Slowing Down . . . For Now

Monarch girls have released nearly 75 butterflies so far this season. The first three release days were the biggest, releasing 12, then 24, and then 13 monarchs! Since then, there was a 7 butterfly release, and a few smaller releases, along with a number of disappointments due to OE contamination. A few butterflies either died before emerging, or emerged with deformed wings due to OE. Though OE is spread by the adult female monarch when she lays eggs on milkweed (some of the spores from her body end up on the milkweed and are then eaten by the larva when it hatches), it is still a good idea to house caterpillars in much smaller groups to avoid contamination and other health problems. We've also read that it's recommended to only collect eggs or very small caterpillars because there is more of a chance that larger caterpillars have been victimized by flies or wasps (who lay their eggs in the caterpillars) before they are collected. This leads to disappointment when the caterpillars later die, having been eaten from the inside by fly or wasp larva--YUCK!

Taking all of these health/contamination issues into account, Monarch Girls are taking the time to thoroughly disinfect all 'nursery' containers used to raise our first batch of monarchs. Afterwards, we'll be back in the business of raising monarchs! We'll be sharing more photos of our process, conatiners, and the different stages of our little friends, along with photos of other critters that visit our garden--like the hummingbird moth that visited our scabiosa flowers a week and a half ago:

Hummingbird moth? What's that? Read all about the different types of hummingbird moths HERE.

Stop and take time to enjoy the butterflies!

From Stripes to Green!

Our first caterpillar pupated (went into the chrysalis stage) yesterday during the day! A day later, we have 11 beautiful green chrysalides! Over the past couple of weeks since we first found monarch eggs and caterpillars, we have harvested a lot of milkweed leaves and cleaned a lot of caterpillar feces out of the cages and containers in order to keep our caterpillars as well-fed and healthy as possible.

Last night was another big 'first' for us as well. We were actually able to watch two of the caterpillars shed their skin to reveal the green chrysalis underneath. It was absolutely amazing to watch the little miracle take place!

We will try to post more photos soon. Meanwhile, we anxiously await the day our new monarchs will emerge from their chrysalides! The big day should come just under two weeks from now!

The First Monarch Eggs of the Season

The journey has begun! Monarch fever is here!

After their long-awaited return, the monarchs have found the milkweed in our yard, which has just begun to grow. The Monarch Girls have already collected numerous eggs and tiny little caterpillars that have only recently hatched. They have been busily scouring the cabinets for containters that are no longer of use to their parents, so they can expand their monarch 'condos' on the front porch to better accomodate their monarch eggs and larvae. Plastic containers meant for storing leftovers, old deli containers, instant noodle bowl containers, and even the former home of their late hermit crab have been converted to 'nursery' containers for their little friends.

They examine the milkweed patch in the garden any chance they get to see if they have been visited by any more female monarchs. They harvest fresh milkweed leaves to feed the quickly growing caterpillars, discarding wilted leaves and caterpillar feces. (Yes, caterpillars poop--a LOT!) They check the egg containers to transfer hatchlings into different containers. They watch over their little friends like new parents watch over newborn babies, ecstatic about the daily growth and changes they observe. They are also very protective of their caterpillars. After finding a caterpillar hatchling that appears to have been killed by a spider, they are more convinced than ever that their efforts to help the monarch butterfly are absolutely necessary.

The caterpillar pictured below is probably only a couple days old, but growing fast and eating as much as it can! Stay tuned for more exciting Monarch Girls updates!