Stages of the Monarch Butterfly Photography by Kozmic Dreams

My Digital Photography of the stages of the

Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexippus

Click on any photo to see a larger view!

In the summer of 2018, I planted common and swamp milkweed in my backyard to attract the endangered monarch butterflies to lay their eggs. In the spring of 2019, I had over double the milkweed (it spreads fast underground) and the monarchs found it. I was excited to have 3 caterpillars. Unfortunately, I also have ants around the garden and suspect they may be responsible for the sudden disappearance of the caterpillars. I decided to go one step further and start looking for the monarch eggs under the milkweed leaves so I could keep them in a safe environment free from predators. Late in the summer, I found four eggs and six caterpillars that I raised into adults. These later caterpillars are the most important monarchs to raise as they will be the ones going to Mexico to continue the species for the following year. It was very exciting and rewarding to watch them fly away for their long journey. I plan to do this every year.

Egg

Eggs are laid at the base of stems or underneath the leaves of the milkweed plant. Here is what they look like freshly laid.

When they are about to hatch in three days or so, the black head of the caterpillar starts to become visible at the top.

When it gets really black at the top, the caterpillar is ready to burst out any minute. About three hours after these photos were taken, the caterpillar had emerged.

Here is the caterpillar from the egg in the two previous photos, minutes after hatching.

Larvae

9-Day Larval Study of Butterflies #1 and 2

The following photo set shows two caterpillars over twelve days. One caterpillar was 12 hours old (Butterfly #2) and the other was 3 days old (Butterfly #1). For each day, they are first shown together, then the youngest one, then the oldest one. Their lengths are also provided.

Day 1 (August 13, 2019). 3 mm and 6 mm.

Day 2 (August 14, 2019). 5 mm and 9 mm.

Day 3 (August 15, 2019). 5 mm and 15 mm.

Day 4 (August 16, 2019). 9 mm and 16 mm.

Day 5 (August 17, 2019). 10 mm and 22 mm.

Day 6 (August 18, 2019). 15 mm and 28 mm.

Day 7 (August 19, 2019). 19 mm and 38 mm.

Day 8 (August 20, 2019). 28 mm and 47 mm.

Day 9 (August 21, 2019). 30 mm (butterfly #2).

The older caterpillar (butterfly #1) made the silken knob on which it will attach its chrysalis. Then it began hanging in "J Position" in preparation for becoming a chrysalis at 9:30 p.m.

Day 10 (August 22, 2019). 35 mm.

Butterfly #2 caterpillar (Butterfly #1 made its chrysalis sometime before noon).

Day 11 (August 23, 2019). 45 mm.

Day 12 (August 24, 2019). 45 mm.

Butterfly #2 was a chrysalis on Day 13.

Molting

I didn't observe the caterpillars above molting, nor find any remnants of shed skin, which is normally eaten. The caterpillars go through 5 different skins, called instars.

Here is the Butterfly #3 caterpillar photographed September 5, 2019 that has just shed the last part of its skin. The new skin glistens. Notice that the head part came off separately. I don't know if this always happens.

Here is the Butterfly #4 caterpillar photographed September 6, 2019 in an earlier phase of the molting process than the caterpillar above. It also lost a separate "head cap."

Chrysalis

Here is what's left of Butterfly #1's caterpillar skin after making its chrysalis.

Here is Butterfly #1's chrysalis on August 22, 2019.

Here is the chrysalis the following day on August 23, 2019. It is more of a blue-green than yellow-green. Yesterday's yellow ridge at the top and yellow spots now look like liquid gold. These next-day color changes occurred in all the chrysalises I observed.

Here is the chrysalis on August 30, 2019 (8 days since formation of the chrysalis). It really doesn't look that much different from the last photo set. Butterfly #1 is three days from emergence.

The chrysalis really starts to get interesting on the day before the butterfly emerged. I missed out on photographing Butterfly #1's chrysalis during this time, but I did capture a different chrysalis below.

Here is the chrysalis one day before butterfly #4 emerged.

Here is the chrysalis four hours before butterfly #4 emerged.

Adult Butterflies

Male or Female?

It's easy to tell the sex of a monarch butterfly. The males have thinner black lines and one dot on each of their lower wings. Below is a male on the left and a female on the right.

2019 Hand-Raised and Released

Butterfly #1. Female. Emerged September 2, 2019.

Butterfly #2. Male. Emerged September 4, 2019.

Butterfly #3. Male. Emerged September 17, 2019.

Butterfly #4. Female. Emerged September 20, 2019.

Butterfly #5. Male. Emerged September 21, 2019.

Butterfly #6. Female. Emerged September 30, 2019.

Butterfly #7. Male. Emerged October 1, 2019.

Butterfly #8. Female. Emerged October 2, 2019.

Butterfly #9. Male. Emerged October 2, 2019.

Butterfly #10. Male. Emerged October 4, 2019.

Wild monarchs in various stages

Because they had become more of a rarity in my area, I started keeping track of parks at which I saw any stage of monarch. In 2019, I didn't document all of the ones I saw because they were so numerous. I don't remember ever seeing so many monarchs and caterpillars all over southeastern Michigan than I did in 2019. Below are photos I've compiled over the years of adult butterflies, larvae and chrysalises.

Watkins Lake State Park, July 11, 2020

Mating monarchs. There was another mating pair nearby and at least 10 other individuals seen throughout the day.