I have three different citrus trees growing in my container garden. An orange tree, a lemon tree and a lime tree. These three attract the swallowtail butterfly to the garden. And they come to lay their eggs on the trees. I have caught the Orange Dog caterpillar which morphs into the great Swallowtail butterfly. Here are some of the pictures of the metamorphosis.
1. Egg
2. Caterpillar
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| The four pictures shows how an orange dog caterpillar wards of its enemies. The two forked-snake-tounge that is extended when under threat is called osmeterium which expels a very FOUL smell to deter its enemies. Believe me when I say FOUL! The osmeterium retreats back into the caterpillar's head when it no longer feels threatened. |
3. Chrysalis
4. Butterfly
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| This butterfly was in the midst of laying eggs on my lemon tree. You can see the tiny egg that was deposited on the leaf in the picture below. |
Very cool! Do the caterpillars eat the trees?
ReplyDeleteThey munch the leaves until the tree looks so pathetic with leaves with holes!!!!!!
DeleteThat makes them not so beautiful. I guess you could capture them, put them in a tank and feed them what you want until they turn into butterflies?
DeleteWe do that sometimes! Joel loves doing that!!!!
DeleteI always love butterfly visits, which are rare and few in my garden. Don't even have chance for eggs or caterpillar...
ReplyDeleteI read that if you have hanging dishes of sugar water, the butterflies would come. Even cut fruits like pineapples or papayas.
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