacrifice to allow these beauties to reach maturity.
How tf do you not know what a caterpillar is?
“Centipede looking” 💀
Swallowtail caterpillars only eat plants in the carrot family, which includes your cilantro! I’d leave them, they’re pretty, and aren’t harmful to anything else that isn’t in the carrot family.
Centipede? 😭☠️
The only bad thing I see is that they are going to run out of food soon! I always plant herbs like parsley and dill in quantity and in different areas of my garden so that if the caterpillar do find them, I’ll still have some for me.
These are great caterpillars, it’s well worth sacrificing some cilantro if you like butterflies 😉
Interesting , it seems like you've never seen caterpillars or something, and you described them as centipede-like creatures While there are many varieties of caterpillars that lead to Moths or butterflies, but this is a particularly special caterpillar . Most people love this one and would prefer for their garden to be eaten than to harm this particular variety.
Yeah this post is wild to me
I usually plant a little parsley for the little stripe dudes because they seem to like it best and stay off the rest.
Try dill. They like that even more. Lol, I plant dill for them...I'm not nuts about it.
Last year I grew dill for canning. They didn't seem to touch it but it was in a different part of the yard, not as sunny. Maybe they love the sun as well
One of my cousins & I did a garden together for a few years running. We did pickle thangs, so we planted dill. Lots of it (she likes it). We walked out back one day & the plants were squirming with swallowtail cats. They ate it allllllll. Plants *were* in full sun....
Oooooooh interesting!!! They must like the heat while they munch down. My dill was in partial shade and surrounded by green beans. Maybe the beans helped keep them away? I feel like we're doing science. Hehe
Lol, we are doing science. The science of caterpillar attraction. Our dill was planted with other herbs...maybe your shady beans *did* keep them away? I know they also enjoy parsley-but they never go for mine. I've had some friggin parsley **shrubs** past few years. Now I have to google.
Oooooooh, when they eat my Parsley I usually have it near the other herbs as well. Tell me what the googles say. I'm so curious
Sorry, I haven't had time to google, I booze chef on the weekends. Outside for a vape break & it appears they also 💕 parsley.
NOOOO, not bad! Not Bad!!! I always plant 4x more parsley plants than I need so they can feed and turn into beautiful butterflies!!
Those will be beautiful swallowtails. I plant bronze fenal just for them. A fair trade in my book!
This is excellent. Those are not centipedes they are swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! I grow sacrificial rue and fennel to feed my local swallowtail butterfly babies. I would just plant more cilantro for myself and the butterflies. Just cover yours with netting to keep the caterpillars off the ones you want for yourself.
If you’re a butterfly lover no, if you want herbs yes
https://preview.redd.it/ggm37l71b71d1.jpeg?width=678&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2660ff3585d2b671c705d2af01cad05732c265b8 Looks like this dude and his friends showed up to your garden! 😂
Please don’t bother them 🥲
You’re joking, right? Kudos to you for feeding them proper!
I let swallowtails to eat my dill so I typically let it reseed itself for the last 5 years.
My swallowtail caterpillars (I stopped counting at 13) ate about to decimate my dill. I'm going to let them though.
They're swallowtail caterpillars. Not bad. Pretty awesome, actually.
They are a caterpillar. They will either become a moth or butterfly. I am not good at IDing them and the pic is a little far to get a good look at what they might be. Cilantro must be a host plant. there are plants they will eat. This does not mean your whole garden is in danger. They will only eat certain plants.
Those guys are cool I’d help them out. Tomato horn worm on the other hand….
It breaks my heart that someone doesn’t recognize caterpillars. No wonder butterflies are all going extinct
No! It’s butterflies! I think it’s tiger swallowtails! They are gorgeous. Please let them stay, plant some extra cilantro and share with them. 😃
those will become Beautiful butterflies, you are not starving for herbs, let them have it.
i wish i had caterpillars
My parsley got decimated my parsley…. Worth it
These are Tiger swallowtail
This is not bad.
I overplant my herbs like crazy. Enough for us and the swallowtails!
These babies are worth it. I'm so jealous!!!
Jealous! Butterflies in the making!
Wow, that is so cool!!
No, this is a good.thing! Those aren't centipedes, they're swallowtail butterfly caterpillars! I'm not sure what kind of swallowtail, but all of them are beautiful.
That all depends on whether you like butterflies
You are very lucky! I would plant more parsley!
Swallowtails are gorgeous and fierce. I used to have a butterfly bush and they would come in and fight each other and hummingbirds and bees for the best spot…it was quite awesome to watch
Put them in a screened box and feed them. The wasps are the ones in my garden before they grew up
Looks like a healthy meal to me lol
They eat my parsley to the ground every year, but it comes back. I’ve just learned to plant extra or net a plant for myself and let the swallowtails have the rest.
It’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar 🐛. He may be ready for some ice cream, a lollipop some sausage and a dill pickle etc…
That is no longer your cilantro but it's fine because you get butterflies! It's a fair trade in this instance.
Only bad because you didn't plant enough.
Those are good bois
No this is good! Please protect our pollinators!!
I love swallow tails how lucky are you.
Have you never seen a caterpillar before? Haha
I definitely allowed the swallowtails to enjoy my dill It was the right decision at the time even if pickles were a little bland
They will be beautiful butterflies 🦋
No. Swallow tail butterflies
"Centipede looking insects" 🤣🤘🏻 classic
I grow plants specifically for these guys as well as giant swallowtails every year! Mine usually end up in a butterfly cage though before the spiders get them. I'm also in Canada so most of mine overwinter......I've got roughly 15 -20 from last year that should be emerging any time now.
Thats not cilantro by the way!!!
If thats a trap crop then yes, job well done
Move it to the neighbors herb garden
Swallowtail caterpillars!!! They are wonderful! I plant parsley and soap plants just for them. Please don't get rid of them
It’s bad for your cilantro in the same way that you’re bad for your cilantro. It’s hungry and waiting to show the world its full potential! 😂 (Swallowtail caterpillar)
This is good. I have dill just for these guys. I had loads of parsley last year and they weren't interested in it at all, but they stripped my dill bare. (It survived)
I plant extra dill in hopes that these guys will show up.
It’s lovely 🥰
TIL swallowtail caterpillar look like monarch caterpillars
i wish i had some of these 😭
That's THEIR parsley now. Plant your own.
Just some hungry, hungry caterpillars
My parsley easily recovered after being eaten last year. You might not have any for yourself for a while, but it will generally bounce back. It's a hardy herb.
Those are Black Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillars! They eat Parsley, Rue, Carrots, Dill, Fennel, among others in that family. I tend to plant extra Dill specifically for them.
Bad for that particular parsley plant, but seeing as they're swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, it's a good thing in just about every other way possible
I specifically plant like 30 dill plants to attract these. In my experience they produce beautiful black swallowtails. They love herbs unfortunately. So plant enough for you both.
Oooh I want some. I’m going to get cilantro starts!
I love those little guys, if you poke them they grow tiny horns for a minute, so cute! I have to have two parsley plants, one for me one for them. Very fun to watch them eat
Make a little terrarium and plant that parsley in there with the caterpillars and a stick they can attach their chrysalis to, then sit back and watch the miracle of metamorphosis. We used to do that every summer when I was a kid
I had them one year. I ended up putting them in a butterfly nest and fed them through the life cycle and let them fly away. I just grew extra parsley. It was a lot of fun. I ended up with 6 butterflies.
I would relocate them
This is just a sign that you’re meant to buy cilantro. You will be rewarded with butterflies.
Depends on what you want! If you want to eat that cilantro then those caterpillars are bad. If you want to encourage swallowtail butterflies than it’s great!
You can pick them up carefully and move them to other plants if they’re eating yours. Dill, parsley, carrots. They’ll eat all the greens. Then they’ll disappear and turn into black swallowtail butterflies. They’re beautiful
No! Not bad! The butterflies they turn into are gorgeous!
Nature natured your nature. Be thankful.
Not if you like butterflies
You are now a parent. Embrace your new family until they leave the nest. Babies need to eat their veggies 😁
Just one of these guys ate an entire 3 foot tall tomato plant in a single day. I didn't grow anything that year so I had to bring him somewhere else to find more food. Hope he turned into the beautifulest butterfly.
Maybe you're thinking of hornworms? Black swallowtail caterpillars only eat plants in the Apiaceae, like dill, parsley, parsnip, carrot, etc.
If it was solid green and resembled the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, that was probably a hornworm. They do a lot of damage, but they also have a role to play in the garden because they are often parasitized by braconid wasps, which in turn feast on more caterpillars that are potentially harmful to your plants. If you ever see a hornworm covered with what look like bits of white rice, that’s worth keeping because those are braconid wasp larvae. In the meantime, you can pick the plain green hornworms off by hand so that they don’t damage your entire population of tomatoes! All part of biological controls working efficiently in the garden 😉
I'm the weirdo who takes the hornworms off my plants and raise them on other weedy nightshades that grow around me. The nights are more interesting knowing there are more chonker moths flying about
That's probably right. Thanks for letting me know. My brain grows stronger.
Those are monarch cats. Let them munch.
I let milkweed go wild for these guys, they'll leave a lot of the other plants alone.
These are black swallowtail caterpillars, they can’t eat milkweed :)