Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly
We found monarch caterpillars on August 25th, eating the milkweed we planted by the porch. We learned on our field trip to Fisher Farms that monarchs love milkweed, so we made sure to have plenty to offer this summer.
We moved the caterpillars into the net on our porch by cutting the milkweed. They kept eating until they were ready to move away from their food source and form their chrysalis.
When they finished eating, they each moved away from the food source and hung themselves by a silk thread. It took them a day to create their chrysalis.
The chrysalises are beautiful. They are a stunning aqua color with gold spots.
This chrysalis was formed on August 27th. At 1:35, the caterpillar was hanging, and by 2:55, the chrysalis was formed. Amazing! The other 2 chrysalises also formed on August 27th.
Inside their beautiful chrysalises, the mysterious Monarch caterpillars transformed into butterfly form in 9 days. During the Labor Day weekend, three butterflies hatched! We added Lantana flowers so they could drink nectar until we released them on Tuesday morning.
Tuesday, September 8th, we released the Monarch butterflies into the world! We wonder if they will travel to Mexico when they migrate south for the winter.
Courtesy of the Monarch Watch:
Here is a link to a video about Monarch migration:
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