Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillars!
They are glorious monsters. They are ravenous. They are chewing through my Woolly Dutchman’s Pipe at a truly shocking rate. If you stand beside the vine, you hear this steady feeding sound, which is both cool and deeply, deeply creepy.
Check them out!
[(Warning: Large Close-up of Horrifying Mouthparts)]
I re-located a couple to another pipevine a few yards away which hadn’t gotten colonized, to try and spread the carnage out a bit. This is the first year that I’ve ever had them, despite planting pipevine for at least five years and they are magnificent and I am extremely honored.
(Truth is, I'd almost given up. Now I have to plant more next spring!)
