The slowest-pillars

I found a few dozen Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) eggs on may 15th. The caterpillars are possibly the slowest growing larvae I have ever witnessed. Two and a half weeks have gone past and this one is probably the largest of the brood.

Photographed on the pad of my finger, this caterpillar is still pretty small. I really hope these guys are worth the wait.

Along their sides they have long rows of tiny white dots that are quite pretty. Unlike Gulf Fritillaries, the Variegated Fritillaries have a long pair of antenna at the front and shorter branching spines along the length of their bodies. Except for the dots and antenna-like appendages, they could be pretty difficult to tell the species apart in the larval form. I'm looking forward to finding out how these characteristics will look on a more mature caterpillar.