APRIL 2015 • NEBRASKAland 37
When they hatch, monarch larvae are only 2 to
5 millimeters long.
When they are ready to pupate, caterpillars
suspend themselves from a silk web.
Groenewold's homemade monarch rearing cage includes a locker rack, a box, a
fast-food cup to hold water and milkweed in a laundry bag.
A monarch pupae looks different after the
caterpillar molts for the last time (foreground)
than it does a few hours later (background).
Butterflies emerge with wrinkled
wet wings that straighten in a few
minutes.
Groenewold places tags from
MonarchWatch.org on the wings of
some of the butterflies she raises or
catches in her garden.
Before it emerges, the wing pattern of the
butterfly is visible through the pupa covering.
Tagged monarchs are released within a day of emerging.
