Monarch 101

This past Sunday, Owen and I were in the front yard when I spotted a monarch flitting around and laying its eggs on our milkweed. It was cool to watch its method. It would lay one on the underside of a leaf, then take off and fly around the yard a bit, then return to the same plant or one right next to it and lay another one. Almost like it was trying to throw off any predators that might be on its trail.

So, I thought I'd take this opportunity to really document some butterfly development, since I regretted that I didn't keep better track of the timeline on our swallowtails.

Day One - Sunday 7/13. Eggs
This is a monarch egg. You can find them if you look on the underside of milkweed leaves. They'll only lay their eggs on plants in the milkweed family because that's what the caterpillars eat. (And it also makes the resulting caterpillars and butterflies taste bad, which later serves as a form of protection from would-be predators). Other butterflies choose different plants (swallowtails on dill and parsley, for instance). The eggs look slightly elongated, not totally round.
This is the first time I wished for a macro lens. I could only get so close with our equipment. I included the second photo to give a sense of scale.





Day Four - Wednesday 7/16. They hatch
The eggs hatched today. The resulting caterpillars are so tiny, that it took awhile for me to locate all four. And now the eating begins.



Day Six - Friday 7/18.
Already, it's apparent that the caterpillars are growing. It's possible to recognize the colors of their stripes now, and see their antennae-like protrusions. I've also noticed that they prefer to eat on the underside of the leaves. If I rearrange them so they're exposed, they always end up on the underside by the next time I check.



More to come in the days ahead!