The last Minnesota Monarch 2011- even later!

12 years ago

Hi everyone,

In 2010 my last eclosure was Oct 3 and my last garden monarch Oct 8.

since my last caterpillar just pupated today (sep 25) I will likely have an eclosure after the 3rd...but then something unexpected happened today.

as I was transplanting some things, I sprayed down my best patch of tropical milkweed. Something caught my eye as it fell off a leaf and on to one below.

as I approached, I was amazed to find it was an instar 3-4 cat! It looks healthy on inspection, but you never know.

If everything works out, this butterfly will probably eclose around the 10th of October...I may have to find it a discounted seat on an airline :) Tony

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Comments (24)

butterflymomok
12 years ago
We have joked on BF forum about mailing chrysalids to southern friends!
KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
12 years ago
Yesterday, I was surprised to find a 5th instar TST on my wafer ash. Today, I was even more surprised to see two 4th instar and one 5th instar monarchs on my tropical milkweed. I could not find any a couple weeks ago so I thought they were done.
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minrose
12 years ago
Wow, that is neat, maybe I should look some more, I am bummed that I just released my last Monarch yesterday, having empty nest syndrome.
MissButterfly
12 years ago
Send them on down!
My MW is resprouting, so by the time they get here, there should be plenty of leaves for eggs. :-0
Sherry
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
They're on their way down "the arborist formerly known as Miss Sherry"

Today it was 78 and GORGEOUS here.... all I saw was a Mourning cloak (which hibernate in tree bark) and one fiery skipper.

I'm sure I'll see one or two more garden monarchs in the next week...if not, I've still got 4 chrysalides and one cat who needs to hurry up!

Enjoy the butterflies down south! Tony
terrene
12 years ago
Hope your "late bloomers" have decent weather for their eclosure and lift off to Mexico!

I am a little jealous that you still have Monarchs. Same as Minrose, I released my last Monarch on Tuesday also, and I miss them.
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks Terrene,

we are in for about 5 days straight of unseasonably warm and sunny weather starting Sunday (oct 2)

One male eclosed today and I have 3 more chrysalides hatching soon.

The bad news is that my caterpillar is still.....a caterpillar!!! He is now a fat instar 5. guessing he will pupate tonight or tomorrow

I may end up needing to ship someone a chrysalis...keeping my eye on the weather forecast. Tony
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011 9AM CDT

{{gwi:538790}}
wifey2mikey
12 years ago
Activity seems to be winding down here a bit... haven't seen as many Monarchs in the yard, though I have still seen a few freshly laid eggs. I currently have 18 caterpillars (it was only 16 but I found two 1/2 grown ones in the flower beds today.)

~Laura
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
The Last Minnesota Monarch: Sunday October 2nd 2011 8:12PM

YEAH!! You Finally did it!

{{gwi:538792}}
minrose
12 years ago
yeah!
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
Today was amazing....as the colorful leaves fell from the trees the temperature soared to a record 88 degrees.

Two male monarchs nectared all day (one I released today and the other 3 days ago....the female had places to go)

Their favorite halloween haunts were the California giant zinnias, tropical milkweed, lantana camara, and our potted magenta buzz butterfly bush which has bloomed the ENTIRE season.

They will be here again tomorrow as they were still nectaring when the sun started to disappear.

The last Minnesota Monarch is still asleep inside its chrysalis and will grace us with his/her presence sometime next week. Tony
KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
12 years ago
I found another 4th instar monarch today. Brought it inside. It does not seem to like the accommodations. Just keeps wandering around.

I'm running low on some hostplants. Ash is basically history. Tried switching the remaining ash eating cecropias to walnut but they refused. I still have some 3rd instar GSTs which will be out of wafer ash real soon. I have to find out if my friend's prickly ash is still holding up.
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi KC,

my last monarch was acting strange too! I brought her in at third instar and everyday she would climb up the wall of the cage and just sit there.

I suspected she had a parasite as my other parasitic monarchs acted strangely too (I'm sure it's not very comfortable being eaten from the inside out)

After a couple days of this, she finally got back to eating and grew to a LARGE 5th instar before forming a perfect chrysalis...

maybe they are nervous because they know that time is growing short! Tony
terrene
12 years ago
Tony, I hope you're keeping that chrysalis nice and warm so it ecloses fast!

Look who wandered through the back garden yesterday. We haven't had a frost yet (yippee) and the annuals are still blooming well, although they're getting a little ragged.

I've never seen a Monarch in the garden this late.
{{gwi:453076}}
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
hi Terrene,

I'm glad to see you had a straggler come your way...they are always a nice surprise.

I just came in from the garden and there are 3 monarchs nectaring on the mexican sunflowers and tropical milkweed...this is for me too, the LATEST I have ever seen monarchs nectaring in the garden...my record was Oct 8 last year.

My last chrysalis is inside BUT our nighttime temps have been in the 60's and even 70's still. like summer! hard to believe we almost had a frost in mid september

The monarch will either hatch tomorrow or Tuesday...the last butterfly will have no problems escaping south. :)

Tony
minrose
12 years ago
On our drive to another town an hour away, we saw several monarchs flying by this last Sunday, it was a gorgeous day and fun to see them.
I hope your last one ecloses soon!
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
Tuesday 8:25am October 11th...the last Minnesota Monarch ecloses! A healthy male

Today is the LAST day of our exceptional weather...80 and Sunny.

There was actually another male fluttering around the garden when I set him on the tropical milkweed.

I went to an appointment this morning and saw three monarchs on the way! When I came home both monarchs were gone. I think they know it's finally time to start the long migration.

Check out the link below to see this years last monarch and the one from 2010. Be on the lookout for some stragglers down south! Tony

Here is a link that might be useful: Last Minnesota Monarch
minrose
12 years ago
So glad he eclosed just fine and such a gorgeous day too in Minnesota for him to eclose. I saw a Monarch yesterday too, good bye have a safe trip!
terrene
12 years ago
Hope he makes it to Mexico!

I have seen a straggler in the garden every day the past few days, always a male. We've had fantastic weather the past few days, but it changes today, so this could be the real end of Monarchs for 2011. Sniff.
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
Minrose- yes, such a beautiful today. will try to remember it in the coming months!

Terrene- I thought maybe the last female generation would be more playful than the others since they didn't have to focus on egg laying, but the one female that eclosed around October 3 wanted nothing to do with the males, and nectared in seclusion on the other side of the yard before abruptly leaving.

There is still ONE male in the yard nectaring. He has been around for the last two weeks. He is quite large and his wings appear "wrinkled". I'm sure he'll head south, but guessing he won't be making the magical migration to Mexico.

The sky is dark and it's starting to rain. monarch season has come to an end in Minnesota...to have it until mid october has been a blessing!

Tony
KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
12 years ago
My last 2 cats pupated yesterday so I should be done with monarch cats for the year.
terrene
12 years ago
Tony, I noticed some interesting sex-related differences this year. With females, they almost always take off after being released, never to be seen again. They are on the move from the get go. The males will sometimes hang around. When I see a freshly released Monarch in the garden the next day, it's almost always a male. (I call them "my boys".)

Also, this year I used a pop up enclosure for about 50 pupating Monarchs. 21 eclosed on one day, the most for me ever. Oddly, the females hung out drying their wings on one side of the enclosure together - the males on the other side! I have no idea why, but thought it was interesting.
Tony G
Original Author
12 years ago
Terrene, very interesting about the division in your enclosure. I wonder what prompted that behavior?

The only time I saw females hanging around the garden for long periods was when the migrators were roosting here....but after the majority left, it was all males again.

Tony

The last Minnesota Monarch 2011- even later!

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