Queen Butterfly – Bella Jardins Boutique

Posted on September 19, 2024September 19, 2024 by Jeanni — Leave a comment

Milkweed, Caterpillars, and Pop Quiz (Part 2)

Monarch and Queen butterflies (pic courtesy of Journey North)

Howdy howdy. Two days ago I posted Part 1 of Milkweed, Caterpillars, and Pop Quiz. Thank you to Kelly and Brit for correctly answering that one of the caterpillars in this pic is a Monarch! The one on the leaf is a Monarch, and the one on the stem is a Queen. So, you may be asking, how does one tell the difference between a Queen and a Monarch caterpillar cause they sure do look a lot alike. Let’s talk a bit about how to tell them apart.

Posted on September 17, 2024 by Jeanni — Leave a comment

Milkweed, Caterpillars, and Pop Quiz

Monarch butterfly (pic courtesy of UNC Chapel Hill)

Was doing a walkabout through Bella’s area the other day enjoying all the birds, butterflies, and bugs that were hanging out with the flowers and foliage. I noticed that the Asclepias incarnata, Pink Swamp Milkweed, was looking bare of their leaves so I walked over to check it out. Three days. Three days was all it took for the caterpillars to eat almost all the leaves on the 15 plants I have in stock. Was I mad? Nope, because giving the cats the food they need is why we grow native milkweed.