Very Hungry Caterpillars

To say that finding monarch caterpillars on our milkweed this year was exciting would be an understatement!  Ever since our neighbor started posting about them 5 years ago, getting to see them in their various growing stages has been a fun side step on our occasional walks.  We even had a year where our neighbor let us have a few eggs, and we got to attempt watching them grow close up.  Sadly, that didn't turn out as we had hoped, with only one making it, and being deformed at that.  Nonetheless, we know that the monarch butterfly population is low, so planting milkweed felt like the next right step.  And when we discovered a total of ELEVEN caterpillars on our milkweed this year, we were ready to watch them grow!!

While it's challenging to really see the size difference in photos, if you look at them in comparison to the leaves, you can see how some are much smaller. In real life, it was clear that they were all at different growth stages, and in particular, two caterpillars seemed to be very small.  We were concerned that without some additional help, they might not make it.  So, we decided to grab our butterfly habitat and bring them in with some fresh milkweed.  Nani was so sad to not be included in all the hubbub, but as you can imagine, she wasn't exactly picking up on the idea of watching caterpillars eat and grow.  They are VERY tiny, so you'll have to look closely in that middle picture on the stem to find one!!

When I reached out to our local butterfly expert, she advised me that people are now suggesting you leave the caterpillars in their natural habitat.  That lined up to me, since we had not had a great first experience with growing them, so we left the other 9 out on our milkweed and checked in on them in the mornings.  It was actually really neat to see them growing and chomping away at that plant!!  We counted each day and had several days where we happily counted all 9.  Until we didn't.

In a few nights, we went from 9 to 8 to 4 (6 total).  Although I had done some good reading to find out the reasons why raising monarchs in the wild was best for the monarch population, it also mentioned that as long as you are raising fewer than 10 a year (which we clearly were), then it wasn't as big a concern.  So, we moved them all off the milkweed plant and into a protected habitat.  Getting to see them up close really was quite the educational experience!!  As they began to get ready for their chrysalis, they started climbing more so they could find a place to hang upside down.  They also began to have a light green film develop on their body, which you can see both on the head of the hanging one and the belly of the one climbing on the bottom.

With so many caterpillars growing at once, it was neat to watch each of them develop at their own rate and in their own time.  We got to see the largest one go into its chrysalis first, and then see our smallest friends continue to fill themselves, poop constantly (see all the little black spots), and shed their skins to grow and grow.  It was also interesting to see new details about how they develop, like the barely noticeable silk that they use to hang themselves with.

Similarly, as they move into their chrysalis, they also shed their final caterpillar skin.  You can see the remnants of one below.  You can also see the layers of their chrysalis as they are building it, before it hardens.  And if you look VERY closely, you can get an early peek at the monarch wings that are forming inside.

We were excited to see this stage of their development happen, and it felt like it went so quickly.  We were constantly checking on them and making sure they had plenty of milkweed so they would grow.  And then, we suddenly had 6 chrysalises, and the constant activity came to a screeching halt, where the waiting game for butterflies began.  I'm excited to share the next part of the journey with you!

 Until next time,