The orange thingy on the head of this black swallowtail caterpillar has a wonderful name: osmeterium. It’s a sense organ that comes out when a caterpillar is threatened. It may also spread smelly pheremones. Okay, so I just like the word osmeterium. We grow bronzen fennel and parsley to feed these creatures. Mostly they show up on the fennel.

Tags: caterpillar, insect

Posted On: Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Filed Under: Animal of the Month

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