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The Monarch Butterfly in Transition, Nancy Hopkins January 21, 2000
Photo Gallery takes time to download
http://www.miami-dade-online.com/monarch-caterpillar.htm
www.miami-dade online.com
South Florida's on-line, web-based magazine, Published by OnLine Publications.com, Inc.
The Monarch Butterfly in Transition, Nancy Hopkins January 21, 2000
Photo Gallery takes time to download
These photographs are of a
Monarch Butterfly caterpillar
on a Milkweed plant in my
backyard. Look hard, the
caterpillar is camouflaged, but
is in the center of the photo,
just below the orange and
yellow flower. This baby grew
from one of the eggs its
mother deposited on the plant. The caterpillar will
eat until it runs out of food or reaches its farthest
growth point.
The Monarch caterpillar only eats Milkweed,
which is considered a weed by many South
Floridians. The pretty flowers often end up at the
end of a well eaten stalk. Not very attractive,
unless you know what is eating them. The
Milkweed seeds are contained in pods, that erupt
into fuzzy, white, long wisps.
The Monarch in both its butterfly form and its caterpillar state are poisonous to birds and other prey. After eating its fill, the caterpillar crawled off about five feet away, into a bonsai-Ficus plant.
The photo on the left was taken on
January 18, which was the last day of
eating Milkweed. I lost sight of the
caterpillar for awhile; but, a diligent
search discovered it on the
Ficus. In
attempting to get a better picture, I turned the leaf around
to the light. I realized this was a mistake. The caterpillar
moved and I had to search again. When rediscovered, it was
again lying on the underside of another
leaf on the same plant.
These pictures were taken on the 20th
or two days after it stopped eating, it
had attached itself to the underside of
the leaf and was in the process of going
into the cocoon state. Sorry about the
blurry picture, but I am attempting not
to disturb the caterpillar in any way.
At dusk on the 20th, the caterpillar was about the same as it
had been. I was worried because the wind was up and it was
going to be cold. At 9 A.M. the next morning, I could not
find the caterpillar. I looked and looked and then out of
the corner of my eye, I saw something new. It was a
miraculous transformation that had happened in 14 hours!
Our caterpillar is
now a
pupae.
Stay tuned...
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