10 Remarkable Types of Caterpillars and What They Become
Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar
A yellow, white, and black monarch butterfly caterpillar eating a milkweed
Lynda / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Come spring, female monarchs begin laying their eggs exclusively on milkweed plants. Once hatched, these strikingly striped orange, black, and white caterpillars devour their nutrient-rich egg shell and begin gorging on milkweed leaves. In the process, they also ingest toxins called cardenolides that don't harm them but are poisonous to predator birds.45 Within two weeks they've bulked up to 3,000 times their original size.6
After this food fest, mature caterpillars attach themselves to a leaf or stem, transform into a chrysalis, and emerge a few days later as the familiar orange-, black-, and white-winged beauties that are so beloved. Monarchs are found throughout North, Central, and South America, Australia, Western Europe, and India. Each fall, monarchs embark on a massive migration to their wintering grounds in Mexico and along the California coastline.
A yellow, white, and black monarch butterfly caterpillar eating a milkweed
Lynda / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Come spring, female monarchs begin laying their eggs exclusively on milkweed plants. Once hatched, these strikingly striped orange, black, and white caterpillars devour their nutrient-rich egg shell and begin gorging on milkweed leaves. In the process, they also ingest toxins called cardenolides that don't harm them but are poisonous to predator birds.45 Within two weeks they've bulked up to 3,000 times their original size.6
After this food fest, mature caterpillars attach themselves to a leaf or stem, transform into a chrysalis, and emerge a few days later as the familiar orange-, black-, and white-winged beauties that are so beloved. Monarchs are found throughout North, Central, and South America, Australia, Western Europe, and India. Each fall, monarchs embark on a massive migration to their wintering grounds in Mexico and along the California coastline.
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31 August 2023
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