Swallowtail Love

The butterflies have been out of this world this year.  So so many of them!!!  If you notice this Giant Swallowtail flying around your citrus plants, pay attention to what this butterfly is doing.

It's laying eggs on the leaves which the caterpillars love to eat.

These pics were taken at El Presidio.  They will look like they're killing your plant, but they're not:)  The leaves will be chomped down to the nub and will grow back later.

Giant Swallowtail

They grab your attention(like they did me) and hold us captivated for many a long moment.  It's hard to have a conversation with another person when this butterfly is flying around the garden.

So if you notice bird droppings that look like this....

These photos were taken by me before I watermarked them.  They're right out of El Presidio.

 or this......

Swallowtail Caterpillar

 or this, don't stress.  They'll grow up to be beautiful butterflies.  More tomorrow.....

Bird Droppings? Look closer.....

So something is eating your citrus bushes and you don't know what it is....you think it's a bird because there are a lot of droppings on the leaves.....

But at closer inspection you discover it's one of the ugliest catepillars alive.

Thanks to the macro feature on my camera I can get close ups like this!! Seriously they are ugly.  Here are recommendations from people about these catepillars.  Caution...don't be quick to pick them off...as you'll see what the end result is in a few moments....

1.  If they are on older larger citrus bushes, don't do anything. 

2.  If they are on younger bushes, they will eat all your leaves....but generally the leaves always grow back. However, some gardeners recommend picking them off.

The little "tongue's" that stick out emit an odor to keep predators away....so this guy didn't like me so much.  The official scientific word is the "osmeterium"....

So the final result?  This pic below was not taken by me but here is what the end result is....but I will get some shots down the road:)

The Swallowtail!!

It is catepillar month in Tucson and butterflies are all over the place.  Keep your eyes on the look out for these guys!  Happy gardening!