monarch

This is a monarch caterpillar. We found three eggs on some milkweed and decided to bring them home and watch them. One died, but the other two hatched and started out about the size of a pinhead. You can see how much they eat every day from the leaf. It's crazy to see how much bigger they get every day!



You can't tell very well from this set of pictures the size difference from beginning to end, but this is about the span of 5 days. At the end, they were eating more than a leaf a day each!



Right before they form a chrysalis, they go into this "J" shape (above). We missed how they form the chrysalis. It looked like this in the morning and then we went to the beach. When we got home there were two hanging pupas all bright green with a golden "thread" across the top.



Today is the 2nd day in the chrysalis (or pupa) and it's already starting to turn darker green. This one attached itself to the lid of the jar. The other one is attached to the stalk of a milkweed leaf.

We're excited to watch them develop and will keep you posted...

On another note, Jake leaves at 5am in the morning tomorrow for a week up to the Allagash river in Maine. He will be away on a river trip with the boys in our youth group at church. I am so excited for thier big adventure and a little jealous. A bunch of guys set loose for a week with nothin' but canoes, kayaks and all the food and gear that will fit inside them. The lucky people in Jake's group are going to eat like kings. Here's to a safe, fun week!!