Rewilding My Lot

I recently saw a Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) caterpillar on a Common Rue (Ruta graveolens), which is one of its host plants. 

Most of my plants are native to Texas. However, Common Rue is native to the Mediterranean area. I welcome it here as a non-native because it serves well as a host plant for some Swallowtail butterflies, as in this case. In fact, when I bought this plant a couple of years ago it came pre-populated with a Giant Swallowtail caterpillar!

Giant Swallowtail caterpillars have also been called “bird poop” caterpillars because of their appearance, which presumably acts as a deterrent to being eaten.

One thing I learned last year was that Swallowtail caterpillars when startled shoot out a forked orange structure from their heads. According to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, “When disturbed, [Giant Swallowtail] caterpillars display a pair of horn-like, orange glands (osmeteria) which emit a foul smell.” 

Apparently I was less startling to the caterpillar I saw recently, but for reference, here is a photo of one with osmeteria that I have seen before, and about which I wrote in this post.