My Wonderful experiences with Monarch Butterflies My earliest milkweed plants were in 2014. Eventually I added more milkweed plants because the caterpillars ate lots of leaves. After they reached their 5th instar, they left the pots to search for places to hang and turned into chrysalis (pupae). It had been happening for a few years but in early December 2015 we found a chrysalis on one of the pots. We were concerned about its safety so we brought it into our shower. Two weeks later a beautiful Monarch butterfly came out. We fed it some water and honey and milkweed flowers as well. Someone told me to name it before being released so we named it Nyle. So long, Nyle. Soon after that year the number of the caterpillars had whittled to almost zero. The number of their predators must have increased greatly. How could we protect the butterflies especially the eggs and larvae that were almost defenseless? So we got a cage in 2019. Inside we could put up to 3 plants inside and meanwhile Mont and I collected from eggs to 5th instar caterpillars from the plants outside to the plants inside the cage. In the year of 2020, we raised and released well over 100 Monarch butterflies. lr larva 5th instar caterpillar (Quoted from google) Approximate length of body at each stage: 1st instar, 2-6mm; 2nd instar, 6-9mm; 3rd instar, 10-14mm; 4th instar, 13-25mm; 5th instar, 25-45mm. When the larva has found a suitable place, it weaves a silk mat with a "button" in the center. Once the mat and button are ready, the larva grabs the silk with its legs and hangs upside down. The front part of its body will curve to make a "J-shape." See the “J-shape caterpillar along with the other chrysalis Chain of the silk mats It is fantastic when you watch the caterpillar look for a right spot to weave a silk mat on the center of anything, yes anything from the ceiling of the cage, under the rim of the pot, under a leaf or on a stem. The silk mat is very strong and it takes some muscle to remove it. Sometimes when you pull one silk mat, the others come off too. See the pictures above. When the butterfly comes out, its wings are swiveled and weak. It takes around 2 hours before their wings become strong enough to fly away. One year there was a butterfly with only 3 wings (normally 4 wings). Boy, I didn’t know what to do with it. It was a strong fighter and had a good appetite. So I left it flying around in the cage for a while – probably 2 or 3 days. It continued to drink some water and honey. So I put it out on one of the plants. It flew from one plant to the next plant. Pretty soon it flew across a few plants. Lastly it was on the leaf of a tree. It climbed up and up almost to the top of the tree. Before I knew, it flew away to its freedom! I hope you enjoy reading about my “hobby.” Adios, Barby