Growing Caterpillar

Growing Caterpillar

For the past few weeks, I have been watching black swallowtail caterpillars in a nearby stand of fennel plants. Like many butterfly species, black swallowtails are picky about what they eat. They prefer host plants in the carrot family, Apiaceae, which includes parsley, fennel, dill, Queen Anne’s Lace, and of course, carrots. Fennel smells like […]

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A Baby Wheel Bug !

A Baby Wheel Bug !

I found a tiny assassin sitting on a yellow flower in Brooklyn Bridge Park last week. It’s an immature, or nymphal, stage of an assassin bug. Assassin bugs are predatory insects in the family Reduviidae. They have long downward-facing beaks that unfold forward. Assassin bugs capture other insects and pierce them with their sharp beaks. […]

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