Three weeks ago, on August 30th, I posted pictures of about a dozen Monarch caterpillars munching on milkweed leaves, like the ones shown below.
Monarch caterpillars on milkweed.
A few days later, they all disappeared. I suspected the birds ate them because I saw some birds diving toward the milkweed and then flying away. I thought that was the end of that Monarch generation, and promised myself to hang some kind of netting next year to keep the birds from consuming the caterpillars.
This morning, I saw one Monarch caterpillar attached to our house siding, about four feet from the milkweed plants. It was busy weaving and by noontime had transformed itself into a Chrysalis. To prevent the birds from eating it, I hung a piece of transparent plastic around it, with openings on three sides.
Monarch Chrysalis.
In 10 days, a Monarch butterfly will emerge from the above Chrysalis. I will try to be there to capture that moment.
