I was on a tour looking at the far southeast side of Madison this afternoon and stopped to watch a great blue heron fishing a very small water retention pond. I looked down at the milkweed in front of me and saw this cute little monarch caterpillar!! To find one of these, first find a milkweed plant with leaves 6 inches wide and a foot long circling the stem with a hairy cluster at the top, and on one of the leaves look for an inch long worm with white, yellow, and black stripes and very active antennae wagging in front. You might also find monarch eggs - a tiny white spot on the underside of the leaf - which the returning butterflies have been laying since they arrived here, maybe a month ago.
Danaus plexipus will go through two generations here in Wisconsin before flying back to Mexico in the fall. That means the grandchildren of the spring migrants will fly to Mexico after living in Wisconsin for a few weeks!! What?! One of the most incredible creatures I have seen in this city for sure.
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