The Life of a Monarch, Part 9

{continued from part eight}

I honestly never thought my series would still be going now, but I was wrong! :)

isn't it amazing how tiny they are? :)

The Life of a Monarch, Part 8

{continued from part seven}
{To catch up on the rest of the series, here is part one}

Yesterday I posted about how two of the caterpillars had already hung themselves in a "J" shape (in preparation for their chrysalis). Later yesterday, after I posted, the first caterpillar molted, and formed his/her chrysalis. Sadly, I wasn't there to get pictures or video since I was in a class. :) But here are some of the pictures I did get.

The Life of a Monarch, Part 7

{continued from part six}

If you look back to Part 6 of my little series, you will see all the caterpillars that used to live on our plant. Since then, the caterpillars disappeared, and hopefully walked away to form their chrysalises. The milkweed plant we had, was eaten right down to the stem, because we had so many caterpillars. But the foliage has grown back, and despite the cooler weather, more eggs have been laid.

At the moment, we have three caterpillars who are alive and well. I'm sorry to say that the cold weather might have frozen the other eggs, because none of them have hatched yet. But we do have three, who have had the plant all to themselves, and have grown very quickly. :)

We put the caterpillars in a little "house" with some milkweed so we could bring them indoors on the cold nights. Two of our caterpillars have already climbed up to the ceiling of their container, where they hang in a "J" shape. After they stay in a "J" position for a while, they molt their skin for the last time, then they start forming a chrysalis around them. It's a very neat thing to watch, so I will try to get pictures and video. :)

So things seemed to work out just right; I can continue my telling of the monarch life cycle, even if it is with a new set of caterpillars. ;) The two of ours are still hanging "J", and the third is happily eating his way to being a butterfly. Lord-willing, I will post some more pictures soon!

abby

{continue to part eight}

25 Secrets

I know I haven't posted here in...quite a while. Oh well. I've been posting on my other blog hoping my dad or sister would help out a little with this one, since it's technically a "family blog". Oh well. Maybe I'm just too technical.

But, Miss Emilyann tagged me to list 25 Secrets, or as she said, "25 Things About Yourself That Very Few People Know, and Very Few People Care About." But, I decided I would post it on my personal blog. So you may go here to read it. :)

I might try to post about the caterpillars soon, since we recently discovered more (even as the weather is getting chilly). So if I don't get around to it this week, I might get to it over Thanksgiving Break. ;)

Happy Sunday!

Abby