Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am growing some carrots in my backyard. Today I noticed about 10 parsleyworms eating the carrot tops. The worms are shaped like Silkies but are colored green w/black bands & yellow spots.

Here's a link to what they look like.
http://128.174.172.76/chf/outreach/bad1/card16.htm

I would like to feed these to my veileds. My research shows that they emit an offensive oder but says nothing about toxicity. I do not spray my plants so they are pesticide free.

Any info helpful.

Thanks

Ww

Hey Lele, I saw your post on the butterfly board but found no specific info if they are toxic.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Ww

These guys are sort of interesting. There are many toxic compounds in their host plants (parsley, carrot, water parsnip, etc.) and once they have consumed enough to make themselves toxic their markings and colors change considerably from their first instars when they look like bird poop!

The bright yellow, orange and black of swallowtail, monarch and many other caterpillars are warning signals to birds saying
"don't eat me, I'll make you sick - or maybe even kill you." LOL!

Generally, it is a good idea to avoid ANY insects, beetles, caterpillars and other bugs if they have these warning colors of red and black, orange and black, yellow and black.

As tempting as it might be it is not only unsafe but you'll be missing some beautiful butterflies in your yard! Personally, I am glad that many butterflies are toxic

stick with the butterworms!!

lele

>>Hey Lele, I saw your post on the butterfly board but found no specific info if they are toxic.
>>
>>Any ideas?
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>Ww

I appreciate your response. I couldn't find anything on them regarding toxicity, but because of the colors I figured I'd post the question. I did some web searches before I posted but didn't find what I was looking for. As a last resort I posted here.

I try to practice what I preach. Too many folks are too quick to post questions when the answers are already in the archives. Folks get too anxious & want answers now instead of doing some research on thier own. With the web at our finger tips, most any thing is possible.

The dang worms are eating my carrot tops. Now they are turning brown. Oh well, carrots are cheap enough. I did see some of the worms early on. They were brown with black & white speckles. Like you said, looked like bird poop or peat clumps. They stayed balled up. I fed those with no problem. When I saw the bright colors a flag went up.

A bit of searching & I found that you had raised them. So I directed the question to you.

Anyways, thanks again.

Ww

You are so right about info on the web! As Sonia (anson) pointed out in an earlier post we do have LOTS of drama! Much info can be easily be found but we, humans, want the "quick fix!"

A note on semantics...it's a caterpillar not a worm. They are two very different creatures. The tomato hornworm is not a worm, but a caterpillar. You probably know that but it has always been something that irks me

The "parsley worms " turn into the lovely Black Swallowtail butterfly so don't be too quick to rid your garden of them! It's actually a lot of fun to raise them to adulthood during the summer or if a late brood they will winter over (my post on other forum has a great site linked)

Below is a kids link re: the toxicity info. The others are more scientific but I will post if you want. BTW, even though they are less toxic in the earlier instars I would not risk feeding them at any stage to your chams. Just b/c the toxins are not yet built up in the caterpillar does not mean your cham can handle it. Good work on paying attention to the bright colors!

As for your carrots I would assume they are pretty far along at this point (depending where you live) so the damage to the root (carrot) itself may be minimal

glad I could help!

lele

>>I appreciate your response. I couldn't find anything on them regarding toxicity, but because of the colors I figured I'd post the question. I did some web searches before I posted but didn't find what I was looking for. As a last resort I posted here.
>>
>> I try to practice what I preach. Too many folks are too quick to post questions when the answers are already in the archives. Folks get too anxious & want answers now instead of doing some research on thier own. With the web at our finger tips, most any thing is possible.
>>
>> The dang worms are eating my carrot tops. Now they are turning brown. Oh well, carrots are cheap enough. I did see some of the worms early on. They were brown with black & white speckles. Like you said, looked like bird poop or peat clumps. They stayed balled up. I fed those with no problem. When I saw the bright colors a flag went up.
>>
>> A bit of searching & I found that you had raised them. So I directed the question to you.
>>
>> Anyways, thanks again.
>>
>>Ww
Black Swallowtail