One of the many plants I have in my yard is Milkweed. It grows wild in my garden but I don’t mind that as it has a wonderful scent and also happens to be a favorite of Monarch Butterflies.
The Monarch Butterfly lays her very tiny eggs on the underside of the leaves and when the caterpillar hatches out (after about 3 to 8 days) it feeds on the leaves.
It does not take very long for the baby caterpillar to grow to full size (about 2 weeks) after which it forms a chrysalis. Anywhere from 8 to 15 days later the Monarch Butterfly emerges from the chrysalis and continues the cycle.
This summer I found a Monarch Butterfly egg on a Milkweed leaf and I documented its development from egg to mature butterfly in a series of photographs I call Monarch:
A tiny Monarch Butterfly egg.
The baby caterpillar.
The full-grown caterpillar.
The chrysalis.
The mature Monarch Butterfly.
All photos are © Martin Jamison 2020
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