Forgot to mention--it's balance is off because of the uncurled wings, too, it's having a hard time hanging upside down.

Laurellily,

Don't euthanize it today. Make some nectar and keep it in a container where it can get around. When you feel better, then put it in the freezer in a baggy. It's not essential that you euthanize immediately.

I'm sorry about your day. I hope it gets better as it goes on.

Sandy

I'm sorry to hear that. I know how difficult the decision can be. I had one do that as well.

It's most likely infected. It will die within 2 or 3 days :-(

Edna

Thanks for the replies.

I poked at its wings. They were both definitely deformed. I took some pictures so I could post them later and maybe you could all tell me why it happened so I can try to prevent it from happening in the future. I'm not sure if it is diseased, was malnourished as a caterpillar and thus formed improperly (milkweed was scarce here over the last month; I gave them as much as I could and borrowed milkweed from a friend, but it wasn't a feast and all the nurseries are out too), or if it was just so late in the season that the cold-then-warm spells were taxing for it or what.

My husband caught a bad stomach bug, but managed to find the strength (when he could barely stand!) to come outside and euthanize it for me when he heard me crying.

I really hope it was the malnutrition or cold spells (or that it fell right after enclosure) to blame for the bad wings, as I have a few crystallis left in that cage and don't want to have to euthanize more later this week. If it was the cold or food to blame, or that it fell, maybe the others won't be affected depending on where they were in their life cycles when those things happened. If it was disease... :(

I meant to say " The larvae had plenty to eat and it's chrysalis was never disturbed."

Edna

Laurellily,

Hopefully this will help you feel a little better...

A percentage of every brood born and raised in nature entirely without human intervention may have problems spreading their wings successfully, whether it be from influences they were subjected to as an egg, larva or pupa (environmental fluctuations, malnutrition, disease, injury, parasites, etc). Just a fact of nature.

They also have a relatively short period of time after they enclose to get their wings pumped up, dump the fluids and dry their wings. While their wings are in the "wet" state they are so fragile that human intervention to "help" them almost always fails.

So the bottom line is it may not be your fault at all, it is definitely better to just let nature take its course, be happy with those that make it and learn to accept that some of them won't no matter what species or how many times you rear them.

Edna,
Many times while doing life history studies on the Leps around the world I've had a specimen I had chased through tangled jungle for what seemed like blocks trying to get a net on suddenly snatched up literally right from my grasp by a predator. It was usually by birds, but also by feral cats, monkeys and bats. So I know the feeling. LOL

L.

Thank you for the replies!

Before we euthanized it, I gently prodded its wings and took a few pictures. There's what looks like a polyp (sort of a round yellow bead) on the left wing very close to its body. I'll upload the photos as soon as I can (when my husband's not so sick!) so maybe somebody can tell me what that means (obviously not good). There was certainly something wrong with the wings. I know it happens, I just want to understand why so I can try to prevent it if possible in the future.

I'm horrified at the stories of predators feasting on butterflies being chased or just-released! The birds in my yard are very well-fed with seeds, so hopefully they won't be tempted to sample the butterflies. But nature is nature, and what can you do? My husband's reminding me that we've had a few releases in the last week that went very well, so I should think about those instead.

As Edna says, chances are this was a diseased butterfly and it was beyond your help. Many times, those that are unable to 'inflate' their wings often have something wrong to begin with, as Larry (ladobe) says. There isn't much you can do. I can understand, as well, how sad you must've felt. In fact, I am certain that ALL of us on this forum have been in the same position as you at some point in time. But, with experience, we have learned that nature dictates what will happen and we cannot change these things on our own. We do what we can to help but some things just can't be helped.

I've learned, over the years, to be somewhat 'hardened' about euthanizing Monarchs. In fact, I've taught my Kindergartners the same thing: that when Monarchs are unhealthy (stricken with OE, for example) that the most humane thing to do is to euthanize them. It is also the best thing to do for the rest of the population because the 'illness' can spread and infect the others, making for an epidemic of sorts. These little non-English speaking kids comprehend this, not from the "we've gotta kill our friends who are coughing" scenario but from the broader view of the insect world and what can happen, based on the sheer number of eggs a single butterfly lays.

It is a difficult thing to do, to euthanize a butterfly. I always freeze them. I even do this in my classroom. Children will come up to me with butterflies they find outside that are 'hurt' and ask if they can put it in a baggy in the freezer so it won't hurt anymore.

Death is a part of the life-cycle, too. It isn't the 'fun' part of raising butterflies but is something we do have to work with. I have my butterfly specimens that I've kept for people to see and the children are the first to ask, "How did it die?" Almost all of my specimens were ones I found on the ground, having died naturally.

It's okay to be emotional. The holiday season probably makes it even more so. Hang in there.

If you haven't looked through my Monarch site, check it out. I am going to be updating it but there's info on just what you went through. In fact, I just took a picture of a butterfly that eclosed, with OE, and was unable to unfurl its wings. I will be posting that picture in the next few days.

tdogmom aka CalSherry

tdogmom's Monarch Guide

Bumping this up.

I left my poor GST butterfly in its enclosure today with a bowl/sponge of sugar water; it wasn't interested in it at all. At least it made me feel a bit better to know I'm not alone in this experience and feeling so sad about it.

K

Today I found my first butterfly with deformed wings. I'm heartbroken. It eclosed yesterday when it was raining. I'm assuming it's wings never formed properly. I'm really hoping it doesn't have OE, as I have a ton of caterpillars on my milkweed right now. One other butter hatched no problem yesterday, but it was in a more protected area. I have another chrysalis that's going to hatch today I think but it's coloring is weird. Do you think I have OE?

That third picture resembles a butterfly that eclosed at my place yesterday . I could see it was not right immediately. And it fell and could not hold on to the crysalis.

Is it diseased? Can it infect another?

Or is this just something that happens sometime? It took a very long time to exit the crysalis...a real struggle.

Something was wrong. Can you tell me?

lekennedy4's chrysalis picture does not look good. You should not be letting possible OE infected monarchs hang out on your milkweed because that is how OE is spread. The spores come off the butterfly and monarch cats consume them.

http://www.mymonarchguide.com/2007/07/dreaded-oe-spore.html

Some wing damage is repairable. The damaged area can be trimmed off, and a wing from a dead butterfly can be glued to the remaining part of the wing. Do a web search for more i nformation.

I'm having the same problem. This is the 3rd one. My husband and I get so excited when we see the pupa will probable eclose by morning and then we come out in the morning and they're laying on the bottom of the habitat. The wings just aren't spreading and hardening. We are soo heart broken watching this happen. Euthenized the first two by putting them in an envelope and freezing them. still trying with this one but I know I'm just prolonging the inevitable. He even gets all perky and tries to flap when I talk to him. Wish I knew what is wrong. I see no signs of OE but I could be missing it.

Linda - I’m so sorry. It sounds like something bigger (possibly OE) is going on if 3 haven't been strong enough to hang while their wings fully form and harden. It’s such a short window of when that happens. 💔 do you have something they can easily climb over to once they eclose?