The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I swear I could hear it chewing. Gobble, gobble, gobble. I wish I could watch it for awhile; the way it's eating, it's definitely getting ready to spin a cocoon. I havent seen this kind of milkweed before, with flowers. I'm used to the stuff you see on the right, great bursting pods of silky seeds. Or maybe these are two different plants. Temps are dropping, and it seems late in the season for all this activity, maybe not enough time to transform. I know there is some controversy about planting milkweed for monarchs, maybe for this very reason, but I'm cheering for this singularly determined focussed creature. Life just pushes on.