Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
Papilio polyxenes
White caterpillar with yellow-and-black markings feeding on fennel. My daughter discovered that when you squeeze it, what look like yellowish-orange horns emerge from its head. She has a good sense of smell and says they emit a scent when they emerge. We found out these are a defense mechanism specific to Swallowtail larvae, and they are called "osmetrium." According to Wikipedia, "This organ emits smelly compounds believed to be pheromones."
A fennel plant in our yard.
Thought about it some more and went and looked at the caterpillar food source for these two types of Swallowtails. florida33girl is right. Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars would feed on fennel. The Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars wouldn't. Thanks!
It could be an Eastern Black or an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. We have both butterflies in our yard, and I'm not sure which one this caterpillar turned out to be.
The fennel plant looks pretty bare, time for him togo on to his next stage.
Lat: 39.10, Long: -94.58
Spotted on Jul 1, 2010
Submitted on Jul 10, 2011
