Monarchs
Extra Credit: Find and bring to school a monarch egg, caterpillar (larva), or chrysalis
along with the milkweed plant that you found it on. Keep the milkweed alive over the weekend like you would a
picked flower. Bring it in before school Monday in a paper bag with plenty of room. DO NOT BRING adult
Monarch butterflies!
Use these links for reference. http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/index.htm
http://www.mymonarchguide.com/2007/05/raising-caterpillars.html
CAUTION:
Be certain you can identify poison ivy before
traipsing through the undergrowth! “Leaves of
three, let it be!” It frequently grows in tall grass
but can also climb trees on vines.
If you discover that you have walked through it or
touched it, get the oils washed off your skin asap!
Take an antihistamine (anti-allergy) pill or use a
product like Benadryl gel. Don’t forget to wash your cloths and shoes.
The Hunt
1. Find milkweed. It shouldn’t be covered in road dust or chemically sprayed.
Spiders and praying mantid are predators, but ants, aphids, milkweed
bugs and ladybugs don’t bother monarch eggs or caterpillars. Although,
you wouldn’t want any of them in your house.
2. Look high and low on the plant for eggs on the underside of the leaves,
The Hunt continues…
You will be able to see holes in the leaves if a caterpillar is feeding on it.
Mrs. Loyd 
cloyd@waukeeschools.org
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3. If you find a caterpillar hanging in a J-shape, leave it alone. It is about to form a chrysalis. Go back for it the
next day.
4. If a chrysalis is present, it should be easy to see hanging from the underside of the
leaf. A chrysalis that is green is still going through complete metamorphosis. A
chrysalis that is black is near to emerging.
The Capture
If you find an egg, caterpillar or chrysalis, clip the plant’s
stem so there are at least a few leaves remaining.
5.
Put the plant in water and keep it alive. The eggs
will dry out otherwise and the caterpillar needs fresh,
living milkweed to feed on. You don’t need an enclosure.
They will stay on their food source. They are specialists,
they only eat milkweed.
6.
Bring your find to my classroom before school
Monday in a paper bag with plenty of room. DO NOT
BRING adult Monarch butterflies!
Mrs. Loyd 
cloyd@waukeeschools.org
Page 2 of 2
http://loydbiology.weebly.com
8/14/13
www.campbellbiology.com