(If you missed week 1 and 2, you can see them here:)
This past week, Mr. Caterpillar ate and grew a lot. We take pictures of him every Sunday night. Last Sunday he was only 1/8 inch long, but just look how big he was yesterday.
He’s about an inch long, or 8 times bigger than a week ago.
Check out his flashy stripes. Actually, he’s not making a fashion statement. His only food, the milkweed plant, is poisonous to most other animals and when he eats the milkweed he assimilates the poison into his body tissues, making him a very unpleasant meal to predators. So his stripes are a warning, “Don’t eat me, I taste bad!”
It’s kinda hard to tell which end is which, and this confuses predators too.
Mr. Caterpillar will continue to eat and grow for about 1 more week before he goes into the pupa stage of his life.
See ya next Monday!
See also: A Monarch Butterfly Is Born
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
