I have some that pupae on the fennel and others that wonder about looking for better places but I have never gottin any on all my parsley just rue and fennel.Funny thing is up in hill country these are every where but on texas coast they seem to be fewer .I wont plant parsley nexted year they just dont like it and I have a ton of it .

I have gotten most of my BSTs from parsley from one nursery. At the end of the season I found some on dill. There were at least two times the BSTs formed chrysalises on the parsley, but I had them in a monarch cube so it was that or the cube. They didnt have a chance to wander anywhere.

You know, most butterflies will wander far away from their host plant (when I say 'butterfly' I mean their larvae at this particular moment in time!). I don't believe that ALL of their larvae will pupate on the host plant as this is most unusual. I bet you'd find more pupae (chrysalides) on areas nearby than you would ON the actual host plant. Do an 'I spy' and I bet you find 'em! :) AND keep in mind that some may be greenish and some may be brownish...

I never see any on my parsley either. They sure like the fennel, though. Will have to look closer for the chrysalides.

Last summer when we found black swallowtail caterpillars on our "free range" fennel, we moved them to potted fennel plants inside a large mesh tent. I would estimate that for every caterpillar that pupated on the fennel, 10 pupated on the tent (trying to go somewhere other than the fennel). Interestingly, although I've read that they can't change their chrysalis color to match their surroundings, every chrysalis on the black tent was black. The only green ones were on the fennel. Some chrysalises on the fennel were black or turned black shortly, and these seemed to be the ones the pupated after dark. I can't say it was the most scientific study though. (note: the bluish color on the far right is just a reflection of the outer color of the tent)

{{gwi:472307}}

Tim
www.WildlifeTheater.com

I have not yet had luck with BSTs. From these postings I am planning to add lots of fennel to my yard. I tried without success before (thought growing fennel was easy). Does anyone suggest some common sense stuff for making the fennel "grow like crazy" in my yard. I am in a zone 9, with a large yard, that has been mulched for years. Would it be easiest to plant in pots?

Thank you all for your postings, I learn so much reading this forum!

Most swallowtails will go very far away from their host plant. Farther than you would imagine.....

But, some that I have seen on the green fennel in my yard, have all had a green chrysalis.

Elaine

Funny thing, but I have had almost no BST cats on my fennel, but lots on all my dill plants, and none on my parsley. I have brought most of them inside for fear of the circling birds. Now I have probably 10-15 chrysalids hanging around the house. Also, I found them all over plants in the carrot family that grow wild by the RR tracks as we were picking berries a few weeks ago. Of course I had to bring a dozen or so of those home too...

Did I read here that caterpillars often move away from the host plant to pupate because that way they are better protected from predators. Predators usually attack them on the host plant and some can detect the odor of the cats, their frass, etc.

Susan

Oh heck, I have more parsley than I do any other host plant of theirs and now it sounds like it's not that great of a host plant. I guess we can always make parslied potatoes with it. :) We've had a dry year and some of the seeds that I planted outside of various plants just didn't make it. I have some dill, 3 fennel plants that made it, lots of rue but they're just little yet, a couple Golden Alexander plants, and that's it. The only plants for the BSTs that did really well (as far as number of sees germinating) was the rue, but like I said, those are little. Unless they have some type of huge growth spurt, I can't picture them hosting BST's or GST's this year already.
Yesterday I saw my first Silver-spotted Skipper of the season. I think I saw an Orange Sulphur today also. Of couse, the Cabbage White and ETST have been here awhile already, at least a month.

Cathy

Cathy, it often depends on what the cats are eating in various parts of the country, too. While cats in one southern state may prefer fennel, cats in northern states often prefer parsley. You get the idea.

A lady in Pennsylvania said she also got cats on her zizia and aegopodium. So, you just never know, and it can change from year to year, too.

I seem to get the most on Rue here, a few on fennel, and very few on parsley, and virtually none on Queen Anne's Lace. I've allowed a lot of QAL to grow in several different places in my yard this year to see what happens with it. Before, I just had one here and one there.

Susan

My question is similar to that posted by codigirl, above.

I want to go for whatever cultivars of fennel that
make the most caterpillar food per plant.
Specify whether your "most" means
at a given time,
or it means total over a very long time.

Wanting the most, do I clearly fall into one of
the broadest categories, herb type vs bulb type?