Sunday, November 4, 2012

It started with...

...a notion
That really spells trouble right there...I'm sure If Frankie was standing behind me as I type this he'd be shaking his head "yes" vigorously!
~Pour yourself a cup of your favorite beverage and I'll tell you my tale~
 About 4 years ago, I became wildly fascinated with the migration of  Monarch butterflies. Thousands trek from Mexico to the East Coast every year. We've only had one year where they flit and fluttered like mad before the numbers dwindled drastically. I started following a web site monarch and watched and learned. Then, three years ago, I decided to plant my own milkweed to hopefully attract the adult Monarch.
*Milkweed is the only plant that adult Monarchs will lay their eggs on. It's also the only plant that once the larvae hatches will eat. Basically, I watered and killed the aphids that suck the nectar out of the plant for 3 years. 
Boring, but necessary, and as I looked under a leaf for the gazillionth time, I spied the 1st egg! I think I hyperventilated googling images to make sure, 100% sure, that that's what I was looking at. That was 4 weeks ago.
 * Each time I went out to check the plant, more larvae appeared.  The vicious Santa Ana's flared up & I had to bring this huge potted milkweed plant to my back patio that is better protected from the winds. I rearranged everything to accommodate this plant! I figured I was already vested & felt as though I was gifted as their steward, so I enlisted Frankie's help to clamp a tarp against the railing.  As the number of larvae grew and as some would wander off, I asked Frankie, to please build an enclosure. He built an amazing 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 ft. butterfly habitat from PVC. We hot glued white tulle onto the pipe & now they were as safe as possible from the winds AND the birds. 
Soon we had 40 larvae. 
They pretty much eat and poop. 
*They eat and eat and eat! They eat so much & so fast I was running out of milkweed. In a near panic I called nursery after nursery to see if they carried the plant. Thank goodness for Green Arrow! So far, I'm several trips and 8 plants in ($7.99 ea!) The Santa Ana's were still whipping about and I would lay in bed worrying about those critters as much as I worried about my roof blowing off. One night, around 1 a.m. I went out to check on them & to make sure that the covering I had placed over the habitat was holding. Sure enough, it had blown off & I had to find a way to secure it. Everyone was safe!  So you see,  I was busy, busy, busy, and so much of my attention was focused on these babies that were growing faster and faster. I was still researching to try & stay ahead of them so I knew what to expect next! 
* I was tickled pink once I knew there was enough food and the winds had died down. I looked forward to sitting and playing with and learning about these amazing creatures after work. The larvae shed 4 times and go through 5 instars (stages between molting) then climb away from the milkweed to secure & attach themselves to get ready to pupate. 
My "babies" are getting fatter and plumper!

REALLY PLUMP!

*Oh he's ready!
After awhile, the feeding frenzy slowed way down and the critters started making their way to the top of the habitat. Once there, they pretty much don't move for a few days, & attach themselves with a "silk button."

Then...

...the magic really starts to happen. The larvae do a "J" hang and will stay like this for another few days and if you are lucky, you can actually watch as they shed the outside skin for the last time & emerge as this beautiful chrysalis.  Sadly, nature isn't as beautiful and perfect as we'd like it to be and thhis little guy didn't pupate successfully. I've also had to educate myself on all the things that can go wrong with Monarchs. They have a hard time out in nature. Besides parasites that can harm the caterpillar, I've lost 4 chrysalis to the Tachinid Fly that uses the caterpillar as a host to do its own pupating. The first one was devastating.  I had to further read about how to destroy the chrysalis humanely. I had to get a real backbone to even deal with the next 3. A few days ago, I cleaned the habitat, took out what I suspected as infected milkweed, found the fly larvae, and hoped that the rest of the chrysalis were not infected. Normally, the caterpillars crawl away from the plant to go J hang, two guys decided not to... So I've had to learn how to re-hang the chrysalis otherwise I'd have deformed butterflies.

I've had to secure 2! I've found a chrysalis under an outdoor chair and under a fern-like plant.
I found this guy 2 days ago wandering about...
 *He's the only caterpillar left.

This...
...is where we're at today.
I call the habitat the napping house now. It's filled with 30 healthy looking chrysalis. 
You can definitely see the wings forming on this one! 
Now, we sit...
...and wait.
They'll stay like this for about 12-14 days. The temps here have been cold and hot so
 I'm scared and excited about watching the butterflies emerge. I know that deformities can happen. What makes these butterflies so special is that they are 4th generation. These are the ones that will fly to Mexico to start the whole process over again. That's why I've been so neurotic passionate about making sure these survive!
We have about 4-6 days before the first ones start to emerge.
I could NOT have done this without Frankie...he's my hero and has urged me along through the good and not so good times with this venture.
For my peeps on IG, thank you for your support & welcomed comments and hope I have not inundated you with pics. I'm really trying to curb my enthusiasm, at the same time draw you in so that you can enjoy the journey with me.
It's been such a fabulous learning experience and it's not over yet!
To be continued...
Happy (butterfly) snapping!
xo
Kelly

12 comments:

  1. I've been following you on IG and was wondering what you were up to. Wow I'm very impressed with your devotion. I can't wait to see the photos of your butterflies as they emerge. I remember doing this with my kids. They have one of those small habitats. It's an amazing learning experience.

    Good Luck!!

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  3. I think this is just absolutely amazing! I love how they "J" hang and the way the chrysalis looks. And those caterpillars did get fat... real live hungry caterpillars.

    You've been a great butterfly mama. I can't wait to see the final result. Your butterfly habitat will be a pretty magical place to be in a few days.

    (P.S. I had to delete my earlier comment because this English teacher used the wrong 'your.' Yikes. That was bad.)

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  4. Oh I am lovin' your journey into Monarch land...you should be so proud of yourself for the devotion you have given these beauties and I so love your picture journal for all of us to enjoy. I can hardly wait for the "birth" of these beauties. Thank you for taking us along with you on this adventure!!

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  5. Oh Kel..I'm so excited to see these beauties emerge & I'm REALLY excited for you too!! What a wonderful journey these monarch babies have taken you on..I've enjoyed watching this process & am so very proud for you..you have cared for & nurtured them so well! Congrats to you..I can't wait to see the images you create when they emerge & I'm secretly hoping for a beautiful butterfly mumma self portrait..you are so good at them!

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  6. I bought some milkweed last year or the year before, can't remember now, but the mosquitoes are so bad here sometimes that you literally get attacked by hundreds. So one morning I wanted to do some gardening and sprayed some yard fogger to get a little relief, well, I didn't realize that the milkweed plant I had, but wasn't planted yet, had 2 or 3 caterpillars on them, and the yard spray killed them. I cried my little eyes out, I was so upset. And then my plant died because we were in a drought and were not allowed to water anything or get a $500 fine. So it's just been so fun for me to follow along on this adventure with you. Can't wait until the birthing day (s)!! xo

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  7. Kelly,
    Thanks for pointing me to your blog today from IG! This is absolutely fascinating! I'm in Virginia and it's getting cold here now but you have inspired me to spend the winter researching how I can do this myself when spring comes!
    ~S

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  8. This is so interesting to me. We had some milkweed plant itself in our front bed this summer and I decided to let it be. Haven't gotten monarchs but have gotten Great Spangled Fritillaries, which apparently are also milkweed butterflies. They laid eggs and I haven't paid much attention to them since. Today I noticed that the leaves that had the eggs on them are pretty chewed up. Wondering what this all means? I like the milkweed and might just leave it be for next year. Maybe a monarch or two will stop by.

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  9. This is so interesting to me. We had some milkweed plant itself in our front bed this summer and I decided to let it be. Haven't gotten monarchs but have gotten Great Spangled Fritillaries, which apparently are also milkweed butterflies. They laid eggs and I haven't paid much attention to them since. Today I noticed that the leaves that had the eggs on them are pretty chewed up. Wondering what this all means? I like the milkweed and might just leave it be for next year. Maybe a monarch or two will stop by.

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    1. Hi Barbara,
      I'm sure a critter has been eating all the leaves. They have voracious appetites! The milkweed comes back shortly full bloom...we have very mild winters so I have blooms all year. Hope you get a shot at being a monarch mama!

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  10. Fantastic. What an experience. Thank you for showing with such great photos.

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Thank you for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. Your comments always put a smile on my face. Hope to see you again real soon.