The habitat

 Last year I had a couple of volunteer milkweed plants that grew up along the kennel yard fence on the edge of the lawn.  I was totally excited when I found out that this is the plant that the Monarch butterfly caterpillars require for food and a place to spin their pupa - the first thing I learned was they are not cocoons because they don't have silk on the outside!

Have to admit that at first I had no idea what the "worms" on the plants were - they were kind of pretty but certainly didn't look like a butterfly!  But the good old internet - amazing source of information that it is - soon set me straight.



Found 5 caterpillars initially and was hovering over them like an anxious mother with only a few chicks...alas, day by day they became fewer and fewer with no signs of having turned into pupa.

I read that Monarch butterflies are having problems finding places to feed and lay their eggs because of development -  urban or otherwise - along with the wholesale use of pesticides which destroys their critical milkweed plants.  I was really sad to think that the ones that found my milkweed didn't get to start the next generation.

Actually there are four generations of the Monarchs each season - all the but very last one dies once it has completed the life cycle - having mated and laid the eggs for the next generation.  The last generation lives on to move to a warmer climate, spend the winter and then migrate back to start the process all over again.

So, anyhow, all the above is leading up to my own private Monarch butterfly habitat.  This year the few milkweed plants that grew up have morphed into a much bigger group!  Fortunately I recognized them before the weed wacker took their lives -  staked out their area and now they are pretty much big enough to fend for themselves.

I suppose in the long run they may take over more of my so-called lawn than I want them to but in the meantime I'm very excited to be doing my personal best to see that there are more Monarch butterflies fluttering around this summer.

They are truly the king of the butterfly world and certainly worth investing some of my lawn to help them find a meal for their caterpillar and pupa stages of life!