Monarch Caterpillar With Strange Black Thing

I don’t know how to describe this image. I found the Monarch caterpillar on the underside of a Beautyberry bush leaf. This little Beautyberry is a small plant that sprang up next to the milkweed.

As I was checking for caterpillars the other morning, I found this one with a strange black thing. It looks like a shell or skin and the caterpillar was crawling out of it! This caterpillar was fairly good size, and I’ve never seen anything like this on my milkweeds.

If you know what is going on here, I’d love to know. And thank you for your input!

So one of my faithful readers said to look into caterpillar molting. I found this page at Naturedigger where they explain. Monarch caterpillars shed their skin, and eat it, five times before they become a chrysalis. I’ve seen many Monarch caterpillars and have never seen them shed their exoskeletons!

To date I have found three monarch butterflies, freshly hatched, in my yard. I can tell they are new when they don’t fly as I approach. A strong, healthy adult Monarch seems to never land, and will fly away if I approach. The only time I see them stop is when they lay eggs on the leaves.

Monarch #1 had a pretty chrysalis on my Rosemary. Butterfly #2 was seen one morning attached to an old Loofah plant vine. Monarch #3 was holding onto some dill.

When I sit outside and simply enjoy my garden, I see them flying over the yard. Sometimes two fly together, and once I saw three together. Was it these three? I like to think so.

I recently learned that male Monarch butterflies have two black spots on their wings. They can be seen when the wings are wide open.

The photo below is not mine, but shows the spots a male would have.

Taking Care of the Monarchs

I need some good flowering plants to feed these butterflies. Although the caterpillars are only found eating milkweed, butterflies get their food in other places as well.

A lot of information can be found about feeding the caterpillars. I guess people will raise them inside and feed them stalks of milkweed. What I am looking for is information about planting to feed the butterflies without relying on milkweed flowers. I’ll write a new page about that.