A monarch caterpillar creating its chrysalis in my new beautiful butterfly house. It’s always fascinating to watch.
The “dance”
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Monthly Archives: May 2024
Explosion
The polydamas swallowtail population has exploded in the garden! The caterpillars are on the move, crawling everywhere in my front garden. Some on the sidewalk, others on the driveway, or the house. All of them have gone into my new butterfly house where they can create their chrysalis.
Many of the caterpillars have been their chrysalis in the Dutchman pipe plant. Itsbeen fun finding them. They blend in perfectly!
So many visits
Sometimes I have great ideas . . . such as planting my new milkweed right outside our front window. The monarch’s have been busy. This female came back numerous times to lay eggs.
Munch away
I planted three new native milkweed plants in the garden late last month for Joyful Butterfly. I planted it right underneath my front window, so we spot the female monarch laying eggs on the plants all the time.
The monarch caterpillars are munching away at an incredibly speed!
As the yellow, black and white stripped caterpillar eats the milkweed leaf it continues to grow and molts its old skin, splitting it in half. The caterpillar often consumes the skin before continuing eating the milkweed leaf. It can grow in length to 2″.
The caterpillar will molt four times, going through “instars” before its last molt.
Once they reach two inches they are ready for their pupa stage. The caterpillar finds the perfect destination to form its chrysalis and weaves a silk mat. The caterpillar grabs the silk with its legs to hang upside down in the “J” form, according to Arizona State University School of Life Sciences.
Finally
The polydamas swallowtail butterfly photographed in midflight. These butterflies tend to be hard for me to photograph when flying because they are so fast. Well, I am happy to say, the action shots are becoming a little easier with my new camera lens!
Check out this beauty flying through the garden. I have never had so many in the garden at once before. Every day there’s at least a half dozen zooming about.
