Monarch Butterfly Edition
My oldest daughter has been a butterfly lover since she was a toddler, capturing and identifying butterflies long before she could read. With the addition of native plants to our yard, we’re attracting more creepy crawly creatures than ever, including the Monarch butterfly.
A large part of our summer was spent rearing butterflies from egg to butterfly. Admittedly, we got in a bit over our heads. We learned so much together – the whole family – as we marveled at these amazing little creatures and their journey.
Here, in seven pictures, is an overview of their life cycle. They’ve been gone from our yard for weeks, but almost daily I still see a Monarch flying across a road or field, headed south.
Milkweed
Where it all begins: the Swamp Milkweed.
Egg
A single tiny Monarch egg.
–3–
Small Caterpillar
Newly emerged caterpillar.
–4–
Large Caterpillar
Large Monarch caterpillar.
–5–
J Hook
Caterpillar hanging in a J, getting ready to go into its chrysalis.
–6–
Chrysalis
Monarch chrysalis. And now we wait.
–7–
Butterfly
Beautiful butterfly, tagged and ready to fly.
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How fun! I shared these pics with my youngest (14 yr. old). Now he’s going to want to raise butterflies!
I can send you some milkweed seeds to get you started. 😉
Great way to teach your daughter about nature. I love the tagging. There are two great resources on Facebook…. the beautiful monarch and monarch teacher network. Enjoy
Thanks! I’ll check those out.