This photograph was taken during one of my earliest macro photography endeavors. The animals green coloration initially caught my eye and with closer inspection the animal was identified as a nymph by the presence of wing buds.
This beautiful caterpillar will turn into the monarch butterfly via metamorphosis! In the caterpillar stage, the animal will feed exclusively on milkweed leafs and absorb the plant's toxins. The caterpillars are capable of storing the toxin they ingest from the leaves and utilize it as a predator avoidance mechanism.
Buckeye butterfly photographed in Canton, Michigan in the fall of 2016.
