Tis the season I don’t have time for 2,000 words, so their equivalent will help me touch base. This is what is going on in my wildlife garden right now. At least six Monarch caterpillars have hatched on the broad leaf Monarch plant that grows as high as the eves out front. It’s a caterpillar condo with the finest acomodations. 
These guys hatch on the leaves, then start munching them for sustenance. The ones with finer tastes take a table by the beautiful blooms and have a regular luau.
One has already begun his new cycle. He’s formed a “J” and will soon create a beautiful, gold crowned crysalis, after which he’ll emerge in a week or ten days as a Monarch butterfly to start the cycle over again. I could not resist taking the Jesus candy cane off my lapel to hang beside him.
The similarity smacked me in the face.
A glance up the well lit street and my house looks pretty bare of decorations, but then on closer look, nature has added trim no store could match.
A N H I N G A 
Very interesting. I know little to nothing about caterpillars. I actually can’t even think of butterflies when it is so cold outside here! You got me to think of them, though. I could use a few butterflies in my life right about now.
Wish I could send you a few. ((hugs))
I love it….is that the milkweed plant or something else, it looks different. I had planted the milkweed and got caterpillars, but the they ate all the leaves off all the plants and went somewhere else. I had quite a few plants, but I guess not enough, except friends did it indoors with one small plant, so not sure. Let me know what type of plant that is please.
This is a broad leaf milkweed plant. We got it at a nursery on Lee Road. Sticker shock: it was $20 for a small plant. I thought we lost it during the freeze, but it came back. I have found they root well and have a few rooting now. When ready I will let you know and you can pick one up.
Your caterpillars went off to form a chrysalis. You have to really search for those. Some of my older posts show creative hiding places. I am assuming your plants came back. I have had mine eaten to the stalk, but they came back. This broad leaf has a lot more food for them, so I can’t imagine one becoming a stalk. If it did, it would revive, though. The plants and caterpillars have this agreement. 😉
I remember finding the chrysali of monarchs on milkweed plants and taking them in the house, hoping to see them hatch–it was very cool. When I was real small kids used to catch butterfiles and preserve them in collections–sad to think, now, but back then nature seemed so abundant and self-regenerating. I think monarchs only grow on milkweed plants–now it seems so frail to imagine their loss if the milkweeds were gone.