As always happens, I regret not taking pictures of the back of our truck becoming an instant garden. The plants were placed and planted and our back yard looked truly finished.
It wasn't long before mama monarchs came. We noticed them laying eggs on the leaves. Then the magic began to happen!
Do you see the newly hatched caterpillar? He is about 1/8" in length. His egg case is directly below. The "eyeball" in the center right side of the picture is a caterpillar that is about to emerge. The black dot is his head. Before they are ready to emerge, the eggs are tiny, creamy white balls
More very young caterpillars
We bought some more plants to bring onto the lanai.
We placed them in a butterfly "cage"
It was fun to see the caterpillars grow, and grow, and
grow!
We watched them form chrysalides.
This one became detached and after taking the picture I pinned it to
the top of the butterfly cage.
We had a "run away" caterpillar, and finally found the Chrysalis on the floor of the lanai. I meant to attach it to the cage, but didn't get around to it. Then... I noticed the coloration of the wings showing through the chrysalis. I needed to mount it so the emerging butterfly would have space to spread its wings.
When I picked it up to attach it to the screen of the butterfly cage, it popped open in my hand and the butterfly began to emerge.
The miracle of life!
We took it outside and superglued the top of the chrysalis to a leaf of the milkweed plant.
The story of the Monarch does not stop here. This is only one generation of four that this species goes through. There are four generations each year. The final generation butterflies are the ones that migrate to Mexico, via Texas, living seven months!
CAUTION
A protozoan parasite of monarch butterflies, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha or OE for short, can travel with monarchs visiting the plants and become deposited on leaves. When caterpillars hatch and start eating the plant, they ingest the OE. ... Tropical milkweed can also interfere with monarch migration and reproduction. -Xerces Society
The Mister is a voracious reader and researcher. Soon after we became intrigued with the Monarchs, he discovered trouble in paradise! Most of the nurseries in our area sell Tropical milkweed. It is a perennial in this part of Florida, and has pretty orange and red flowers. Because it doesn't die back in winter, the protozoan lives on and can infect future generations of Monarchs. Additionally, the fourth generation Monarchs may resist the urge to migrate if there is a supply of milkweed where they are living, or along their migratory path.
I like your butterfly garden. I had read that there are only certain kinds of milkweed to plant to help our Monarchs. Are you going to pull out those plants and find the best kind? Nature is complicated. I too have a garden that attracts butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.
ReplyDeleteFrom what we read, we just need to be certain that no plants are flowering in the fall when the butterflies are supposed to leave. So, we will trim the tropical plants back. We have seeds for other milkweed and will use that for next year.
DeleteMilkweed is fairly easy to grow from seed. I need to go check mine:) Great video!
ReplyDeleteWe have several seed packets for milk weed varieties other than the tropical plant. I may hold off and start them off next fall. The video was just lucky. I wish I had video of my face as the chrysalis burst open in my hand, before the Mister picked it up and I got my phone out!
Delete