Boy we have been having some serious rain. It has been 5 days since I went In Search of Monarch Caterpillars. This time I knew I had a great chance if I looked at the milkweed growing in the path next to the green beans. The first thing I noticed were large pieces of frass. Who knew caterpillar poop could look so interesting. It is definitely green, segmented and pretty darn big. That caterpillar should be around here somewhere.
Farther up the plant the caterpillar was easy to spot. It's hard to hide under a leaf when you have eaten most of it. From the look of the frass in this picture this caterpillar isn't stopping eating for anything!
Soon I will be looking for a chrysalis instead of a caterpillar.
We are definitely seeing more Monarchs flitting around the flowers this year. Another way to find Monarch caterpillars would be to follow this gorgeous female and see where she lays her eggs. You have to be quick. She is in beautiful shape and can move very fast. Lucky for me and my camera, she was focused on sipping nectar from the coneflower and didn't notice me!
1 comment:
How wonderful to find a caterpillar! I keep noticing chewed up milkweed leaves, but so far it has just turned out to be slugs. I've seen three Monarchs in the garden in the last two days, though, so I'm hopeful for some babies!
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