Monarchs and Swallowtails

Here are three caterpillars I photographed this morning. The monarch cat, left, is munching on front yard milkweed while the swallowtail cat (middle) eats fennel. The one on the bottom is the dreaded, yet beautiful, tomato hornworm. This one will basically devour your tomato plants (and pepper plants). You have to look carefully for them since they blend in with the green stems. You can sometimes track them down by looking for their black poo pellets. I hate to kill them, but....my pond catfish love them.