At Least Two, Safely Through!!

           Of the original five Black Swallowtail caterpillars, one appeared to be lost earlier to an unknown predator, two escaped full grown from the fennel to points and fates yet to be discovered, while the final two both decided to stay close to the original bronze fennel plant on which they hatched. 
           Each picked a different rudbeckia, or black-eyed Susan, on either side of the fennel to escape to. One caterpillar went high, worrying us by hanging high on the stalk in plain sight. Doesn't he/she know that there are all sorts of dangerous insects out there? The other went low, inches above the ground, in deep shadow under a cluster of leaves. Doesn't he/she know that there are ground birds like thrushes out there, or an early warbler, that gobbles caterpillars up?
           Then they metamorphosed into chrysalises. Wow. Now, they simply look like smaller versions of the leaves they were nestled amongst, arching off the stem supported by their homespun silk threads, their edges sawtoothed, disappearing before ones eyes. One could stare straight at them and not see them. Come on by and give it a try. 

            We will be watching them over the next week. Back soon.