We saw our first egg hatch today and I was lucky enough to have my camera nearby to capture some video footage. I just wish I’d had the lighting a bit better for the first 2 clips. Anyway, we threw together a video with some fun facts that might be useful for a classroom studying Monarchs or the butterfly life cycle.
First a couple photos:
This is what the egg looks like just before the caterpillar emerges… you can start to see the tiny caterpillar’s black head through the translucent shell.
It doesn’t get the characteristic yellow and black stripes for a couple of days. It begins it’s life by eating the eggshell.
They are teeny when they emerge… only between 1/8″ and 1/4″ long.
And then a video showing the first few minutes of a Monarch caterpillar’s life!