I've been growing milkweed to provide habitat for the Monarch Butterfly. Had some success in June with 5 butterflies grown.
This is a cool picture of one of them. It captures a brand new Monarch hanging by it's cocoon next to an unopened cocoon. If I could have got an egg and a caterpillar, I would have had all the life stages in one shot.
I got a new batch on July 21 when a Monarch deposited a bunch of eggs on the milkweeds. I think I may have captured it depositing an egg (ovipositing).
It's better to be lucky than good.
They start out small, but rapidly get bigger
The Monarch caterpillar are ravenous eaters.
Eventually, they ate all of the leaves of my milkweed, so I bought them a new plant to eat.
I had to move them to their new home.
They started making cocoons Friday and Saturday. I have found 6 cocoons so far.
Hopefully we'll have butterflies soon
Whats left of my milkweed. before and after
