This year to further my artist’s project I decided to photograph monarch’s again but maybe with a different flavor of colors and plants (Scroll down to see last year’s project). I also bought some caterpillars online. They were so very tiny when they arrived in their little dishes. I got about 16 or 17. Several died but that’s to be expected.

Here’s a quick video of them when they first arrived.

Here’s an update about a week later…. they are growing

I began to worry that several others would die. They started hanging on the milkweed with their front ends off and sort of twitching. Their antennae were also wrinkled. I decided to wait a day and see what happened.

The following day I came home and notice some “skin” if you will behind one. I didn’t know this but apparently they molt several times during their life cycle! He wasn’t sick at all; he was just molting.

I started watching the others and I was lucky to catch this video of one molting completely. Their face comes off! It’s like something out of “Alien”.

Photographing the caterpillars, of course, isn’t the main purpose of the project but it’s sort of obligatory. My first attempt was frustrating! It was harder than I anticipated and I did not like the first background color I chose. So the next day I tried again and had much better results!

I think I really love the one of him looking like he’s hugging the bud! I loved that the milkweed still was in various stages of blooming… like the caterpillar it hasn’t reached it’s final beauty.

Which of these two is your favorite?

Leave a comment and let me know.