The butterfly house is active once again with very hungry monarch catepillars munching on a giant milkweed.
The monarchs have been busy as almost every milkweed in the gardens have caterpillars of every instar enjoying the leaves. What better why to wqtch the life cycle than to invite them into our butterfly house?
I am not quite sure of the name of this skipper, but it darted about just as fast as the others. I was excited when it sat on the giant milkweed and let me take a dozen or so photos.
As I was heading out for my morning exercise, I of course had to take a detour through my front butterfly garden. I spotted this monarch beauty depositing eggs on our giant milkweed.
The best, though, was closing my front door to see a new chrysalis right below our window. It’s amazing how much activity takes place over night.
A monarch caterpillar chowing down on a giant milkweed leaf.
The monarch caterpillars feed solely on milkweed leaves, which produces glycoside toxins, according to the National Wildlife Federation, which deters other animals from eating the caterpillars. The toxins are stored making them taste bad and remains after they hatch into a butterfly, continuing to protect them.
For more information about monarch butterflies: visit my page: https://sweetbutterflybliss.com/monarch-butterfly/?frame-nonce=337ab32fc1
