Monarch Caterpillar - Danaus plexippus
If you spot a U-shaped hole in a milkweed leaf, turn it over and you may find a monarch caterpillar.
A monarch caterpillar's first meal is its egg shell. Next, it eats milkweed leaf hairs, and then finally, the leaf itself. The first holes it chews are broadly U-shaped. The shape of the hole is important because it prevents the sticky sap from flooding the leaf and gluing the caterpillar's mandibles (mouthparts) together.
Habitat: Milkweed
Leaf from above:
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch is a milkweed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names depending on region include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black veined brown. It may be the most familiar North American butterfly, and is considered an iconic pollinator species.
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