2012 butterfly project commentary

[applestar]

I decided to make a new thread that works better for this post

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


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.

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?

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

[applestar]

A couple of days ago, I noticed that my overgrown, bonsai-wannabe potted elm was infested with half a dozen rather alarming-looking, bristly caterpillars.

I took three of them inside to ID, thinking to raise them for eventual positive ID since I know for sure what they eat, and discovered to my delight that these are likely Question Mark butterfly caterpillars. So I collected 6 more and we have been feeding them. -- I have other elm volunteers in the garden, but first one I looked at had three more caterpillars on it . I'm afraid my potted elms are going to end up rather drastically pruned.

As of yesterday, one of the caterpillars in the rearing boxes has already formed a chrysalis, and another is hanging in a pre-chrysalis J position

I'll take pictures and post tomorrow.

[webmaster]

Hey that's really cool! I want to try that, too.

[applestar]

I finally took some photos of the Question Marks

-- alarming-looking, like I said...


They have been transforming into chrysalises (7 so far)


Look at the fancy schmancy silvery spots:
(They actually look like liquid silver)

This one fell down -- they don't secure their chrysalises as well as Monarchs: You see a second one taped by thread to side of the container above... or else they are diseased. (There are reports of Monarch caterpillars and chrysalises falling down within the rearing community). I have to help it out by tying a thread to its tail-end and taping the thread to the container.

I'll post more photos when they eclose out of the chrysalises.
-- but for now, here is a picture of a pair of Monarchs we released today:

The one to the right is a male: You can tell by the pockets of scent gland on each wing. Females don't have that and the black interior lines are broader. See?


They were, of course, tagged:

[applestar]

First Question Mark eclosed!

Not much to look at with wings closed, though you do see the liquid-silvery spots it had as chrysalis, equally shiny on the wing now, looking somewhat like ? Which they are named for, and I think it would camouflage very well as a browned leaf or a section of bark:


Here's what it looks like with the wings open:

[rainbowgardener]

Hope you don't mind if I tag on to your butterfly thread, Applestar. I was just out picking parsley for dinner. I have a big bunch of curly parsley growing in the front lawn bed. Looking closely I discovered at least FIVE (possibly more, I didn't want to bother them, so didn't dig around in the interior too much) swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, the pretty, stripey ones.

So my question is, are these likely to become adult this season yet or is this the generation that will overwinter? We didn't have a very good butterfly season this year, perhaps because of extreme drought. So I'd love to protect these guys so they make it to become adults.

[applestar]

Hey that's great! I guess my answer would be most likely to eclose and become butterflies this season still.

In my experience, based on average indoor temperature of approximately 78°F, it takes about a week to 11 days from egg hatching to 5th instar caterpillar ready to make chrysalis, a day to make the chrysalis, and another week to 11 days to metamorphose and eclose as butterfly. Faster with higher temperatures, slower with lower temperatures.

We almost always raise a few black swallowtails. For us (i.e. this has been our observation although I have heard different) the tell-tale was the color of the chrysalis. They seem to make green chrysalis if they still intend to come out this season, and dried stem tan chrysalis when they intend to overwinter. I think it's camo-color. If they turn tan, you need to keep them cold or they will get confused and eclose too early in spring.

Good luck. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

[PunkRotten]

What does the tag say that you put on the butterfly?

[applestar]

You can read it in this photo:


If you are interested in the program, full details can be found here:
http://monarchwatch.org/tagmig/tag.htm

[applestar]

Fall rains have started early this year. It's been raining like mad all mid week. We kept the eclosed Question Mark butterflies in a butterfly cage inside.

Initially I put a glass of wildflowers and blooming mint in it, like I do with the Monarchs, but noticing they weren't feeding well, I looked up their adult food and found out that they prefer tree sap and rotten fruits, dung, and carrion ...and only feed on flower nectars when those aren't available.

Well, 2nd and 3rd choices weren't an option in the house, and I'd just trimmed some damaged apples, so that's what they got -- chewedup/insect damaged/browned apples which we put in a jar lid of diluted maple syrup.

We had 7 Question Marks in the cage by yesterday. One of them was a different color from the rest -- sort of warm dusky mahogany rather than the treebark grey. It turns out that this is the winter form -- hibernates and overwinters. . We named it "Winter"

My daughter has the closed wing photo I think. Here it is with wings open:

Longer violet tails are another characteristic.

We released all 7 yesterday when the sun finally came out. Winter was the last to leave the cage and had to be coaxed out. But when she headed straight for the butterfly feeder of spoiled fruits in the back yard, my daughter followed to take some photos and reported that there was ANOTHER winter form Question Mark already feeding there, and she couldn't tell which one is Winter.

One more chrysalis turning black so probably will eclose today, then two last chrysalises to go. It will be interesting to see if these will be winter forms as well.

[lily51]

Great photos, great project. Thanks for sharing!

[Tina_n_Max]

Wow, thanks for sharing this!

[tomf]

My wife loves cats, she would love a fan like that.

[edelweiss]

applestar how fascinating. It feels like I am going back to Biology classes. Thank you so much for sharing. It interests me very much how you raise them, take care of them. I always say butterflies are a sign from heaven!

[Flowerhead]

Great Thread!

I use a variety of plants to attract butterflies to my property. I plant lots of native texas wildflowers that attract them and other insects. My butterflies like these best: purple coneflower, fall atser, sunflowers, and lantana

I also have some herbs too...Fennel is good for monarch butterflies. Monarchs love this herb and wil eat it down to a stick!! I also have some rue which is good for Blue and Black butterflies

[tomf]

I like the name you use Flowerhead.

[applestar]

So, did you find the cat fan for your wife? I'm saw it in two sizes in several of the holiday issue catalogs that are mountenousLy arriving every day (I really have to cancel some of those)

[Happy Days]

This is a great thread, applestar. I don't want to see it end. Could we have one something on the order of "Let's see your butterfly photos"?

[Kathy Bales]

Thanks for posting what Monarchs like to eat. We are on their migration path and for a couple of weeks every spring and fall the yard is absolutely alive with Monarchs.

We have lots of lantana in the back and there are some trees that have very sweet blooms in the spring - not sure what they are but I'm asking around. We also have lots of live oaks and cedars for nesting while they are here.

I think I'll plant some fennel and purple coneflowers this spring. I also want to get some butterfly bush. We already have red yucca that attracts hummingbirds, and I understand that butterfly bush will do the same.

[Happy Days]

I heard on the news last night that the number of Monarchs that made the migration is way down again this year for the third year in a row. They speculated that pesticides are the reason.

We certainly need to help them all we can. Our yard is a Certified Monarch Waystation. It took a couple of years before I saw them here in the yard and I've only seen a couple, but it made my heart heart very happy. They are so beautiful.

[rainbowgardener]

They are beautiful and to see the migration must be amazing.

Has everyone read Barbara Kingsolver's new book Flight Behavior? It is a novel, with the monarch migration central to the theme/action. Beautifully written, thoughtful, sensitive, absolutely a must read.

[Happy Days]

I haven't read it. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.