Imagine seeing about a dozen caterpillars feasting on your parsley plant! I was a little weirded out but quickly spotted an excellent opportunity to study photography.
Black Swallowtail Caterpillar
I researched on the caterpillar (thank you, Interwebs!) and discovered that my parsley had been invaded by the Black Swallowtail Butterfly (aka American Swallowtail, scientific name Papilio polyxenes).
Grabbed my camera and discussed my output with my bro (who was also weirded out by the so many wormy shots I wanted him to analyze!). I think I managed a few good photos with my tabletop seamless almost-white setup.
Black Swallowtail Caterpillar
According to my research, the Swallowtail caterpillar crawls away from the plant they feed on and cocoon elsewhere. Luckily, one of them decided to stay, so I was able to take one cocoon indoors for a photo shoot.
Black Swallowtail Cocoon
Naturally, I’m going to wait for the butterfly to emerge (in 9-11 days), so, for now, it’s in a glass vase that I covered with a plastic mesh (I might need a bigger vase). We wait.
Black Swallowtail Chrysalis
Black Swallowtail Cocoon
