We have loved discovering Monarch caterpillars and Monarch butterflies in our garden each year. Last year we were able to raise and release four Monarch butterflies throughout the Summer. We usually do not see many butterflies until early to mid-June from looking through a few years worth of pictures. Learning about Monarch butterflies and raising Monarch caterpillars is a great Summer activity as well as Citizen Science project.
We live in Ohio and many of the Monarch caterpillar’s and Monarch butterfly’s food sources are not blooming until that time of year. We usually do not even look for Monarch’s until the Praying Mantis’ have hatched and our garden is growing well. Last year the first picture we took of a Monarch was June 28 on a bright Purple Coneflower.
We decided to try our hand at finding Monarch caterpillar’s, raising them and releasing the Monarch butterfly since we have seen them around our house for the last few years. I was the one to find the tiny caterpillar’s munching on some Honeyvine Milkweed (Cynanchum laeve) near our vegetable garden.
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