There is a wonderful children’s garden in the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, where I discovered that I am still a child as I enjoyed it just as much as any of the youngsters. When I visited there in September, 2015, I was thrilled to see these colourful monarch butterfly larvae as well as this pupa, on true milkweed.

I had never seen either of these and only identified them with the help of the guide who was happy to explain all about the life cycle of this beautiful (and threatened) species. The guide, herself passionately interested in and very knowledgeable about monarchs, showed us the plants that they preferred and helped us hunt until we found what we were looking for. It was a windy day, though still warm and it was not easy to get a photograph as the plants were blowing around so much, but I was glad to get these to share.

More information about the life cycle of the monarch butterfly can be found here:
http://monarchlab.org/biology-and-research/biology-and-natural-history/breeding-life-cycle/
And about the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens here: http://www.mainegardens.org
My posts are all on my blog: https://www.elliekennard.ca.