A MONARCH CATERPILLAR IN JANUARY?

I went to check on my garden a couple of days ago, and was very surprised to find a monarch caterpillar on a lettuce. Monarch caterpillars feed on butterfly weed, but our butterfly weed has pretty much died out for the winter. She must have fallen from the scraggly piece that was still standing! It was even more surprising to find her, because we have had many evenings of freezing temperatures!

Luckily, my neighbor still has a good stock of tropical milkweed which grows throughout the winter, so I got a few twigs form her garden, placed them in a jar of water, and placed it all inside the small butterfly tent. Within minutes, the caterpillar was eating hungrily.

What will happen when she emerges as a butterfly though? I am hoping that there will be enough nectar around for her to feed on. I will certainly grab some plants from the nursery when the time comes. A bit of research on the web has shown that maybe she can survive! Poor thing should have been in Mexico at this time of year! I have read that it's the tropical variety of milkweed that causes some monarchs to hang around and lay more eggs instead of flying south!

Image © Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
Camera: iPhone 8 Plus

Image © Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
Camera: iPhone 8 Plus

Image © Diane Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.
Camera: iPhone 8 Plus