A hardworking mom
Black Swallowtail -ovipositing female- (Papilio polyxenes) Allegany County, Maryland
She never stops moving and fluttering her beautiful wings when she looks for her host plant, touching many and stopping only very briefly to deposit her single egg on the right plant.
Her larvae will only survive and thrive on plants in the parsley and carrot family (Apiaceae). So include parsley, dill, or fennel in your garden and you may be rewarded with her visit and as a bonus you will witness and observe the astonishing life cycle of a butterfly from egg, to larva, to chrysalis and finally the amazing emergence of the beautiful adult.
A hardworking mom
Black Swallowtail -ovipositing female- (Papilio polyxenes) Allegany County, Maryland
She never stops moving and fluttering her beautiful wings when she looks for her host plant, touching many and stopping only very briefly to deposit her single egg on the right plant.
Her larvae will only survive and thrive on plants in the parsley and carrot family (Apiaceae). So include parsley, dill, or fennel in your garden and you may be rewarded with her visit and as a bonus you will witness and observe the astonishing life cycle of a butterfly from egg, to larva, to chrysalis and finally the amazing emergence of the beautiful adult.