Monarch butterfly caterpillar ( Danaus plexippus ) by larose forest photos

larose forest photos | all galleries >> INSECTS (INSECTA) (28 Galleries) >> Butterflies (Lepidoptera) (8 Galleries) >> Butterfly Larvae and Pupae >> Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Larvae and Chrysalises > Monarch butterfly caterpillar ( Danaus plexippus)

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13-AUG-2015	Christine Hanrahan

Monarch butterfly caterpillar ( Danaus plexippus)

Mer Bleue area

This made my day!

At last! After thinking that this year would go by without a sighting of a monarch butterfly or a caterpillar, I finally saw one today. It is upsetting to see how few of these butterflies there are up this way in 2015. About 6 years ago, I saw so many monarch caterpillars along a 2km trail in Larose Forest that I stopped counting after about 120!

Panasonic LUMIX FZ200
1/320s f/2.8 at 4.5mm iso125 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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Ghislaine et Réal Boulet		13-Aug-2015 21:16
Very nice capture.

Terry Sprague		13-Aug-2015 21:00
YAY! I've seen a total of 4 adult butterflies this summer. I need to check out a local milkweed patch for caterpillars. VV

hayl		13-Aug-2015 20:41
Wonderful that you saw one. Now lets hope he makes it to the final stage.

Don		13-Aug-2015 19:38
I thought I recognised this caterpillar! Maybe losses in your part of the world are partly (and not so satisfactorily) compensated by its arrival in Australia where the species is widespread along the east coast though doesn't concentrate in masses in a single area. So far as I am aware its arrival in Australia was the result of natural dispersal, but the arrival of its food plants was a human artifice that made establishment possible.

globalgadabout		13-Aug-2015 19:26
another species being knocked out of the sky...habitat loss and pesticide use some of the key factors...alas it has little economic value to prompt government protection measures...disturbing to think this gem of nature is under attack..

Helen Betts		13-Aug-2015 19:20
Well, I'm glad you sighted it, and an excellent capture of it, too. V.

Jim Coffman		13-Aug-2015 18:59
I am always glad to see these! I love to see the monarchs flying about!

Isabel Cutler		13-Aug-2015 18:47
What a happy find!

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