So as I write it is Thursday morning (though this won’t get published until Saturday) and I sit at my desk while the rain falls gently outside and the hummingbirds zip wildly around my window feeder. Every few minutes I glance off to my side, looking at a small table where I have two leaves with their stems dipped in shallow water. I found them in a field recently and brought them home. (I will tell you more about this next week.) While I work, I am watching them closely, paying particular attention to the two yellowish, elliptical structures on them. I am waiting…. waiting…. waiting… hoping I’ll happen to notice when they start to change. Wow, the thought fills me with excitement!
Here’s what those structures look like–there is one on each leaf. 
This is the puzzler for this week, and I realize it may be rather impossibly challenging, but keep reading to find a hint. Any guesses what this is? And why I’m so interested in watching it so carefully? It is SUPER tiny, as you can see here, when I photograph it with a dime beside it. I had a hard time getting a decent picture of it, even with my macro lens and closeup filters.
It might help if I told you it is on the underside of a leaf from a plant called Milkweed. Milkweed is called this because its sap is a milky, white liquid.
IT IS A VERY SPECIAL PLANT (though many people–including some who work in nurseries– are unaware of this, too influenced by the word WEED in the plant’s name. I aim to change the negative opinion about this plant–one person at a time, starting with YOU!)
…. I’ll tell you why next week. Here’s one more picture.
What is this? CLICK HERE to see if your guess was correct. Until then, have a wonderful weekend!
I would have to guess that this is the solitary egg of a Monarch butterfly on the underside of a milkweed plant.
Yes, and you would be correct! You do seem to know all of the answers to these Weekly Puzzlers!