Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars!

While wandering through the garden this morning, this bright red, spiky caterpillar on my Dutchman's pipevine caught my eye. Very excitedly, I looked him up to confirm that, YES, it was a pipevine swallowtail caterpillar.

The Dutchman's Pipevine is a host for the swallowtail butterflies.

When I went out in the afternoon to get a photo of the caterpillar, we discovered there were a total of SIX caterpillars on the pipevine.  Super cool....

Except these guys are decimating the pipevine, with many of its leaves already half eaten, and these guys are still small.  Now the dilemma.  I am very excited to be hosting these butterflies, but I don't want my pipevine to die.

I guess I will wait and see how nature takes its course.  I can always purchase a new plant in the fall, I guess.

"In the mid-Atlantic, the only species that Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars can eat are Dutchman’s Pipevine and Virginia Snakeroot.  In the southwestern part of its range, there are other native Pipevine species that this butterfly uses as its caterpillar food plants."






"Some butterflies have evolved a survival strategy that enables their caterpillars to feed on a wide variety of plants, but others, like the Pipevine Swallowtail, have chosen to specialize on a small number of plants that give them a particular advantage.  To protect itself from being eaten, Dutchman’s Pipevine has evolved with chemicals that are at minimum distasteful to those who would eat it, and if a sufficient amount is ingested, they are toxic.  Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars are among the few creatures who are able to process these chemicals without harm to themselves, then store them in their bodies in such a way that they are toxic to their potential predators.  This chemical protection even survives metamorphosis and extends to the adult butterfly.  It is so effective that other butterflies mimic the appearance of the Pipevine Swallowtail, since this is often enough to warn off predators."  link