Spring has sprung in the swamp!
The caterpillars have arrived!
Two weeks ago, our youngest purchased a beautiful yellow butterfly weed plant from the spring market.
Not long after we spotted a few tiny monarch caterpillars; now they’re fat caterpillars!
Yesterday we noticed one disappeared. Then we watched another one make its way off the plant. The caterpillars have eaten most leaves. We wonder if this caterpillar, like its sibling, went out searching for more food? Or, maybe, as our youngest hypothesized, it left to build a chrysalis?
This morning, after spotting several monarch butterflies visit the flowers, our keen-eyed little love spotted more eggs and tiny caterpillars on our decimated plant.
So off we went to find and purchase more plants.
$35 later, our caterpillars should be well-fed…for a few more days….
© A A McRae 2024
