(If you missed Week One, you can see it here: Monarch Monday – Week 1)
The monarch butterfly egg we collected last week hatched a few days ago, and the little caterpillar wasted no time getting down to the important business of eating and growing. First, he ate his own egg case, and then he moved on to the milkweed leaf.
See the holes in the leaf right below him? He ate all that in just 12 hours! Monarch butterfly caterpillars eat only one thing: the leaves of the milkweed plant. Today he only measures 1/8 inch long, but will grow to about 2 inches long in the next 2 weeks. That’s 16 times bigger than he is now, so he has a long way to go.
See ya next Monday!
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He is so cute and so tiny. I am looking forward to watching him/her grow. We have butterflies here that are native to the area called “Painted Ladies” the are small and very cute.
We have painted ladies as well. By coincidence, there was one resting on our bathroom window screen this morning. Kitty sat next to her for a long time, but never noticed her.
Do you know why he is the only one out of so many eggs?
ooppps….sorry. I went back and saw there was only one.
nevermind….
It is such a shame that many people don’t realize how important the milkweeds are. I always try to leave them if I can.
Me too, and the flowers are pretty too. And I also love the milkweed fluff in the fall.
aw, cute little guy!! That is a lot to eat considering he ate the size of his own body!! Great shot! Looking forward to more posts on this.
Yes, I was thinking about that too and trying to imagine how much I would have to eat to match what he did. Think about eating your body weight in 12 hours. Amazing little critters.