Time to change the milkweed leaves for some fresh ones (they only last two days at most, even with the stem in a wet paper towel covered in plastic wrap) so I’m able to check out the progress of the Monarch caterpillars and get a better count. There are six for sure, possibly seven (had seen three on one leaf cluster earlier so one may have been hiding), and there’s an egg to hatch yet. At least two are now in their second instar, having molted their initial skin to accommodate their growth.
To say this is beyond my expectations is a wee understatement. Early yet, a lot can go wrong, but definitely excited!
This one is on his/her second instar:
The characteristic yellow and black stripes are starting to be more visible, even though he/she is still a tiny little critter, about the size of a single long-grain rice. (The leaf it is on is a small tip-of-the plant leaf, not a full sized leaf. Even the one in the background isn’t full size.)
Monarch caterpillars eat a lot – they need to in order to grow something like 3000% of the size of their initial egg. As a result, they, um…crap a lot. At his size, it is like finely ground pepper; that will change! This is a close-up on an aluminum pie pan to give a bit of an idea:
