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Found these two caterpillars eating my parsley plant. The first caterpillar lasted a day and the second lasted a few days. There wasn't much left of the parsley plant to protect it and so it too disappeared.
Backyard in Raleigh, NC.
I agree that this looks like a Black Swallowtail caterpillar. Here is a link so you can compare. If you agree, please update your spotting so it can be considered complete. :-) http://bugguide.net/node/view/2636
I think this is a Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. A couple of years ago I planted some parsley and eventually I had four caterpillars that looked a lot like this (since it was so long ago I can't quite remember). Those caterpillars also disappeared before they pupated.
I did some research (I have a butterfly book) and figured they must be Swallowtail caterpillars. (I just looked again and more specifically "Black" Swallowtails). The caterpillars eat parsley and the description is "the green and black banded caterpillars are very showy." There are six species of "Black" Swallowtails.
It's a shame none of them made it, the butterfly's are quite stunning!
Spotted on Sep 27, 2010
Submitted on Sep 27, 2014
