Visit from the Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars

While perusing the herb garden today, I found that the parsley had been completely chomped down by some caterpillars.  On closer inspection, I saw that the caterpillars were still there, munching away.

Looking a little more closely at the little guys, and doing some quick Google searching, I found out that they are most likely Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars.  Some gardeners might be upset that their parsley crop was destroyed.  But since I really don't use much parsley in my cooking, and I love butterflies, I couldn't be happier with my garden visitors.



I couldn't believe how many caterpillars were in the little container.  I counted a total of eight!  How many can you count in this picture (some of the additional ones I counted are hiding under some leaves).

This makes me want to plant even more parsley next year so that these little guys have even more to munch on!  I can't wait to see the caterpillars turn into beautiful butterflies later this year.