The Life and Times of Icky Picky

Meet Icky Picky the Caterpillar.

We met Icky for the first time when we were wading through the sea of weeds that has become our garden. He and his brothers and sisters (not quite sure about the gender issue when it comes to caterpillars) were living on our parsley.

We thought at first we had found Monarch butterflies. We were in a panic wondering where we might find some milkweed for our newly captured babies. Fortunately at some point my brain kicked in and I realized that if they were living on our parsley, they must eat parsley. This led me to discover in the internet sea of information that we had actually adopted Anise swallowtail caterpillars.

And so Icky Picky and his six siblings found a home in our old fish aquarium. They ate all the parsley from our garden as they grew into very fat caterpillars. Two of them died, but the remaining five have all shed their skin for a chrysalis. One has shed his chrysalis for the sky.

I can't tell you Icky Picky's story yet. He's still resting in the hole of the rock. He is the only one of our caterpillars we named, because we discovered that he had a unique personality. Yes, caterpillars have personalities. Who knew? I'm sure someone did, but not me. Icky Picky is a particular sort of creature. Whereas our firstborn found a spot to rest in a matter of minutes, Icky Picky searched for the perfect spot for an entire day. Over 24 hours he roamed. I put him back in the aquarium five times. Finally he settled in the shelter of the fish tank rock. Besides the firstborn who has already taken to the sky, his other siblings have not moved since they went into stasis. Every time Icky Picky is disturbed, he twists and turns in protest.

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY

This was the smallest one we found. He was hard to see at first.

What they look like just before they make their chrysalis.

Our firstborn after he picked a spot.

Firstborn shedding his skin.

Firstborn was green after he shed his skin. The two on the rock turned the color of the rock. Who knew they could camouflage themselves?

Firstborn just after he fell out of his chrysalis.

After 2 1/2 hours of drying.

When it was time to set him free, Eldest helped him out on a stick. He climbed up onto her arm before he flew away.

Icky Picky is next. We're all keeping an eye on him.

To sum up? It's one thing to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. It's quite another to experience it.