You Take the Low Road...

 
You take the low road, and I'll take the high road, and I'll be a goner afore ya'.

So, there are other good things going on in my life, but I've got a lot invested in these caterpillars now. I have to see how this turns out.

This morning, I looked first on the underside of the leaf, and there were all the creamy worms, and one of the black and orange ones.



I went hunting for the other one in the 4th instar and found him and a couple of siblings on the top of the leaf.



I was gone all day long, but when I got home tonight nobody was left on top of the leaf! Is the top smoother and harder to walk on and they fell off? Did something eat them because they were more visible? I thought that eating milkweed made them unpalatable. Did they just win a Darwin Award and fall off for no particular reason? I sure don't see any on the ground, but hey... it's not like a smooth surface where they would stand out.

Underneath... the one 4th instar, and still the pile of others. But look at them. They are definitely darker. Did I catch them just as they are shedding? Do they sort of break out all over instead of shedding like a snake? And what is that white webby stuff? They wouldn't be making cocoons until they were in the final caterpillar stage, I don't think.



Stay tuned!

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