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applestar
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2015 Saving Monarch Butterflies By Raising Caterpillars

Look, look, look !!! :-()

I mentioned elsewhere that I had seen Monarch butterflies flitting around in the garden -- one each day a few to several days ago. And today when I was checking under the common milkweed leaves, I FOUND SOME OF THE BABIES!!! Image
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I find these kinds of clear clamshell boxes work very well for smaller cats like these. 3rd and up to 4th instar can go in larger and deeper clamshell like baked goods or salad green boxes or spit roasted chicken box. I poke holes in the bottom and top for ventilation and line with double layer of paper towel (cats are messy). Soiled paper lining and frass are removed every day and replaced with new dry paper towels. And freshly cut, rinsed and patted dry leaves are added as needed -- typically morning and bedtime.

They are moved up to next size group box as they grow. Largest cats are capable of accidentally eating the younger tinier cats, especially if they run out of food. If necessary, suspected diseased or predatory fly infested cats are isolated in 1qt deli containers, but there are almost always a small % of casualties.

I keep them in the family room where we can keep an eye on them. After they molt to 5th instar, they are put in a special cage so they can climb to the top of the container and make their chrysalis for the final stage of their metamorphosis. At indoor temperatures they stay in the chrysalis for approx 11-13 days then eclose into a butterfly. I label the chrysalises with a sticker on the topside of where they are attached with date and sequential number which makes it easier to predict the next one to eclose and when.

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ElizabethB
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Awesome :!: Congratulations :-()

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applestar
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...getting nostalgic about previous Monarch rearing years when they were so plentiful. So few fly here any more -- drastically reduced in just a few years.... :cry: We released over 100 butterflies in 2010.

Subject: Our 2010 Monarch Project is well underway
applestar wrote: Here are the photos of Monarch Project rearing set up for this year:
Eggs and 1st Instars:
Image
2nd~3rd Instars:
Image
3rd~4th Instars:
Image
4th~5th Instars/Chrysalises/Newly Eclosed Butterflies:
Image
Image
Image
Image
Tagged and ready to release Monarch butterflies:
Image

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Subject: Monarchs & milkweed
applestar wrote:Thank you -- I'm so glad I could help with your project. :-()

You are talking about the hamper (and caterpillar rearing container) photos posted here right?
:arrow: Subject: Our 2010 Monarch Project is well underway

The white releasing cage is made of a large semi-cylinder shaped student laundry hamper with a hanging handle. It just has the sky blue bandana safety-pinned to cover the top opening. It hangs against a wall/door handle/chair back/etc. and is easy to get into and out, open just a corner by undoing one pin, or flip open completely etc.

Tagged and ready to release Monarch butterflies:
Image

The navy blue eclosing cage/enclosure is made of a small square/rectangular prism-shaped laundry hamper, and it is standing upside-down. A heavy plastic, rounded square caterer's platter/tray I happened to have turned out to be exactly the right size fit. With the hamper upside-down, the tray can be slipped inside the opening with the corner flaps fitted under/against the corners of the tray, preventing roaming caterpillars from escaping (one time my younger DD failed to completely close a corner, and we had several fugitives that eventually eclosed in various areas of the room). The weight of the tray is sufficient to keep the hamper weighed down since this was only used inside the house. The tray was lined with a double layer of paper towels, and being able to slip it out from the bottom made it easy to clean the messes the big 4th/5th caterpillars make (I got the idea from thinking about birdcage design :wink:).

The caterpillars generally congregated at the top (nylon bottom panel of the hamper) to pupate, and the hamper was just tall enough that we could reach up from the bottom. The butterflies' tendency to try to walk/fly upwards at all times meant that unless one was on the floor of the enclosure, they tended not to escape.

4th~5th Instars/Chrysalises/Newly Eclosed Butterflies:
Image
I kept track of the chrysalises with removable stickers labeled with date of full chrysalis transformation. In the A/C'd cooler day temp and warmer night temp than outside, they took around 11 days to eclose, and by numbering and dating them, I could anticipate and keep track.
Image

When catching and handling butterflies and caterpillars, remember this trait -- if you position a finger just in front/above where they are clinging (very tightly BTW -- you can damage their little feet by trying to forcibly pull off -- the more you pull, tighter they cling) and "goose" (poke) their tushie, they will move forward/up and transfer their position to your finger. To catch the butterflies, cup your hand over them and goose, and they will cling upside down on your hand so bring up your other hand to cup under them to completely enclose without damaging the wings (there is a technique for holding them by their wings too).

ALWAYS WASH HANDS THOROUGHLY TO REMOVE OIL AND GREASE (lotion) FROM YOUR HANDS AND DRY THOROUGHLY BEFORE HANDLING BUTTERFLIES TO AVOID REMOVING THEIR WINGSCALES TO A MINIMUM.

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...and this... Sometimes a caterpillar escapes and picks its own place to make a chrysalis :roll:

Subject: 2012 butterfly project commentary
applestar wrote:[...]
We have a cute desktop fan that we use every day to move the air to supplement the a/c when the afternoon sun heats up this room. Today was overcast so we weren't feeling the heat until just a little while ago.

This is what I found when I went to turn the fan on :shock:
Image

Yep. This is a newly eclosed Monarch butterfly INSIDE the fan, hanging from the shell of a chrysalis it had attached to the inside roof of the fan box. nutz:

We keep the Monarch rearing containers on this table, and we did lose a 5th instar caterpillar a week or so ago.... Did I say we use this fan EVERY DAY? :roll:

We've unplugged the fan so there wont be any accidents, and tomorrow, we will be disassembling the fan. :wink:

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Thank you for this wonderful story. I love monarch butterflies. I've never seen anything like this before.

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You are welcome :D

I hope this thread gives some people the incentive to try. I heard that even in Vermont, a teacher will still be looking for caterpillars to collect for her classroom this week. So this is the right time to look for them while the Monarchs are still laying eggs and the caterpillars will have time to mature and become butterflies before frost.

Its better to bring them in while they are still small, since older caterpillars will have more time to be exposed to predation and may become parasitized or become victims of pesticides and herbicides.

In my area, I have until the end of September to first week of October when the bulk of the NJ coastal monarch migration passes through Cape May to cross the Delaware Bay. But we have had late hatches that were here on the day of the first fall frost, still in chrysalis. And I ended up holding them back on frosty days or due to forecasted nights to release with good weather, which often is the case even after the first frost.

I believe some of our Monarchs fly west and join the overland migration, too.

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That has to be the best sight to see Monarchs with freshly eclosed and dried bright new wings taking off :D

I always think how cool it would be if some of our overland travelers joined the main migration headed for the land bridge via Texas and even stopped for a layover in your milkweed patch. Image

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I'm inspired to plant some milkweed. If I get some caterpillars, I won't bring them inside. But it will be fun to watch outside.

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I thought you might like to see how they are doing. I found another one that I put in the older group rearing container, but it looks like the new guy is one day behind the others.

When you see them staying very still and unmoving, away from the milkweed leaves and typically on the ceiling or side of the container (though sometimes they do this on a leaf stem or edge), don't worry. They are molting their skin into next instar/stage caterpillar. It's best to leave them alone and don't touch them. (Some people, not knowing this, forcibly try to put them back on a leaf....)
image.jpg

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I posted this in another thread but I can't find it.
I wrote that I haven't seen a Monarch Butterfly for over 25 years. Isn't that a shame?
I remember seeing them in our backyard when I was a kid.
The last one I saw was in about 1986. It was sleeping on a damp towel that was hanging on a clothesline. It was in front of my face, about 1 inch from my nose. I didn't disturb it.

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It really IS sad to see their numbers dwindling.
Did you know the Monarchs have a completely different migration route and wintering grounds west of the Rockies?

Here they are as of this morning. I have to feed the bigger group the biggest milkweeds leaves I can find to get through the day without having to go harvest more.
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image.jpg

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Whav you are doing looks like so much fun. You have your own little pet monarch butterflies. I'm so glad for them. They need all the help they fan get.

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You know, if you are serious about it, you can do this with any species of butterflies (or moths) as long as you know their larval food source and you have access to plenty of it so you won't run out.

We've raised others -- simple ones like Black Swallowtail (simple because they eat multiple food selections in the carrot family), even hornworms plucked from a tomato plant. When I see caterpillars that I can't ID, I sometimes bring them in to raise and ID, and they eclose into wonderful surprises -- Questionmark butterflies, Snowberry Clearwing moths, Geometer moth, etc.

We started out with American Painted Lady kit that comes with the butterfly cage. It's a good confidence builder since it comes with processed "babyfood" for the caterpillars.
.
.
.
Today's update -- these caterpillars are growing at faster rate than I remember. I think it's because we are energy saving and setting the thermostat higher, so the house temp is warmer.
image.jpg
Top- and Middle-right photo are a caterpilar just after molting. You can see the crumpled skin it shed behind it and the head portion in front. The caterpillar turns around and eats the skin. So you won't see the shed skin in the cage unless you observe them right after molting.

Bottom-right photo is a fifth instar caterpillar getting ready to turn into a chrysalis. First thing it does is to expel/spin sticky silk out of its mouth to make a pad on a surface to which it will glue down its tail end, then it will hang upside-down in a J position.

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Thank you! You are AppleStar but also a Butterfly Star. I want to help the Monarchs. I have been reading about the declne. It's nice that there are people out there trying to help them. I greatly appreciate the information you have provided. The kit would be a good way to start but I don't know if that butterfly is native to my area or not. Maybe I could just jump in and raise Monarchs. I'll start by planting some milkweed. (. . . insert hand wave for the pesty fruit fly that is bothering me as I type . . .).
I work full time but I think I could raise butterflies. They don't need me around all day. I could get some good close up pictures of the butterflies for my art.

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The western breeding population native distribution includes your area .

Image

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Thanks, rainbowgardener! Great map :D

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I found two more Monarch caterpillars today while gathering milkweed leaves -- a little 2nd instar that I almost squished while picking a Common Milkweed leaf and a fully grown 5th instar in that clump of Swamp Milkweed that I forgot to check.
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The 5th instar is going in a quarantine container because it could already be parasitized. I gave the little one the smaller box to itself, and moved the biggest two that molted into 4th instar yesterday to the butterfly cage since the oldest three were already hanging in a J and the fourth 5th instar cat' will probably be ready to metamorphose soon, too.

By the time I was done with this morning's gardening chores, the first caterpillar that went into J last night had shed its 5th instar skin and turned into a chrysalis. 8)

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The other two in J turned into chrysalis yesterday and the 5th instar which was roaming around the top of the cage has gone into J.

DD1 and I watched the second one shed its skin and turn into a chrysalis together (sorry about the distracting computer screen in the background. :roll: Once the transformation starts, it's very fast and I didn't have the time to turn it off.)
image.jpg
I couldn't show it but anyone who has watched this process would be familiar with the "wiggle dance" with which the new chrysalis throws off the shed skin just before the last frame. :D

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image.jpg
Four chrysalises now. :D

Last night, the new 5th Instar which has been named "Swampy" nibbled the sprig of swamp milkweed it was eating down to a single stick. But I didn't have extra swamp milkweed in the fridge for it, so we put a common milkweed leaf in its container. ...but this morning, it had only eaten a small portion of the leaf and was back on its swamp milkweed stick....

Afraid that it really needed the swamp milkweed that it grew up on, I cut a big sprig off of the plant in the raingarden without really looking. But knowing swamp milkweed tends to be COVERED with yellow milkweed aphids, I was going to give it a GOOD washing in the rinse bucket.

But when I REALLY looked at it, I realized most of the aphids had been turned into *mummies* by the Aphid Mummy Maker wasp and what was on the milkweed were either empty mummy shells with a big hole where the wasp emerged or mummies with wasp young still inside.

I put this sprig in one of the veg gardens and got some swamp milkweed sprigs that were mostly free of aphids and no aphid mummies for Swampy. :wink:

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I ordered the Monarch Watch tags, so if they arrive in time, we will tag the eclosed butterflies before releasing them. Image

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I am so enjoying this series applestar! I look everyday for signs of cats on my swamp weed, but being a novice I might be missing them, or there is just no there, there. ;-)

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Thanks @Licenter. :D

I hope you find some. :-() It's hard to find them in the Swamp milkweed for me, too. I think they are better camouflaged in the narrower leaves ...maybe like tigers in grass...?

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Saw three today flittering about. So the question is: Will the Praying Mantis leave them alone. I have my doubts.

Image

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What you are doing is amazing
My friend said that milkweed is invasive. She said that she will give all of what she has in her yard to me. She said it keeps popping up everywhere and she can't get rid of itt. So now I'm not sure ehat to do. Can milkwwed be grown in pots? It doesn't seem like a plant thst would work well in pots. I can't raise Monarch Butterflies iif I can't grow milkweed.

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Milkweed will reseed itself easily, so if it's planted in a nice cultivated area you will have many babies everywhere in that location. To keep it in check, just remove all the seedpods before they ripen and burst open. I have so many plants right now, so in order to keep them in check I use a hedge trimmer to cut all the seedpods off.

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There are different species of milkweed.
Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
...etc.

Common milkweed does spread via underground rhizomes, but it is also considered a wild forage and people eat the new shoots (WITH PROPER PREPARATION). It also means it's an easy plant to establish a good sized patch. And at least in my garden, the Monarchs preferentially lay eggs on the common milkweed.

The shoots are easy to recognize and they also pull out very nicely including significant portion of the underground white stem. I don't find them to be difficult to control. (I admit I don't eat them -- I tried, but I have significant allergies and the latex I think is a near-trigger -- not quite but I feel "strange" "not quite right" so I stopped experimenting)

I had a patch where I have my Spiral Garden now, and they popped up for a couple of years, but they are mostly gone now. I just leave the Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpuria) growing there because It won't form seed pods after the flowers are gone and I still only have three stems this year. In fact I would move any Monarch caterpillar to another plant if I find one. ("Oh no, little one, not this plant... Here you go, you'll have much more to eat on this one. " :wink: )

The one that has spread the most from seeds is the Honeyvine/Sandvine milkweed. That one IS sometimes actually identified as an "Invasive" in the plant databases. But in my area, slow to grow in earlier part of the year and again, easy to ID and pull as needed. Probably less easy to control further south.

Swamp milkweed -- in all these years, I still only have two. One struggling with maybe 4-5 stems and the other main one that has not spread very much at all (3 ft in diameter when full grown and sweeping)

My whorled milkweed patch (A. Verticillata) is bigger. But that one hasn't spread anywhere.

My butterfly flower (A. tuberosa) managed to spread once -- from the backyard location to a frontyard location just at the front edge of an island bed, which was perfect. So I left the second plant there and it has grown beautifully. It's a test of this species' drought hardiness because it gets very very hot, sunny, and dry there though I do water just enough to keep the Japanese maple in the bed from dying.

I don't clip any of the seed pods and my kids userd to play by flying the wafty silk parachutes just like dandelion seeds. There are a number of insects that eat the milkweed seeds including milkweed bugs and milkweed beetles so they might be helping with keeping them from spreading, too.

According to Monarch Watch (monarchwatch.org), they need Whorled Milkweed seeds for this area for their Bring Back the Monarchs project, so I intend to collect seeds and send them some this year.

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Swampy is LOST... And FOUND!
Yesterday, we had an incident. The lid to Swampy's container had been knocked loose and, naturally, Swampy, ready to turn into a chrysalis, went wandering off.

I had THREE concerns:
(1) Swampy had been brought inside as a 5th instar -- we didn't know if it was already parasitized by tachnid fly which usually emerges between when the caterpillars go into J until they have just turned into a chrysalis. If parasitized, the emerged fly maggots will drop off and pupate and will be loose in the house.
(2) Swampy could be squished
(3) Swampy won't be found until it ecloses, then may be discovere by the kitties
...well actually FOUR:
(4) Swampy might make a chrysalis in a location that won't allow it to fully extend the wings to dry after eclosing. This can result in wings drying in crumpled state so it won't be able to fly properly.

Well, happily, my DD2 found the silly creature -- hanging as a chrysalis:

Image

...as you can see, it was #4 :roll:

After another day to be sure the chrysalis has completely hardened, I'm going to spray (with water) the silk pad to which the chrysalis is attached, which will soften it enough to let me pull it off of the shelf, then either tie it with thread by the stem onto the net side of the butterfly cage or tape it by the silk onto the ceiling.

I have to say, I was impressed when the first thing DD1 said when told of Swampy's escape was the #1 concern. :D

LIcenter
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WOW I never realized they were so spunky! And DD2's eyesight far out weighs what little I can still see far, or near.

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Usually their instinct guides them to do things right, but maybe for some, the impending metamorphosis addles their "brains"

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Just a note on the various milkweeds. I have 2 varieties at the market, swamp and tropical (annual), and sometimes a butterfly weed. Most people with small urban yards don't want the common as it does spread by rhizomes and can be problematic. I have the swamp aka rose in my yard, and still hasn't bloomed, perhaps in too much shade. Next year! I suggest the tropical can go in pots or ground. I have a couple of butterfly weeds that have been in ground for a number of years, and no Monarch cats. I did hear from a native plant grower (from middle TN) that they don't like it as it is coarse and hairy. Last summer did have a couple of cats on the swamp, and as plants were young had to move starts of tropical and swamp around to get enough food.

The honey vine is a 2 edged sword. It can take over, try to strangle a shrub. I have a mess in the camelia (tall thick shrub). I'd pull it off, but may be taking cat food. But then cardinals and mockingbirds both go into the shrub foraging, and probably eating most anything that moves. A friend in Nashville has spotted a couple of Monarch adults laying eggs on his honey vine (sent me pics of one laying the egg). This person does extensive butterfly watches/counts, and came upon a patch of swamp milkweed covered with monarchs and other butterflies. Now he wants more in his yard! (as I am starting these from seed could be his source for plants!)

This season have many more milkweed plants, and have spotted perhaps 5 Monarchs! Sigh.

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Thanks. I am still naive about some things. I don't know what a Monarch cat is. I am going to google it and see what I get.

HoneyBerry
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Ohh! I get it. Caterpillars! Silly me.

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Haha yeah "cat" is a lot easier to type than "caterpillar" :wink:

I haven't taken an update photo since this morning, but all of the ones in J's in this picture turned into Chrysalises:
image.jpg
...tomorrow I'll post a photo of one chrysalis that I think has been infected by OE -- a protozoan parasite. This chrysalis will need to be isolated and the butterfly culled if examination under microscope after eclosing reveals infection.

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I found this from a few years back and wanted to share: Subject: Monarch butterflies' Territorial behavior

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image.jpg
...found another 5th instar on the Swamp Milkweed --> Swampy 2 =12

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First two eclosed very early this morning :D -- It's only been 7-8 days... I think the heatwave we had this week has been speeding them along.

Third chrysalis is transparent and black inside -- it will eclose sometime today for sure. (You can see it in the back.)
image.jpg
Also, our 12th caterpillar has achieved chrysalis stage without incident :-()

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The three butterflies -- two males and a female -- that eclosed yesterday were released this morning. I tried to put them on some flowering mints so they could have an energizing breakfast before taking off, but one of the males took flight from my finger perch as soon as I got my hand out of the butterfly cage.

The other two stayed ...
image.jpg
...and then I watered with a sprinkler over the area, completely forgetting about them :oops: -- so it was a complete surprise to see the female take off after I turned off the sprinkler :shock: "You were STILL here?"

Fourth one -- another male -- eclosed this morning (he's the one hanging onto his empty chrysalis shell in the photo). I think I'll release him with my DD's later this afternoon. He has been fluttering around, maybe because the female is gone but he scents her.

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Whew! Made it!

Swampy (#5) was still hanging under that shelf! :eek:

Just finished removing the chrysalis which was starting to change color, and carefully tying a thread to the stem and taping it to the ceiling of the butterfly cage. A little crooked, but should be OK for tomorrow's eclosure.

#6 is changing color, too. :-()

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Swampy (#5) and #6 eclosed were released today. If you look closely, you'll see that the black chrysalis to the right on the flap is taped on. That was Swampy. :()
image.jpg
Swampy took off right away -- maybe males tend to do that. The female stayed to have a snack when my DD put her on a flower. :D

Here's a couple of pics of the chrysalis that I suspect is infected by OE. I took it out of the community cage to put in isolation so it will not spread the OE spores to the others and contaminate the cage as well.
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(I need to verify that the microscope still works so we can test the butterfly after eclosing. However, the black stain could also be a sign of tachnid maggot parasitization....)

Subject: Our 2010 Monarch Project is well underway
applestar wrote:As of today, 98 butterflies out of 108 chrysalises. 16 more Monarch caterpillars to go. (But we also have over a dozen more Black Swallowtail caterpillars, as well as another Silver Spotted Skipper caterpillar, 7 Woolybear caterpillars, and that Hornworm pupa.... :wink:)

Also today, another Monarch butterfly that appeared to be infected with OE spores eclosed today -- A chance to play with the microscope. 8)

Here are some photos:

Testing for OE. Small black dots are OE spores, larger shapes are the Monarchs scales from the abdomen. This one's definitely infected and has been euthanized in the freezer :cry:
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As long as I had the microscope on, I decided we could look at some other things:
A broken off Monarch butterfly wingtip at 200X:
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DDs released a Black Swallowtail and a Silver Spotted Skipper and got some of their wingscales on their hands. A chance to take samples and take a look:

Black Swallowtail wingscales. We were lucky to find a blue one under the 'scope:
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Silver Spotted Skipper wingscales. Very different and smaller compared to the others. We found a white scale, presumably from the white spot:
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I didn't take photos but the owner of the broken wingtip was still out in the garden even though he was released yesterday. I could see his wing had become more tattered where his wingtip had broken off and today, he was having trouble flying. I was able to catch him with bare hands while he sipped from the Goldenrods in full bloom over the sedum. Tucking him in a glassine envelope and putting him in the fridge to calm him, I retrieved his wingtip from the microscope samples (I'm SO glad I didn't tape it down), assembled the Crazy Glue and the rest of the "butterfly wing repair kit" and put back his wing tip as best I could. I set him back on a sunny Goldenrod plume after another chill in the fridge while the glue set. He seemed content to spread his wings and sip. I hope he makes it. :bouncey:



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