{semi} wordless wednesday: butterfly garden.

it's wednesday, again.  i'm going to talk about bugs, again. you know, because it's what i do on wednesdays {see here, here & here for proof}.

our dill plant is pretty popular these days. earlier in the week, we noticed a couple of caterpillars on it. as of this week, there are six caterpillars on the plant. we think they're black swallowtail larva. adam & the kids want to bring the larva inside to protect them from the birds. i said no. what do you think?

we're anxiously awaiting the formation of the first chrysalis. i can't wait to take pictures of it. i swear, our garden is not only providing us with food, but it's providing us with our very own science lesson {because the life cycle of a butterfly is part of my state's education curriculum}!

speaking of butterflies, how excited was i when i saw a monarch butterfly on our butterfly bush?!

we've also noticed two hummingbirds recently at the butterfly bush, but this post is about bugs, not birds.  so far, our backyard is becoming a place of discovery. seriously, i could take pictures of the bugs all day long. there are spiders, too, but i'll wait until our garden spiders get bigger...trust me...they get HUGE.

my kids are very excited about the caterpillars. i am, too. i can't wait to share more pictures with you all, especially when they emerge from their cocoons as butterflies!

oh, and remember when i posted pictures of the "mystery bug" or the humming-bumble-shrimp? well, we learned {thanks to google} that it is a hummingbird moth {there are three varieties...ours is a snowberry clearwing hummingbird moth...what a mouthful!}. we saw a few more at the butterfly bush over the weekend...they are neat to watch!