Picture #1	Picture #2	Picture #3	Picture #4

What is happening? The inside of your egg has turned a darker color! This is the signal that your caterpillar is healthy and about to emerge. It is a good thing we cleaned any paracites off the egg before today. We just turned our back for a minute and your caterpillar was out of its egg and exploring the big world. First your caterpillar climbed up to the top of the milkweed plant and looked around for a good place to hide Picture#2. Your caterpillar was so small we had to squint to see its tiny tiny grey body. Then your caterpillar began to explore again, and climbed to the flower where it seemed to take a sip of the sweet nectar. If you look closely you can see how it changed color within a few more minutes and began to display its familiar white, yellow and black striped suit, it will wear throughout its caterpillar days.

Picture #4 is of your tiny caterpillar as it eats its first tiny hole in its first milkweed leaf. It is called a first instar caterpillar at this point. Instar is the name we give the caterpillar between the times it sheds its skin to grow bigger, this is called molting. Keep track of how many times your caterpillar sheds its skin.

Many bugs eat the eggs and tiny caterpillars so we have protected your caterpillar in a fine mesh enclosure. Spiders, wasps, ants, assassin bugs and a range of other critters would gladly make a meal of your tasty caterpillar so make sure your caterpillar is always protected. We will take all the steps necessary to give your caterpillar an excellent chance of survival.

The live Monarch Foundation is happy to bring you this free learning experience and hope you will share your, lessons with others and help Butterflies in your area by planting seeds for their caterpillar children. Please take advantage of our Free Seed Program and please tell others about this online pet adventure!

Next update in 3 days.