How Our Monarchs Grew

Here are pictures of our Monarchs as they grew.



This is one that lived in the enclosure on the live milkweed plants. The girls learned that Monarch larvae eat only milkweed.

This is the caterpillar Madeline named "Madalynn Monarch" after reading the book Madalynn The Monarch Butterfly and Her Quest to Michoacan by Mary Baca Haque, which is written in both English and Spanish.

This is a picture of the caterpillar Isabella named "Princess". She was the second to pupate, first to eclose from her chrysalis, and has been confirmed as a female.

This is the enclosure we used to keep the Monarch larvae safe from wasps and other insects and predators.

Here is Madeline examining one of the newly arrived larvae while it munches on a tasty milkweed leaf.

This was the largest caterpillar we received. Unfortunately he or she did not survive more than a week or so in the enclosure.

"Madalynn Monarch Too" was the first to become a "J" larva and then pupate. When she emerged from her chrysalis we realized she was a he, so Madeline renamed him "Handsome."

This monarch is pupating. Watching this process was just fascinating (for both the kids and me)!

Here is a chrysalis.

This is the almost see-through chrysalis of a Monarch about to emerge.

Here is the newly eclosed Madeline Monarch Too, aka Handsome.

This is a picture of Princess shortly after she emerged from her chrysalis.

Madeline loves feeding Handsome...

and Isabella loves to feed Princess.