Tag Archive | Monarch
Peril in the Milkweed Patch: Monarch Caterpillars Under Siege
It is early autumn, and the super generation of monarch butterflies – those destined to live long enough to fly to Mexico — is hatching as caterpillars from barrel-shaped eggs laid meticulously on the underside of milkweed leaves. While the butterflies that laid the eggs will never make the epic journey south, this generation will. […]
Horror in the Milkweed Patch
Anne walks out the front door into our yard to look for caterpillars on the milkweed. She has seen some Monarch butterflies recently and thought they may have laid eggs on the plants. A few minutes later, she knocks on the dining room window and tells me to come quick with my camera. As I […]
Voracious Caterpillars
My wonderful wife, Anne, ventures out one morning to check on the milkweed plants growing alongside our home. To her dismay the leaves on the milkweeds are nearly gone. Upon closer examination, Anne discovers the reason why. There are a dozen or so monarch caterpillars on the plants eating the leaves, the seed pod casings […]
Mating Monarchs
I caught these two butterflies in action. Once the eggs are fertilized, the female will seek members of the milkweed family to lay its eggs. It will not be long before the eggs hatch and we find caterpillars munching on the milkweeds in our garden.
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