After releasing my three hand-raised monarch butterflies on Aug. 21st at 8:30 AM, I felt very empty and bereft, to say the least.  I cleaned and bleached the plastic container and mesh butterfly habitat that I had used for them and dried them out in preparation for putting them away.  That afternoon at 2:00 PM, I went out to look at my milkweed, and was bemoaning all the aphids all over it and wondering if any female monarch would ever deign to lay any eggs on it, when what to my wondering eyes did appear but a tiny, 1/4 inch monarch caterpillar on one of the leaves!  I couldn’t believe it!  Back in business again after only 5 1/2 hours!  I plucked that leaf right off and ran back into the house to place it carefully in the freshly cleaned out plastic container.  Since it was already about 1/4 inch long, I guessed it was about 1 day old, based on my previous caterpillars’ growth.  I never found any more eggs or caterpillars, so that must be the only survivor of any eggs its mother laid.

Now it is a week old and about 1 1/4 inches long.  It has been happily eating its way through my milkweed leaves, and today I rearranged the butterfly habitat to accommodate a larger caterpillar.  It has occurred to me that this caterpillar might be one of the migratory generation.  Very exciting!

I found this lone 1/4 inch caterpillar the same day I released my first three butterflies!

The next day, it was already noticeably bigger.

I finally caught it molting and entering into its 3rd instar (I think!). That is its old skin behind it, and the round black and white object in front of it is its old face!

Approximately one week old today.

At home in its mesh butterfly habitat with a fresh cutting of milkweed to munch on!