Milkweeds and Monarchs

Walking along rural roads of Wisconsin during the summer gives one the opportunity to see colorful wildflowers and weeds. Right now, the milkweed is in bloom. Its pink blossoms are attractive to the monarch butterflies who earlier happily munched on the leaves of this plant. The leaves carry a toxin that doesn't hurt the caterpillar, but makes them poisonous to potential predators. In turn, the butterfly also retains that poisonous status. I always enjoyed searching for  the striped caterpillars, placing them in peanut butter jars and carrying them home, watching them form a chrysalis and hopefully emerging as the beautiful monarch.

Tweet

Pin It