Monarch Caterpillar on Milkweed Leaf

My kids love nature (woohoo! Excited parenting moment, right?)… and they are always asking if we can keep bugs or insects to “watch them” for a while. Usually, we send the little critters back out into the wild after a brief observation period, of course. But when it comes to Monarch caterpillars, I’m willing to make an exception.

You see, we have a friend who’s been raising Monarch caterpillars for years, so I was excited when we finally found some! Where? In my front garden bed, surprisingly. The first round of caterpillars took a field trip to my son’s classroom for the entire class to enjoy watching. Those five (no, maybe six?) caterpillars were pretty big, almost ready to make their chrysalises.

I made a mental note to check the milkweed plants a couple times later in the week, just in case we missed any. Why? Because my preschooler was sad about not getting to see the caterpillars. Anyways, I happened to find six teeny tiny Monarch caterpillars. These guys would’ve been hidden really well if I didn’t know exactly which plants to search.

Location: Dexter, MI.

• Atlantic Islands
• Danube River
• England
• Israel
• Italy
• Nature
• United States
• Switzerland