Monarch Butterfly Egg Hunt — First Report
Dot’s Thot: “People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?” — Thich Nat Hanh
My Asclepsis or Butterfly Bush in the Front Yard
As best as I can tell, my butterfly plants are of the variety — Asclepsis curassavica Wildfire. I am no expert and just a lover of Monarch butterflies. I went out to the garden about 5 days ago and took the picture you see here. At that time, I saw no caterpillars and the leaves, buds and flowers looked uneaten.
Closeup of the Asclepsis or Butterfly Plant Blossoms
I hunted rather lack-a-daisically for butterfly eggs. Not having had the sense to look up pictures, I was not successful. Too busy to hunt down the chrysalises that I normally could find, I ignored the plants until 3 days ago when I saw a lone butterfly flitting about the plants. It was not particularly strong — being the first of the season and a loner butterfly I felt kind of sorry for it. Last night, before bed, I went on the internet and looked for pictures. I googled images and found some interesting ones. http://tinyurl.com/pjatn6. I did that to learn so I could egg hunt.
This morning I went out determined to find something. I hunted and peered, turning over leaves. I finally saw 3 small individual eggs.
My First Sighting of a Monarch Butterfly Egg for 2009
I took a shot, but I don’t have a macro lens — something to ask Santa for this year, maybe, … so you have to kind of squint … but it is in-real-time amateur living proof that the butterfly comes, then eggs get laid.
Now I wait for more butterflies (from the masterfully hidden chrysalises) and eventually the tiny caterpillars, one of the few creepy-crawlies I look forward to eating my plants.
This Monarch journal is just for fun, because I love to garden and Monarch butterflies have a special place in my heart. Follow along, will you? Butterfly hugs to all.
Fondest Aloha,
Dot
Related Articles and References:
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- Asclepsis and Lantana: Food for Monarch Butterflies
- Scene in Hawaii: Monarch Butterfly Caterpiller in a Supermarket Garden Shop
- Scene in Hawaii: Hawaiian Bougainvillea “Dragons”
- Scene in Hawaii: Hawaiian Snowflakes, Rainbow Shower Tree Haiku
- A Note on Monarch Butterflies in Hawaii
- Monarch Butterfly Haiku: Camera Madness
- Monarch Butterfly Sightings Haiku — the Asclepsis Gardener’s Reward
- Missed the Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis — Found It Empty
- Monarch Butterflies — Caterpillar Faith
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- Monarch Butterfly Egg Hunt is On
