A Meal of Dill

Newly "born" Black Swallowtail

I was taking my dogs out this morning so they could do “their business”. We have a small side yard that we go through, so Sigh can go out the back gate, to do “her business”. As we are walking through the side yard, I literally stumbled upon a captivating site, (I tripped on a rock and bent down to catch myself), a newly  “born”  Black Swallowtail, just emerging from it’s chrysalides. It was so beautiful, on what was a cloudy grey morning, with a cold front blowing in, here was this delicate creature, clinging to the garden fencing trying to dry out its wings. I ran and got my camera, hoping to capture this process, and it was  truly captivating, with the watching of this young Swallowtail emerge, while simultaneously trying to keep Sigh and Berney from getting him, and taking pictures at the same time, so the picture aren’t that great, but oh what a miracle to watch.

P.S. We planted dill last spring in one of our side yard garden pots, we had lots of greenish, yellow dot, black banded caterpillars that made a “great meal of the dill”, I believe this young swallowtail was just a sample of the fruit of their labor, hope we have more!

P.S.S. Just in case you were wondering, Sigh and Berney did not get him, the young swallowtail is out in the world living the full, however short, life of a young male Black Swallowtail, yes I looked it up in a book and I’m pretty sure it is a male Black Swallowtail.

P.S.S.S. Want to know more about Black Swallowtail butterflys, how to attract them and other butterflys to your back yard, check out this web site:  http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/

Just emerged Black Swallowtail