Papilio polyxenes – Black Swallowtail larva

Here we have the larva of the Black Swallowtail butterfly doing what it does best – decimating and digesting Parlsey. Unfortunately, the Parlsey is non-native, and being grown in  my wife’s kitchen herb garden. So the best I can hope for is that I can convince her to let them try to feed on one of my native plants instead of squishing them. Oh well. I don’t have any Queen Ann’s Lace, which is a native plant host for  these beauties.  Guess I’ll have to do some research and find out if there are any other native plants that feed this until it’s chrysalis time…