The Very First Teenie-Tiny Monarch Caterpillar

Last summer, I discovered a single milkweed plant in our yard, and it was covered in monarch caterpillars! My husband and I brought more milkweed leaves for the babies from a field along the road. Eventually, we even dug up and transplanted a few wild milkweed plants into our yard, in hopes that they'd "take" in that spot.

I am happy to report that we were not disappointed. This year, we have at least a half-dozen milkweed plants growing tall in that spot. I thought I saw a tiny monarch egg on the one leaf last week. And on this morning, guess what I spotted: my first very teenie-tiny monarch caterpillar!

It was really little, no more than a quarter of an inch long, and it was just sort of sitting there, attached but not doing much. I wondered if it was going through one of its molts. Later in the day, I spotted a second tiny caterpillar, so I know that this one is not alone.

Somehow it makes me happy to know that there are at least two of them, to keep each other company. We look forward to seeing the butterflies they will become, but in the meantime, please enjoy this photo of our first and probably very hungry monarch caterpillar!

The song to accompany this image has to include the word little or tiny, so here is Supertramp, with Give a Little Bit.