Black Swallowtail update-eggs hatched!
Nature News Black swallowtail eggs hatched! Young caterpillars-early instars- feeding on fennel. I don't get how such a tiny egg produced such a large caterpillar-8 mm-in such a short time. (photo of egg in previous blog) That white stripe is due to uric acid deposits that are thought to protect the caterpillars from a toxic chemical (furocoumarin) found in their diet. Members of the Umbelliferae family, like fennel, dill and carrots, all of which are host plants for black swallowtail caterpillars, produce furocoumarins as a defense against micro-organisms.