Bad Stripe Day

Got up early this morning, grabbed my camera and headed out to see the caterpillars. When I opened the door it was about 60 degrees. The caterpillars were not moving because they were so cold. In the pictures you can see that they contract and hang their bodies. The black spots is the dew on them. It made me think that humans are not the only ones to have bad hair days. Caterpillars have bad stripe days too! After the sun hit the milkweed the dew dried off them and they slowly started to move and eat.

Daredevil Molts

I noticed that Daredevil hadn't moved in a long while. While watching Roamy get himself into trouble again I looked up and there was Daredevil molting. Very fascinating!

Roamy Reaching

Look how strong caterpillars are! This is Roamy, (of course), reaching for another leaf.

Roaming again!

Roamy went roaming AGAIN! This caterpillar just doesn't learn. I found him on a petunia flower to the right of the milkweed stalk. This time when I put him at the top of the milkweed he immediately headed straight down the stalk. He did all sorts of acrobatics. Even though Katie is not happy about this my prediction is that if any of the caterpillars doesn't make it Roamy will be the one. He keeps going places that are not safe for caterpillars. Once he gets off the milkweed he gets so confused and doesn't seem to make it back without human help. After roaming for awhile he settled in to a curled up leaf. Here's hoping he stays put for the night.

Daredevil Matures

Daredevil started out life doing wild tricks while eating. He has grown and matured. He mostly stays on the bottom side of the leaves. I guess he still has a little bit of adventure in him because he dares to hang upside down all the time.

Homebody

Homebody is such an unassuming caterpillar. He just goes about his caterpillar business of eating, pooping and molting. He has not moved too far away from the top 4-5 leaves of the stalk. He doesn't do crazy tricks but crawls slowly and carefully.

Peek!

Daredevil says "Hello!"

Role Models

It is important in life to be a good role model. Little ones look up to you and will follow your example. Peewee did just that. He has gone missing just like Roamy the Rogue Caterpillar did earlier. We started searching. Somehow Peewee ended up on the sidewalk and well--he got squished. Katie and I dug a hole under the milkweed and buried poor little Peewee. Katie made a tombstone and decorated it with flowers. We sang a few songs and that was it. Peewee will still be helpful to his caterpillar friends. Do you know how?

Rogue Caterpillar

Roamy went missing. Katie and I decided to look for him and found him in the Bleeding Heart plant, which is right next to the milkweed stalk. He was desperately trying to make his way back to his food source. I gently picked him up and placed him at the top of the milkweed stalk. He started eating like there was no tomorrow. Welcome back Roamy!! You sure live up to your name.

Surprise!

Katie and I were checking out our 3 caterpillars and SURPRISE! there is a 4th caterpillar. I don't know where the egg was hidden but there he is eating his little heart out. His name shall be--Peewee. I wonder how many caterpillars can be on one milkweed at the same time?

Heads or Tails?

Wonder how to distinguish the head from the tail of a caterpillar? Take a look at this picture of Roamy being really flexible. Can you see the difference?

Personalities

Did you ever wonder if caterpillars have distinct personalities? I did and so I've been watching my new caterpillars very closely. Besides being different sizes they act differently. I have named them Homebody, Roamy, and Daredevil. Homebody stays close to the top of the milkweed stalk. Roamy goes all over the milkweed and Daredevil does crazy stunts while eating. I thought about cutting the milkweed and bringing it into the house and placing it in a caterpillar cage. Katie, (my daughter), and I decided to keep them outside and see how they do. We made a prediction that two of the three will survive. We talked about how not all of them can survive or we would be overrun with caterpillars!

I thought I would have to wait till the end of July or August to have a Monarch butterfly make a visit to my milkweed but to my surprise there were 3 eggs on my plant by June 9th! Within 5 days they hatched one at a time from around 12:00 PM till 6:00 PM. I wish that I had my own pictures of the eggs and little babies but my camera only photograghed blurry because they were so tiny.
I wonder if they always hatch in the afternoon?

Planting of a Milkweed

I LOVE CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES!! When I taught second grade my grade level would raise Monarch caterpillars and watch their amazing metamorphosis into butterflies. Out we would go into a field of milkweed and search for the tiny egg. It was a treasure hunt for me! Butterflies mostly lay their eggs on the underside of the top leaves of a milkweed stalk. Spotting milkweed along the roads we traveled became my sport. I would make my husband stop so I could check them out for caterpillar eggs. He humored me.

Last Fall 2007 I dug up a milkweed plant in a field and planted it in my flower garden. I wanted to experience their life cycle up close and personal. This spring up came the milkweed strong and tall. It measures 134 centimeters tall.
I wonder how many inches would equal 134 centimeters?