Beautiful photos. I have raised Monarchs many times over the years. 'Haven't done it for a while, though. I meant to go looking for caterpillars this past summer; but, never got around to it. Where did the summer go?!
Witnessing the life cycle, especially the metamorphosis into the adult butterfly is incredible and never ceases to amaze me. Plus, they are so exquisitely beautiful!
Rarely (about once very 5, or 10 years), I'll find a Cecropia Moth cocoon. I place them inside a large cage that sits in the barn doorway. If a male hatches in the spring, I admire him for a short while and then let him go. If a female hatches, I keep her for a day or two. A male will find her by following the pheromones that she's emitting and they will mate through the bars. Then, the female begins laying eggs. Once she's deposited a couple dozen (out of about a total of 100 that she will produce), I let her go so that she can lay more eggs in natural places as well.
Then, I hatch and raise the caterpillars, which is a lot of work. They need fresh branches covered in leaves every day. They grow to about 5" long! At that size, you don't want a lot of them because you'd need a ton of fresh leaves every day. However, raising a dozen or two is manageable.
The following spring, I get to enjoy a few weeks of watching these HUGE, GORGEOUS silk moths hatching out. Then, I let them go to carry on their intended life cycle. They are quite rare; so, it's a real treat whenever I find a cocoon in the fall or winter and get to see one of these incredible creatures in person again when it emerges from the cocoon the following spring.
