Yesterday I mentioned I’d found an interesting dark red mushroom but did not know what it was, so I stopped at the visitor center at Blendon Woods Metro Park to ask someone if they could identify it. I got my answer, plus some wonderful facts about monarch butterflies I didn’t know about (or I’d forgotten).

On the counter in the visitor’s center were two stands with monarch butterflies in different stages of their life cycle. I had never seen anything like it so I became the fascinated child and started asking questions. The two women were excited to share as much information as they could with me. One of the women would go in search for the eggs, finding them under milkweed leaves.  She would then bring these tiny eggs back to the visitor center in hopes children could learn and watch them.

The eggs are creamy white and later turn pale yellow. They are elongate and subconical, with approximately 23 longitudinal ridges and many fine traverse lines. The caterpillar is banded with yellow, black, and white stripes. The head is also striped with yellow and black. There are two pairs of black filaments, one pair on each end of the body. The chrysalis is blue-green with a band of black and gold on the end of the abdomen. There are other gold spots on the thorax, the wing bases, and the eyes. This monarch has just emerged from it’s chrysalis and is drying its wings. In the background you can see on of the green chrysalis.