Papilo Cresphontes

[DallasPalms]

The Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar!

I grew a few blood orange trees from seed and today I found a visitor. I thought maybe owl poo. Without flash it looks just like a poo...

 a year or two ago an owl stopped by to eat bunnies eh... i thought maybe but no it's a worm. When I tapped with a leaf the little horns came out.

At first most might pass it up as a poo on a leaf. With the naked eye up close it looks like a worm that survived a crapping...  

no no it's a caterpillar!

New to me!

Edited September 28, 2021 by DallasPalms

[Silas_Sancona]

1 hour ago, DallasPalms said:

The Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar!

I grew a few blood orange trees from seed and today I found a visitor. I thought maybe owl poo. Without flash it looks just like a poo...

 a year or two ago an owl stopped by to eat bunnies eh... i thought maybe but no it's a worm. When I tapped with a leaf the little horns came out.

At first most might pass it up as a poo on a leaf. With the naked eye up close it looks like a worm that survived a crapping...  

no no it's a caterpillar!

New to me!

We've got the western counterpart to the eastern form of the species.. 

For anyone who doesn't want them pruning their Citrus, ( i personally don't mind sharing ) you can plant something like Rue, Wafer Ash / Common Hoptree ( Genus Ptelea ), or Wild Lime / Lime -Prickly-Ash, Zanthoxylum fagara  ( There may be a couple Zanthoxylum sp. these Swallowtails will use as a host plant as well )