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| Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. |
One pleasant surprise this late summer has been the arrival of four Monarch butterfly caterpillars. I noticed them a bit more than a week ago on the swamp milkweed that we had planted last summer as part of a landscape project. I knew it was Monarch food, which is why I insisted on it, but was not quite up to speed on how they consumed it.
So naturally, I was disappointed over the summer by the dearth of Monarchs in my back yard. Lots of Swallowtails and skippers, though, as the season waned.
Back to last week. Surrounded by unfinished Sunday newspapers and various magazines, I noticed four beautiful yellow-green and black striped caterpillars munching away on the milkweed leaves. It's the caterpillars, not the butterflies, that consume the milkweed. The females find the plant and lay their eggs on it. So the Monarchs had been visiting. I just hadn't seen them.
I feel bad now, because in spraying the milkweeds with a garden hose to dislodge aphids, I may have dislodged Monarch eggs as well. I'll know better next year.
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Monarch chrysalis. |
One day, the caterpillars disappeared, only to show up, hanging upside down in a J shape, on nearby shamrock hollies. Within a day, they had shed their final skin and were covered in jade green with gold necklaces.
The chrysalises are like pieces of jewelry. It may be a couple of more days before they actually break out and start feeding on the nectar of nearby plants. Of the four caterpillars, I count three hanging, waiting and dreaming of flight. (Looking closely, you can see the wings through the transparent chrysalis.)
They won't soar like the hawk (probably a red-tailed) I watched this afternoon, circling high overhead in big, lazy circles. Over the 15 minutes I followed it, the wings flapped only twice.
But they will flutter and feed all the way to Mexico, where they'll spend the winter. I hope fate will be kind enough to get them safely there.
Vaya con dios.
