A Few Good Reasons To Plant Milkweed

Danaus plexippus

You will soon discover Monarch cats dining at the asclepias table! In this case A incarnata or Swamp Milkweed is hosting the dinner. You may have your own favorite milkweed to serve, but, here at Clay and Limestone, A incarnata has passed the test and is bringing diners in at an astonishing pace.

Proving that if you plant it they will come; and, there won't just be one of them, but many.

They are fascinating looking critters.

The caterpillar/larva are banded with white/cream, black, and yellow stripes.

It has three pairs of thoracic legs and five pairs of prolegs.

It has 2 pairs of sensory tentacles, one pair on the head and another pair near the end of the abdomen.

Soon~They'll stop eating and attach themselves, head downward, to a nearby twig; shed their outer skin; and, transform to a chrysalis. That transformation takes a few hours. I will be watching to see when the chrysalis process begins, so we can then watch the cat pupate to butterfly!

Isn't nature miraculous and amazing!
xxoogail

PS Because it bears repeating, if you want pollinators in all stages of their life cycle~plant host plants and never, never, never, ever use pesticides. I do mean never.


This post is also part of a series on native pollinators in the garden~ Earlier posts and their links are listed below for your convenience.

Part I~Now Is The Time To Bee-gin Thinking About Bees ( here)
This Is The Place To Bee ( here)
If You Could Plant Only One Plant In Your Garden~Don't (here)
Must Bee The Season of The Witch (here)
Go Bare In Your Garden (here)
We can't All be pretty Pollinators (here)
Eye, Eye Skipper, Big Eyed Pollinators (here)
What's In Your Garden (here)
Carpenter Bees (here)
Got Wildflowers?(here)
It's Spring and A Gardener's Thoughts Are On Pollinators (here)
The Wildflower and The Bee (here)

Other bee posts you might want to read~
Count Yourself Lucky To Have Hoverflies (here)
Bumblebee Hotel (here)
Still Taking Care Of Bzzness (here)
My Sweet Embraceable You (here)


This post was written by Gail Eichelberger for my blog Clay and Limestone Copyright 2011.This work protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.