Bug of the Week: Queen Butterfly Eggs
Sep-22-2010 By Roberta
The queen butterflies are visiting our desert milkweed plants again.
The female queens are laying eggs on the flower buds, which are apparently a favorite food of the caterpillars.
The eggs are often laid in pairs.
Today they’ve started to turn dark. Does that mean they are going bad?
No, it means the eggs are going to hatch soon…
…into one of these caterpillars, which will turn…
…into one of these beauties!
For photographs of a queen butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, check this previous post.
Posted in: Bug of the Week, butterflies
Great series. Amazing to think about the massive changes that must happen to that insect’s body!
It is amazing, isn’t it?
What is the orange and black bug (flies) which is attacking the butterfly weeds?
They possibly could be milkweed bugs or seed bugs. Take a look at the photographs in these posts
http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2008/08/more-about-seed-bugs/
http://blog.growingwithscience.com/2008/08/bug-of-the-week-small-milkweed-bug/
If you have a photograph, BugGuide is a great place to find help with insect identification.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
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