Future Monarch

I realize that this isn't going to be a very exciting photo for most folks, but for me it was a thrill to find my first tiny monarch caterpillars in the garden today!  I had seen a female monarch laying eggs recently and had even managed to find a few of them ... but today was the first sighting of the little larva, happily munching away on my milkweed.  This tiny thing is maybe 1/16 of an inch long and so fragile that if you tried to touch it, you'd destroy it.  With a little luck, it will eventually become a beautiful monarch butterfly.  

Monarchs, as most of you know, lay their eggs on milkweed as it is the only food source the caterpillars can eat.  The "milk" from the milkweed is toxic to most other creatures, and serves as a deterrent to predators who would otherwise eat the larva - nature's own protection.  The monarch caterpillar goes through five "phases", instars.  This one is most likely the 1st instar and within a day or so, it will shed this layer, eat it (recycling!) and become a 2nd instar.  

In addition to the monarch cats, I also found a little group of Tussock Milkweed Moth cats, all clustered together under a leaf, happily stripping it.  Since I have plenty of milkweed, everyone gets to stay and eat and hopefully grow big and fat.  I'll be keeping track with my camera, of course.

I posted four photos on Flickr - the tussock moth cats, another monarch cat, a bald blue jay and an assassin bug.  Starts HERE

Peg and Hubs and I had a great time last night.  It is always so special to spend time with long-time friends, people with whom you share so much history.  We ate, drank, laughed and reminisced about the "good old days" when we were single gals living in NYC.  (Well, obviously, only Peg and I reminisced about that!)

Should get some much-needed rain this evening which should also cool things down slightly.  Tomorrow I'm meeting the naturalist group north of here at a wonderful national wildlife refuge - should be lots of fun.  

Be well, people...