What Butterflies Eat Dill?

Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars love to eat dill. Like all caterpillars, these little guys go through five stages of development.

Which Dill is best for butterflies?

Anethum graveolens likes full sun and tolerates poor soil, but prefers fertile soil with consistent medium moisture. It can handle dryness but may bolt earlier than normal. Dill does not like hot weather and so does best in cooler climates, or in spring/early summer in hot climates.

Is Dill in the milkweed family?

It could be butterfly milkweed, common milkweed, swamp milkweed, whorled milkweed, but it’s always milkweed. Swallowtails’ host plants are in the Apiaceae family, which include parsley, Queen Anne’s lace, carrots, celery, fennel and dill as well as plants in the Rutaceae family, which include citrus plants.

What butterflies lay their eggs on dill?

A female black swallowtail butterfly lays her eggs on dill.
This is one reason growing herbs like parsley and dill in a backyard garden has become so popular.

What butterfly is dill a host plant for?

Swallowtail butterflies
Both fennel and dill look great in the landscape with their fine-textured, feathery fronds, but my favorite similarity of these herbs is that they are excellent host plants for Swallowtail butterflies! These tiny white eggs that are laid atop and under the leaves of dill and fennel hatch in about 3-5 days.

What’s eating my dill?

Aphids. One of the more common pests on dill plants is the aphid. This comes as no surprise since aphids seem to enjoy munching on everything. A few aphids are no big deal, but aphids tend to multiply rapidly and can then severely weaken the plant.

Will monarchs eat dill?

Any suggestions?” –Jennifer L. First of all, Jennifer, a Monarch caterpillar would not be found eating dill, since it only hosts on milkweed species. Host plants–the plant a caterpillar eats and lays eggs on–are often the best clue to what kind of caterpillar is visiting your garden.

What is dill a good companion plant for?

Dill plants make great companion plants for your vegetable or herb garden, as they attract beneficial insects like ladybugs, praying mantises, and wasps that deter pests like aphids and cabbage moths.

Are swallowtail butterflies helpful or harmful?

Black swallowtails are not really harmful as adults but they don’t directly benefit any garden plants either. Their young are considered pests in large numbers, but the average hatch doesn’t kill carrot plants, just defoliates them.

What is the host plant for swallowtail butterfly?

The host plants of the Black Swallowtail butterfly include such plants as carrots, parsley, dill, fennel, Queen Anne’s Lace and rue. The Anise Swallowtail caterpillar feeds on anise as well and reportedly citrus plants also.

Are black swallowtail butterflies poisonous?

The pipevine swallowtail is highly poisonous, for its caterpillars feed on plants in the genus Aristolochia, which are defended by aristolochic acids. Pipevine swallowtail caterpillars consume the leaves and store or sequester poisonous aristolochic acids, which are retained by pupae and adults.

What insects does dill attract?

Dill attracts lots of beneficial insects to your garden. For instance, dill brings in ladybugs, green lacewings, braconid wasps, tachinid flies, hoverflies, mealybug destroyers, and aphid midges.

What kind of caterpillar likes dill?

Black swallowtail caterpillars rely on members of the Apiaceae or Umbelliferae family, which include dill, carrot tops, parsley, fennel, rue, and Queen Anne’s lace. I love watching swallowtail caterpillars systematically eat their way through dill and parsley leaves. Pictured is a caterpillar on dill.

What plants attract yellow swallowtails?

Zinnias

• Lantana. Lantana is a tender perennial that swallowtails seem to love for their plentiful nectar source.
• Bee Balm. These pretty perennial has leaves with a minty citrus aroma.
• Butterfly Weed. This perennial belongs to the milk weed family which is a host plant for monarch butterflies.

What insects does dill repel?

Dill: Planting dill is a way to repel bugs like spider mites, squash bugs, and aphids from your vegetable garden.

What is eating my parsley and dill?

These caterpillars are sometimes called parsley worms, because they eat many plants that are in the parsley family. If you guessed that one of those plants is parsley, you are right! Fennel and carrots are other garden plants in the same family, as is dill.

What do monarch butterflies eat besides milkweed?

Adult monarchs feed on the nectar from flowers, which contain sugars and other nutrients. Unlike the larvae that only eat milkweeds, adult monarchs feed on a wide variety of nectar bearing flowers. They will visit many different kinds of flowers in their search for food.

What do swallowtail butterflies eat?

Diet. The black swallowtail caterpillar feeds on many different plants in the Apiaceae, or carrot family, including Queen Anne’s lace, celery, parsley, carrots, dill, and parsnip. The butterfly eats nectar from a variety of plants including clover, milkweed, thistles, and phlox.

How do I keep caterpillars off my dill plants?

Non-Chemical Control. Anise swallowtail caterpillars are easily plucked from affected dill plants. Carefully inspect plants to make sure you’ve found most of the caterpillars. Once you find them, crush them or drop them into a bucket of soapy water to prevent them from re-infesting your dill.

What Cannot be planted by dill?

Dill is a poor companion plant for angelica, cabbage, caraway, chili and bell peppers, eggplant, fennel, lavender, and potatoes. It is also a particularly poor companion for carrots: the two plants are closely related and may cross-pollinate. Continue to 5 of 10 below.

Does dill take over the garden?

Dill can easily start to overtake other plants if left to its own devices. Though it is not nearly as invasive as mint, it is a good idea to regularly check your dill patch and weed out any plants if you notice it spreading.