Monarch caterpillars

As of the second week of August we're seeing lots of monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars, likely members of the fourth and final generation of monarchs for 2017.  These caterpillars will, at maturity, be the ones to migrate to Mexico for the winter.  In the spring, they will lay the eggs for the first generation of 2018 in northern Mexico and the southern United States.  These southern-born adults will migrate back into our area and lay eggs that will mature in early- to mid-summer.  Second generation adults only live a few weeks and never migrate.  A few members of the third generation may make the trip back south for the winter, and nearly all members of the fourth generation will.  Take a close look at the common milkweed plants here at the earthwork and see how many eggs and caterpillars you can find.  For more information about the annual life cycle of monarchs, visit the Monarch Lab at the University of Minnesota.