It’s another warm day here in West Chester but I wanted to go see if I could spot the caterpillars. I also wanted to see how the campers’ grass heads were faring. It seems to me that the best time to find the caterpillars is earlier in the day and that held true today! Here are some pictures.

Asclepias tuberosa pods

Our Monarch is growing!

If you look closely you can see the tentacles.These function as sense organs.
The caterpillar or larva is the second stage of a butterflies life cycle. During this stage they primarily eat and grow. Their exoskeleton (skin) can not stretch or grow, so the monarch larvae molt or shed their outer skin five times so that it can continue to grow. It increases in size 3000 times from the time it hatches from its egg to the time it is ready to pupate and become a chrysalis.

Meanwhile our black swallowtail continues to enjoy the Foeniculum vulgare or bronze fennel.

I am thinking this is the eastern tiger swallowtail?

And here is our grass head sprouting some hair!
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About chestercoextbutterfly
I am an apprentice Master Gardener with the Pennsylvania State University
(PSU) Cooperative Extension Program. My local office is in Chester County.
As part of my volunteer activity I am working with a team to develop a
Butterfly Garden on the grounds of the Church of the Loving Shepherd. We
will be using the creation of this garden as an educational program for some
of the participants in the Bournelyf Special Camp which, is held every
summer. Members of the congregation of the church will be involved as well as in the ongoing maintenance of the garden.The purpose of this blog is to document the project as it develops.
That grass head is a hoot. Barb