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The Monarch Butterfly in Transition, Nancy Hopkins January 21, 2000
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http://www.miami-dade-online.com/monarch-caterpillar2.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 the
Monarch Butterfly caterpillar
on a Milkweed plant in my
backyard. Look hard, the
caterpillar is well
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.
GO TO CHAPTER 2: As the Pupa...
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