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rainbowgardener
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Re: 2015 Saving Monarch Butterflies By Raising Caterpillars

The western breeding population native distribution includes your area .

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applestar
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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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applestar
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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.

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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.

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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.
image.jpg
(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:
Image Image

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:
Image Image Image

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:
Image Image

Silver Spotted Skipper wingscales. Very different and smaller compared to the others. We found a white scale, presumably from the white spot:
Image Image

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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You are truly one of natures hero's applestar! Stand up and take a bow, while I continue to applaud this series.

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Thank you so much @Licenter :()

I want to report good news! #7 chrysalis suspected of being infected with OE eclosed without incident and the abdominal scales were clean of OE!

(The quality is really poor, even compared with the previous ones above, but this will do -- no sign of OE spores :-() )
image.jpg
(BOTTOM RIGHT: I pulled out the previous sample from 2010 and looked at it to refresh my memory of how the infected scales would look 8) )

So, #7 and #8 were released today. Both are females so I'm really glad I didn't have to euthanize.
image.jpg
...can you see? #7 had only one fully intact antenna -- her left antenna was stubby. I'm guessing that was the source of the black stains.... :?

HoneyBerry
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Wow, I am truly amazed by all this butterfly stuff.
Cheers to Swampy and the rest of the newly hatched butterflies.

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Thank you @BirdLover :D

Guess what? The Monarch tags arrived today. :clap:

So older DD and I tagged #9 and #10 -- now officially logged as UPL 600 (male) and UPL 601 (female), respectively. :-()
MONARCHWATCH UPL 600 (male) and UPL 601 (female)
MONARCHWATCH UPL 600 (male) and UPL 601 (female)
image.jpg (50.58 KiB) Viewed 22723 times


I was bracing myself to do this, but it turned out to be "just like riding a bike" -- my hands caught and held the butterflies at optimum angle for DD to position the tags automatically. I pressed the tag onto the wing by holding the wings firmly together for count of 10. Funny how years and literally hundreds of butterfly tagging has imprinted my muscle memory.

...*thinking* part of the memory is another matter. Unless we find more, we will only be tagging four butterflies. Note to self to order the tags at the beginning of the season. :roll:

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I just love your little butterflies. If you could name one of your male butterflies after my bird Rosco, I would be thrilled. Rosco is a sweet bird. He would love to have a butterfly named after him.

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Released Monarch #11 tagged and logged as UPL602 male
-- no pictures since he took off without pausing to sip from the mint blossoms. He had eclosed during the night and was restless all day while it rained for the first time in ages outside.

I did see a tagged male flying around in the garden earlier and took a picture.
image.jpg
...@BirdLover, we could name UPL602 Rosco or the one that came back -- UPL600. :-()

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Test
I've been getting error messages so that's why this is a test.

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Okay, Applestar, you choose which butterfly gets to be named Rosco. Nothing wrong with a little bit of fun.

There is a nice butterfly exhibit at the Science Center in Seattle WA, just north of where I am. They do what you do. They have a large variety of butterflies from around the world.

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Our last Monarch Butterfly -- #12 -- eclosed sometime during Thursday night.

This was Swampy II, brought inside as a 5th instar caterpillar and raised in isolation from the others in case of possible tachnid fly infestation due to belated rescue.

We tagged and logged him as UPL 603 (male) and released him late In the afternoon. He spent some time on a runty volunteer sunflower that grew under the birdfeeder before taking off, so DD2 and I were able to take several pictures. :D
image.jpg

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Quick question applestar: In your zone, which is pretty close to mine; How late in the season can they lay their eggs to complete the full cycle?

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I want to say approximately 2 weeks, longer as temperatures get lower. But I can review my notes.

You saw in the beginning of this thread that my predicted time from chrysalis to eclosure was longer compared to actual. -- I'm thinking in addition to the higher temperature in the house due to energy saving thermostat settings, another possible reason is that my DD's (who are older now) had been staying up longer with lights on so their "daylight" hours were longer.

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I started cleaning out the front bed today, and found two cats! (this is why I asked) I moved them to the tropical s, cause the swamp weed was taking over the entire bed. Now that I know they will come, I have to re-think my entire plantings. Below is a pic of how thick things got.

I might have shown this before as I am on a few different garden sites, if that is the case, my apologies. The heart of the bed is all Incarnata, while the outside edges are Curassavica, and Tuberosa. Neither of the latter are shown just to give you an idea how thick things got in a very short period of time. This photo was actually taken in late July, early August.

Image

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I C 2! I've noticed a couple of monarchs hanging close, getting up close and personal with some milkweeds. With older eyes, and older glasses, think there are eggs, and been too (lazy, forgetful) to carry out a hand lense. I figured if eggs, cat would soon be there! Anyway, just walked around and saw 2 cats, less than 1". I usually look for noshings on leaves for clues.

There are plenty of milkweeds, in small and large pots, both rose/swamp -incarnata and tropical -A. curassavica, spread about. There's butterfly weed out there, but I've never seen egg/cat activity on it. There must be 10 -12 tropicals still in 4" pots, left from not selling at market, and not up potting now and some in large containers.

If I enclose a couple in the pop-up hamper, will just put a whole (4") pot in there, and may need to cut of the lanky top.

I am thrilled for the monarchs, for me, and the other bottom line. This season pushing milkweeds for monarchs, and we haven't had any to speak of! Oopsies!

Susan W
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I took an AM walk about. There are more cats, and some eggs. A question for Apple on a couple. I checked a large container, has 4 tropicals in it, so real full. I saw at least 2 blackened (and dead) cats, shriveled. What's up with that? If something is attacking them, perhaps need to bring a few into a 'cage' aka hamper in sheltered outside. I don't have to pick leaves for them, just put in whole plants that are still in small pots.

A note on logistics for us, is noting that the flurry of activity may be September. A friend in Nashville, middle TN said he has lots of activity now, didn't see any earlier. The adults that make it now should be on the last cycle and born to fly. They don't mate, but go on to Mexico. They mate late winter as they are packing up to fly north. As they fly north, their first stop (egg laying and dying) is TX.

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Blackened and dead are likely bacterial infection (like Bt or related). It could also be assassin bug sucking the life out of them.

...you are likely to see bigger females that are equipped to fly the distance.



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