Suddenly something fell out the Fennel plant. The Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) caterpillar that was foraging there before had now disappeared and crawled across the garden tiles shortly after. Was it an accident or a deliberate action because it was time to pupate? After being placed back in the plant to be sure, the animal made it clear by letting itself drop out of it again that the time was indeed near. The short tour that followed ended attached to the side of the organic waste bin. However it did not take long before it was spotted by one of the cats and knocked off. Put back at the plant the caterpiller fortunately crawled into the growth this time where a dead twig was found to attach on. After a day this colourful pupa could be admired.

Literature