This summer has been an unusual one to say the least….very warm in March….blizzard in April…90’s in May….
I found 5 Monarch caterpillars and 2 eggs not long ago on the common milkweed that grows freely in my yard. Two of the caterpillars transformed into handsome male Monarchs that my husband and I released last week. You can tell the Monarch pictured is a male by the two black spots on the rear wings.
First released Monarch…It’s a boy!
After the release, I looked for the other three caterpillars. I could only find 2 of them. Well…my husband spotted the 3rd caterpillar…and, how funny is this. He had escaped from his beautiful greenhouse and decided to make its cocoon on the wall of the family room.
Attached to wall.
I taped netting to the wall…I wanted to make sure we could release him outside. When its metamorphosis was complete we had the most beautiful female Monarch, yet, AND she was by far the most friendly. You can see how large she is in the picture here…. My husband, bored a few minutes after the release, suggested he would leave us alone outside to continue our play. She hung around and played with me for some time.
The newly hatched female freely walks onto my finger
This was the largest and most beautiful of our releases so far.
An instar compared to a dime
Later in the day I found three more Monarch instars (baby caterpillars). I photographed one of them with a dime so you can see just how small they are. Come back to LMGC site for a full report on how many Monarchs I rescued this season.
Have you rescued and released Monarchs? Swallowtails? Others? Share your adventures and pictures with us.
