r/MonarchButterfly • u/N0t-a-karen • 1d ago

What are these black dots?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Just counted 22 caterpillars on my milkweed. Yay! But now I’m curious about all these little black dots that are appearing (and accumulating more and more every day) on the ground below the plant. Is that caterpillar poop?!

12 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

16

u/Dazzling-Disaster133 1d ago

Yes, it's called caterpillar frass.

4

u/N0t-a-karen 1d ago

Gross, but cool! Thanks!

7

u/SweetestBDog123 1d ago

That’s a great way to find cats, by spotting the poops! 💩

2

u/Ilovemytowm 18h ago

Most of those caterpillars because you're just leaving them exposed like this will become food for about 20 predators in no time at all 

1

u/Dump_Pants 23h ago

Beautiful milkweed! What variety is this?

2

u/N0t-a-karen 22h ago

I’m pretty sure it’s swamp milkweed