Often it is easier to locate even a very small butterfly or moth larvae than their eggs.

This is true of all three Vanessa species in Ontario, whose small larvae can be recognized by their distinctive leaf nests.

The Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) makes a hibernating nest usually on "small" willow plants, where the 3rd instar larvae spend the winter. The secret to finding them is to look closer to the ground than one might expect. This means no more than 3 feet up and often on sapling willows at 6 inches of less. Apparantly, the larvae use the snow cover as well as their ability to create anti-freeze to protect them from the cold (see Viceroy Tree).

Newly hatched Monarch larvae cut a semi-circle around themselves and eat only inside this circle (Presumably this behaviour is adopted to reduce consumption of latex from the Milkweed plant). The cut semi-circles are easy to spot and they indicate that a small Monarch larvae is or "was" feeding on the underside of the leaf.