Last night I came home from work to find that Harry’s chrysalis was gone. I couldn’t believe it. I was so upset. I thought maybe the leaf he attached himself to had fallen off, so I went outside to the patio and started moving plants out of the way to see if I could find it and nothing. I started checking the leaves on the vine to see if maybe I just didn’t see it. That’s when I discovered what was left. The pupa was completely gone and the only thing there was the silk button stuck to the underside of the leaf and cremaster. What a loss. I was completely bummed out. I wish I knew what got to it. I guess it could be a number of things --wasp, spider, ants, praying mantis maybe? Ugh!
After the initial shock of losing Harry, I went out to water the garden. Afterwards I started searching the milkweed for more monarch eggs and caterpillars. Thankfully, I did find at least one monarch egg and one tiny caterpillar on the milkweed in front of the house. I am not getting my hopes up for another Harry, but at least I know the circle of life continues.
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