Parsley pests

[Everbrown]

Found some of these on our parsley this mornin, perhaps I should eliminate them

Then again maybe I should just share :
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/eastern_black_swallowtail.htm

 

[marlingardener]

Please do not eliminate them--those are Black Swallowtail instars, and will be come gorgeous butterflies! You can buy parsley at the grocery, but not Swallowtails. I always plant extra parsley and dill for them, and they chomp the rue down to the stem, but who cares!

 

[Smartmom]

Wow! You may need to watch your parsley closely and often and remove as many and kill them. If this becomes just too much I would visit a plant store to see if they have anything that can be used to kill them without harming the herbs. You could also try doing a search on bing or google to see if there are any natural sprays you can make yoursefl.

 

[marlingardener]

Smartmom, why would you want to kill butterfly caterpillars? The parsley is a host plant--that means the swallowtail butterflies lay eggs on the parsley, the eggs develop into caterpillars that go through a growing process, and then become butterflies.
Parsley, dill, and rue are great butterfly host plants. Butterflies are also pollinators, so killing them off means you are eliminating pollinators.
People are planting butterfly gardens and incorporating parsley, dill, rue, and other butterfly attractive plants.
Do not remove and kill butterfly caterpillars. What you lose in parsley or other plants is more than made up with the beauty of having butterflies flitting about your garden.

 

[Beth_B]

You are so right @marlingardener!
I've been doing some work at a local organic greenhouse and they have an enormous stand of flowering mint - I'd say a good 3-4' tall and bursting with flowers. When I asked why, the owner said he planted various pollinator-attracting perennials around the outside of the greenhouses (which are open at the sides) to keep a healthy population of butterflies and bees.
This lovely slideshow of butterfly caterpillars was just published yesterday in the Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...caterpillars-of-the-us-north-east-in-pictures