Monarch Monday – Week 3
(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
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Amazing how quickly he grows!
Yes, I swear he grows by the hour.
He is a real beauty. Can’t wait for the pupa
Me neither. I had forgotten how much fun this is.
Brings back memories. We raised a monarch caterpillar when I was in the 1st grade (nearly 50 years ago)–beautiful caterpillar, gold chrysalis with green flecks, and then comes the butterfly. Good to see that some things remain the same.
The gold flecks on the pupa are beautiful aren’t they? I had forgotten those, but we’ll see them soon.
Woops backwards–green chrysalis with gold flecks!
I love it. What a beautiful little caterpillar. Isn’t it amazing how much they change..and the perfect stripes and the faux head at the rear to confuse predators. Nature is so wonderful and always amazing! Thank you for doing this post…it is awesome!
P.S. We ventured out to Buttermilk Falls this past weekend. It was great!! The best experience I have had in a long time! I will be making a post..heading out for the day now, so hopefully I will get to work on the post tonight. Going to my friend’s house today. She lives at the edge of a farm..land that was given to her husband from his family so he could build a house and start a family. I always enjoy going there. What I’m looking forward to most is picking and eating blackberries. The thing I’m looking least forward to is smelling the pig pen in 90 degree weather! Ha Ha! It’s bad, seriously! The pigs are awesome and cute…but…they smell! Poor pigs!
I’m so glad you enjoyed your trip and looking forward to your post about it. Such fun!