Communal Caterpillars

Hey, where’d everybody go?

I stand here waiting excitedly, like the kid who was thrilled to get an invitation to the coolest party ever, only to find it’s a joke.
There’s no one here but me!

The hundreds of Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars that have been feeding off these leaves have gone their separate ways.
In a week's time, from their tiny, almost hairless, black-headed beginning on the underside of a single leaf

they've eaten their way, higher and higher.
One leaf at a time.
Avoiding the veins in order to not be washed away by the milky flow.
Leaving the white skeleton behind.

Yesterday, a party of nearly 300, snuggled together in the space of just one leaf—now all have dispersed.
Their communal life over at the third instar.



They'll continue to feed on their own now--one by one, at other milkweeds.
But for now, it's just me.
This party's over.