Butterflies of Berea: The Monarch in all its stages
These photos capture the 2-week transformation of an individual caterpillar into a monarch butterfly. Monarchs lay eggs on milkweed plants because milkweed is the only food baby caterpillars eat; and this hungry caterpillar ate every leaf before forming its chrysalis. By eating milkweed, monarchs ingest cardenolides, steroid compounds that make monarchs toxic to predators. With their bright colors warning predators of their toxicity, monarchs that hatch in the early Fall travel thousands of miles to winter in central Mexico.
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