Emotional Support Caterpillar

Here is the swallowtail caterpillar again. It’s just so gorgeous on the alyssum that I couldn’t resist. The orange forked thing coming from his head is an osmeterium, a defense mechanism to emit a bad taste and smell and scare off predators. In this case, I moved one of the parsley branches to get a better view, and it wasn’t happy. I hope it has enough time to complete its cycle before the cold and rain set in.