[mention]SpookyShoe[/mention] That's a gorgeous female Black Swallowtail.

[mention]SpookyShoe[/mention] It does resemble a spicebush swallowtail, especially with the blue dusting. But the caterpillar is an unusual looking specimen...that would be something to see.

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bf ... owtail.htm

Much to my surprise, Black Swallowtail visited my garden today. This one was flapping around madly not quite landing on various things but kept returning to the lovage, so I staked it out and got a few pics. Couldn't get any closer than this.
Is there something they especially crave, in the parsley family perhaps?
They are fairly uncommon in my woods, years go by without seeing one...

[mention]Bower[/mention] They love the dill I have coming up as volunteers and I watched one lay her eggs on some of the plants.

i would think they like fennel too.


keith

I plant dill, fennel and parsley just for the Swallowtails. I used to grow these for me but I could hardly find a leaf that wasn't occupied to bring inside. Now I just grow them for the bugs.

I found the first ones on my parsley today - 5 of them! I transferred them to a bunch of dill plants around my garden - they seem to love that, too.