Milkweed is the host plant for Monarchs. This plant can feed up to 15-20 caterpillars. We’ve had times we had to go search for more because the caterpillars eat a lot!The Monarch mom is laying her eggs. About 4 days after she lays them, they hatch from their eggs into teeny tiny caterpillars! She can lay hundreds of eggs in a day!A mesh enclosure keeps them safe from predators. We order ours on Amazon. Too many caterpillars in this enclosure can be unhealthy so we’ve found 15-20 at a time is the right size.The caterpillars grow significantly in size. Eating more and more as they grow.Nom, nom, nom.Nom, nom.Nom.After about 10 days, the caterpillars are preparing to spin their silk to hang in a J-shape formation.The caterpillars form their J-shape.They will enclose into their chrysalis within about a day of taking their J-shape.They hang from anywhere.Sometimes they hang on the stems. They become transparent right before hatching so you can see their wings!They emerge from their chrysalis and their wings are all crinkly at first. They have to unfold and let their wings dry for a couple of hours.A flutter of butterflies! It’s so cool to release them and watch them fly!
Butterflies and Botany 