Friday, July 10, 2015

Viceroy Caterpillars …getting bigger 7.9.15

I check them each day hoping to find a chrysalis.

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But they are getting bigger. Since I’ve never seen them before I don’t know how big they get.

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They don’t look very tasty…guess that is their protection.

This is the biggest one. It’s got all kinds of weird bumps on it.

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This one is almost as big. You can see what I mean….

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They almost look fuzzy in places…

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This one looks fairly young….maybe that is the egg case behind it. There are several tiny ones like this on the plant.

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It looked like the Viceroy was laying eggs on it this afternoon. I know not all will survive…guess they do have predators….

I have 14 chrysalis in my butterfly house. Queens….released 1 male butterfly yesterday and 2 females today…so they should be laying shortly.

Lots of Swallowtails come through so I am going to plant some parsley for them.

Love my caterpillars….Honey Bees….Raccoons…..well…you get the idea.

1 comment:

  1. Boy, those viceroy caterpillars certainly know how to present themselves in an unappetizing light! And the bumps on their skins look for all the world like undigested seeds in a bird dropping. Clever!

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