Monarch Emerged

We went out to check on the butterfly this morning and this is what we found, the Monarch's emerged. They let us get up close, my guess is they are letting their wings dry out. Our Monarch's were in the chrysalis stage for 9 days. This was so cool to watch the life cycle of a Monarch in our own garden.

If you would like to see the other posts that show us observing the life cycle of this butterfly check out the posts dated 9/29, 9/29, 9/30, and 10/1. There are some incredible pics and video.

Monarch Update

Chrysalis stage

Did you know...... The inch-long, jade-green chrysalis is studded with gold (as you can see in the above picture). Near the top the dots merge into a golden line which nearly encircles it. This is how they actually got their names. American colonist noticed this adornment, which looked much like the crown of their king.

This was really cool to learn as it ties in with our studies this year of the pioneers and colonist.

A Monarch on our Butterfly Weed.

Monarchs 9.30

Can you see the caterpillar? It was about 1/8".

This one stayed in this position all day. I believe it is fixing to be in the chrysalis stage.

Monarch Update

Our butterfly garden

I think this is a Little Sulphur

A moth


Hannah devised a game. She explained that each piece of paper represented the different stages of the life cycle of a butterfly. Then the pool represented Mexico, where the butterflies will fly to. The object was to throw cantalopes (from our garden) and see which stage they landed on.

Monarch Caterpillars

We found three monarch caterpillars in our butterfly garden.
Love marigolds