Monarchs eclosed this morning - Movie link

14 years ago

I have had only 3 monarchs so far this year, found them as baby cats on my milkweed. Today they eclosed within 15 minutes of each other. I was able to video one of them. Not the greatest quality, but it was exciting to watch in person! There's a second video showing her outside. Of the three, one was male and two female. I gave them a tour of my garden, making special note as to where the milkweed is! :) The male has taken off, and the females are hanging out on some lantana.

Eclosing

Inside, then Outside

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

brindlebutt
14 years ago
Hooray! This is so wonderful. Great footage. I don't know how long you have been at this, but I am guessing you are either highly experienced or really lucky. A person I met recently said that she actually walks around with the container when she knows it is about to happen, waiting for this moment to occur, because she doesn't want to miss this, because it happens so quickly.

This is my first time as a Monarch rancher, and it has been an enchanting experience. I have 9 chrysalides here - the window for eclosing begins Wednesday, but there will be a tidal wave this weekend. I can't wait.

My little corner of the world has been very lucky. Between my neighbor and I we've had 15 make it to chrysalides, and I just got another 4 instar today. Looks like there were 4 passes approx 3 days apart. I've seen adult fluttering around my milkweeds in the last few days too, so there may be more cats on the way. I just love this - I hope there are more on the way for all of us!

Congratulations again!!
weed30 St. Louis
Original Author
14 years ago
Just lucky :) I've only been doing this for a few years, and until last year I only had Black Swallowtails.

Did you know that when a caterpillar makes its chrysalis, it completely liquefies in there? All of the body and organs turn into a kind of goo. In the goo are cells called imaginal discs, that direct the creation of the butterfly's wings, legs, body, etc. That is a real layman's description, you can do a search on 'butterfly imaginal discs' for a better explanation. It's really an amazing process.
Related Discussions
Up to 320 Monarchs released
Q
Comments (25)
I prefer to collect Monarchs as either eggs or very small instars. Haven't had very good luck with larger cats, they just don't seem to thrive inside. Figure that if a 4th or 5th instar has made it that far in the "field", they probably have a good chance to make it to chrysalis. After finding an egg, I cut off a good sized piece or pick off the whole leaf that contains the egg, and lay them out on a damp paper towel with the egg side up. This helps to keep the leaf fresh. I usually spritz the towel every morning. Just be cautious that it's not too wet - the leaf can mold. The leaf may wilt a bit, but it doesn't dry up to a crisp. It's easy to tell when the egg is going to hatch - they turn greyish/brown beforehand. When the little guy hatches, I also try to carefully transfer them to a sprig of milkweed. For the small ones, I always cut a tender growth tip and use that for food. At that stage, one will occasionally disappear and they're easy to lose, drop, or smush, but most of them do fine, and they usually stay on their sprig of milkweed eating tiny little sections of leaf.
...See More
Plea to all foster parents raising monarchs
Q
Comments (19)
You could also make your own 'breezy' containers. Make a frame out of something, wood, pvc pipe, whatever and wrap it in screen. If you don't feel like being that creative/crafty (like me) I found some picnic plate covers, they're a metel mesh. One I sewed screen around it and found a plastic bowl, drilled holes in it and sewed the bottom of the screen to the bowl. I use that (hung up, didn't add anything for support to stand it up) for my chrys. to eclose in. And the other I found another (happens to match) plastic bowl. I drilled a few small holes in the bowl, took some wierd yarn/string stuff, tied the plate cover to the bowl. There's 5 strings. And the neat thing is, all I have to do is untie the strings and toss the 2 halves in the dishwasher to disinfect. Below is a link to a simular mesh cover. I bought mine for a buck each at a Dollar General store. And the bowls I used were "Wavy" bowls at walmart for 75 cents. The wavy bowl gave me a little lip on the edge to drill holes in. Be creative! There's lots of stuff out there you can make cages out of. Wire Mesh trash cans, dollar stores usually carry small version. Or the mesh baskets.I find myself looking in the summer clearance stuff lateley go ooh! I could make a cat cage out of that! and that! But I don't really need anymore.... Oh, I did take 2 plastic bottoms from 2 plant pots (the things that are supposed to catch the water), It had 3 raised bumps where it originally attatched to the pot, stuck some small pvc pipe (really small) over 2 of the raised bumps, then attatched the other plastic thing face down on top of the pvc and wrapped it in some screen I had left over, w/ an opening in the front. Made a neat little 10" diamter, 12" tall cage. See, you can use anything! Here is a link that might be useful: mesh food covers
...See More
Who's raising Monarchs and how is it going?
Q
Comments (26)
I planted my seeds in spring 0f 09 but nothing grew until midyear 2010. I spotted my first monarch last October but I did not find any eggs. This year on the 1st of September I spotted my first Monarch laying eggs. Then three days later another Monarch was spotted laying more eggs. I am pretty sure they were two different butterflies, as the second was much larger than the first. Then on the 12th I spotted another Monarch, one of her wings was kind of tattered, she too laid eggs. I collected 23 eggs from the first two butterfly visits. All hatched into cats, I kept 17, gave 3 to a neighbor, 3 to a teacher. Yesterday evening they started to form the J shape with their silk buttons. Of my 17 only 14 were in this stage. Of the 3 remaining 2 were quite a bit smaller and the 3rd was a few days behind the 14 (or so I thought). So last night I put those 3 back outside on my plant. Bad idea! This morning I noticed a wasp flying around my milkweed. I quickly swatted and killed it. It was too late I found the remains of one of my smaller cats, ughh. I collected the other two and brought them in. I went across the street to warn my neighbor. She had put her live plant outside, the milkweed aggravated her allergies. One of her little cats was gone too. She let me take the two back inside with mines. I also found another small cat so I brought it in, another wasp was circling. As of now I have 16 that are in the J position, and three little cats. I still feel awful that the wasp got the other two though.
...See More
Finally seeing Monarchs in my garden ...
Q
Comments (10)
Hi Sandy, Thank you for your nice comment on the photo. I noticed the same native Liatris blooming along the freeway while on my way to London, AR. I'm going to let the seed heads on my plants dry and see if I can be successful with seed germination this winter. I've never had luck germinating seed of this plant. Yes, I believe MaryAnn did have several different Asters available. Don't they make nice color this time of year plus provide a much needed nectar source. I can't wait to see how this Peachies Pick does. It has some dried seed heads on it and I crumpled up one and sprinkled it in a mini greenhouse to see if anything germinates. Be happy to share some seed, if they're viable and come true from seed. My potted plant also has a fresh bloom, which I think is beautiful ... love to try new plants! http://www.perennialreference.com/perennials/stokesia.html Pine Ridge Gardens is having another open house in mid October. That might be an ideal time to consider driving over. The Open House dates are on MaryAnn's website. ~Mary Here is a link that might be useful: Pine Ridge Gardens
...See More
brindlebutt
14 years ago
I read about the physiological processes, and my jaw dropped. It sounds so volcanic. I had become so attached to my little caterpillars that it made me sad.

This fascinating experience has gotten me very interested in the scientific aspects, and I have been trying to track down more information. I am grateful for your search suggestion.

"Only" Black Swallowtails? Only Cabbage Whites, maybe. I'd love to have some Black Swallowtails swooping around here.

T minus 72 hours to my first eclose (approx). I am so excited. I hope I did a good job with these little guys and that the adults will be okay.

Monarchs eclosed this morning - Movie link

Comments (3)

brindlebutt

weed30 St. Louis
Original Author

Related Discussions

brindlebutt

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Monarchs eclosed this morning - Movie link

Comments (3)

brindlebutt

weed30 St. LouisOriginal Author

Related Discussions

brindlebutt

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

weed30 St. Louis
Original Author