Black Swallowtail Question

[Lindabird]

I have six small (1/4 in) Black Swallowtail caterpillars in a container. When I checked on them today, there is something by 5 of the 6 cats.
I'll try to describe the "something". It is small...1/8 in. or less. It's off white in color. It looks like a miniature cocoon.

The cats are on stems of parsley. The "something" was behind the caterpillar in each case.

I had a case last year of a Monarch caterpillar that died in the J position...and the next day maggots were coming out of it....but I didn't see anything like this.

I also had some "wasp" that came out of some of my Black Swallowtail cats last year, and I didn't see this.

I'm sure it's probably one of these two, but not sure. Any ideas?

I did remove all of them and squished them. They were hard on the outside with a little "juice" inside.

I brought these cats in when they were a day or two old.

Any suggestions or ideas? Thanks!

Linda

[butterflyman]

I noticed the same cocoon next to some of my dead Red Admirals larvae.
I kept them in a cover glass and out came a small wasp.

I'd recommend you destroy the cocoons.

There are many predators which just love to use caterpillars as
food for their young.

[Lindabird]

My caterpillars are still alive. What should I do with them?

I have this group in its own container. The biggest cat didn't have one of those cocoons by it so I don't know if I should separate it from the others or not. I don't want to put it with my other cats either.

I think I know what my problem is. I shouldn't let my parsley flower. I should snip it as soon as it starts to grow. There are so many tiny wasps and flies all over it. They love it! I have cut all the flowering stalks down once already, but need to do it again.

The parsley didn't flower the first year, but it has every year after.

Thanks for the wasp info! I'll let you know how it all turns out!

Linda

[mommalepapillon]

I have spearmint growing... I guess I shouldn't let it flower either?

christine

[freda]

I have two of those little "miniature cocoons" in my tussock moth container! I've been wondering what they are. the moth is actually wrapped in its gauzey cocoon so I'm watching closely to see what will happen.

What do the black swallowtail larvae look like? I've been either ignoring or destroying odd-looking cocoon-type creatures and NOW found on this site that I set aside the larva of a POLYTHEMUS moth. I didn't actually kill it but I did set it aside intending to explore it. Came back and it was gone. I really have to become more aware of these different butterfly and moth stages. One response on this thread mentioned Red Admiral larva...what do they look like? Our Audubon books aren't very helpful other than flat wing patterns.

Keep us posted on what happens with these things in your containers?

[Lindabird]

Freda:

The larva of the black swallowtail first looks like a tiny black ant, and it will not move for the first few days. It will get a white strip in the center of it. When I first saw one I thought it was bird doo-doo! It kind of looks like it.

You'll see several color changes in the black swallowtail larva. When it matures, it looks a lot like the Monarch larva. They have pretty much the same colors, but the pattern is different. They are really pretty!

Linda