The Nature of Things

Queen butterflies continue to flood my backyard with their beauty. I counted around a dozen today. It is impossible to get a completely accurate count, because they just won't stand still for it. They are indeed lovely and I never tire of watching them. But in addition to the Queens, I'm seeing an increase in the numbers of Monarchs passing through the garden. The Monarchs like the almond verbena, too. And as the Monarchs pass through on their way to Mexico, they are leaving me gifts in the form of their eggs. I've been finding caterpillars on my milkweed plants over the last few days. These two were quite large when I first saw them. When I checked on them a couple of days later, they were gone - already moved on to form their chrysalises I'm sure.  There was a smaller sibling still on the plant. The chrysalis of the Monarch is as striking as the butterfly or the caterpillar. In this one you can see the butterfly already almost fully formed and ready to emerge. I'm...

I have been waiting for these ladies for quite a long time. I had not seen a Queen butterfly in my garden all year. Until today when two of the beauties finally showed up. Queens are a member of the milkweed ( Danidae ) family of butterflies. Just like their larger and more famous cousin, the Monarch, Queens lay their eggs on milkweed plants and when the caterpillars hatch they feed on those plants. By doing so, they store poisonous cardiac glycosides that are found in the milky juices of the milkweed plant. These compounds are distasteful and emetic to most birds and so they garner some protection from avian predators. Unfortunately, the poison doesn't seem to have any effect on predatory wasps that are probably the caterpillars' greatest enemies. The Queens that were visiting today spent a lot of time on my milkweed plants. With any luck, perhaps they left some of their eggs there. They also spent quite a bit of time with the almond verbena. Butterflies in general really like...