I was doing some yardwork last night when this little fellow caught my eye.



This monarch caterpillar is munching on some Butterfly Weed asclepias tuberosa. It has a very pretty orange flower and, unlike Common Milkweed, this milkweed still looks good after the flowers are done. That is why I still have it in my garden. It is in the part that I was digging up and/or destroying but I left the Butterfly Weed because I wanted to harvest the seeds. I grew these plants entirely from seed and they grew very well. I planted some at the very dry and sandy soil at Fort Willow and that plant is thriving.
I am glad I kept the plants or this little fellow would be homeless now or accidentally living in a compost heap. I honestly did not expect to find any Monarch caterpillars in my yard. I thought they only lay their eggs on Common Milkweed. I thought wrong.