Hello, Mr. Woolly.

Mr. Woolly Bear! I thought you were dead!
Sadly so, we had given up on Mr. Woolly and a few days later (ok, maybe it was three weeks), I finally dumped his cage. Out crawled Mr. Woolly, alive and well.
My neighbor had a similar story. The caterpillar died, the cage went into the garage... many many days later, somebody found the cage and decided to bring it back into the house. Out pops her Mr. Woolly Bear. Sooo confused...

So here's the scoop. Woolly Bears actually like old dead leaves. They like them because they are a great place to hide and hibernate for the winter. On cold Fall days, you can often see these caterpillars scurrying across the sidewalk or fallen leaves. They are looking for a spot to sleep for the winter. I was amazed to read that they live outside under rocks, old logs, under the snow until spring. Under the snow! In early spring, the woollys crawl back out and search for food. Only a few days of temps in the 50's and out they come, searching for anything green among all that brown. They will eat most anything, including dandelion leaves. So cool. Finally somebody is going help me weed, even if they are only an inch or so long.

Below is a great website that tells us how to care for the Pyrrharctia isabella a.k.a. Mr. Woolly.

http://www3.islandtelecom.com/~oehlkew/arctiidaecare.htm

International Rock Flipping Day

September 7 - the first Sunday in September. So go out, flip a rock, and take some cool pictures. Click the logo for more info. Why?

Well...

Why not?

I found a Tussock Caterpillar Today. Can you guess it's favorite food?

Noah's Favorite Butterfly

Click HERE.

New Friends

Chrysalis minutes old

Often a new chrysalis will appear lumpy, lopsided or an unexpected color. This picture shows the normal appearance of a new chrysalis for the first couple hours of development. Note the yellow and white stripes resembling the caterpillar's skin. These will disappear and the chrysalis hardens.

Video: attempting to disconnect the shedded skin

The chrysalis is formed and the pupa is attempting to disconnect the shedded skin from to top of the chrysalis. If the pupa is unsuccessful, try gently teasing the skin away with a thin paint brush. This is the final step before the new chrysalis will hang still to dry and harden in preparation for 10-14 days of creation. The average time in our home for each chrysalis has been 11.5 days before a new monarch emerges.

Another sign of change

This is a wonderful example of the twisted antennae of the monarch larva shortly before metamorphosis. Notice how the body segments are clearly defined and puffy. Often the caterpillar will have a greenish hue. The caterpillar is in the "J" formation. This "J" is uncurling, another sign of change. Moments before the transformation begins, the three sets of front legs will be tucked in toward the skin and the "J" will open with an aparent muscle contraction. The back of the skin will splits open as the transformation begins. Metamorphasis from larva to pupa takes about 6 minutes, with an additional 30 - 60 seconds of twisting to detach the shedded skin.
(Note: The chrysalis behind the "J" is only minutes old.)

Research in Duluth, MN

Recently the changes in the monarch population in Duluth, MN were studied. The research, entitled "The Rise and Fall of Danaus plexippus in Duluth, MN", was conducted from 2000-2005. The researchers proposed the following hypotheses (taken directly from the link below):

• H1:The ratio of monarchs to milkweed will
  decrease year to year.
• H2: Monarch eggs will always be in more
  abundance than the larvae.
• H3: In six years the overall numbers of
  monarchs have decreased.
• Null: The ratio of monarchs to milkweed will not
  change from year to year.

The conclusions varied from the original hypotheses (again, taken directly from the link below):

• Every other year, the ratio of monarchs to
  milkweed increased or decreased; H1 was
  not supported.
• H2 was correct: eggs were always more
  abundant than larvae.
• In six years of monitoring, overall monarch
  numbers declined, supporting H3.
• Ratios of monarchs to milkweed change
  annually, therefore rejecting the null
  hypothesis.

This chart can be found at:
http://www.monarchlab.org/research/strom1poster.pdf

5 Instars

borrowed this picture from here:

http://www.mlmp.org/monitoring/Guide/InstarImages/5_instars_c.jpg

Butterfly or Moth?

Can I copy this? I found a good comparison at this link:
http://www.earthsbirthday.org/butterflies/bflys/activitykit/compare.html

Moths
Wings not attached
Nocturnal (active at night)
Wings flat when resting
Feathered antennae
Fat abdomen
Form a cocoon

Butterflies
Wings hooked together in flight
Diurnal (active in the day)
Wings upright when resting
Straight, plain antennae
Thin abdomen
Form a chrysalis

Which do you prefer?

A backyard with mosquitos and butterflies, or a few less mosquitos and NO butterflies?

This research by a student at Breck High School shows disturbing mortality rates of monarch larvae when exposed to the common pesticide used to spray parks and other areas for mosquito control. Perhaps most upsetting is her finding that milkweed leaves that had been treated up to 3 weeks earlier still proved as toxic to the monarch larvae. We have seen this first hand here. A friend spoke with an expert in the area who recommended soaking the leaves (at least 20 minutes, I believe) before feeding it to our caterpillars. So far this has worked, but I continue to worry about poisoning my cute little critters, using my own milkweed whenever possible.

Follow the link to read the research article:
http://realscience.breckschool.org/upper/research/2003-04photos/Research2004/Sara.pdf

Or go to page 4 of this link for an easier, less technical read:
http://www.mlmp.org/pdfs/MLMP2004Final.pdf

Oh so sweet buggy.. :)

(3rd instar larva)

Butterfly Vocabulary

Here is a list of more butterfly vocabulary than you ever wanted to know, complete with diagrams:

http://www.earthsbirthday.org/butterflies/bflys/activitykit/vocabulary.html

The Butterfly Lifecycle

"The Butterfly Blogger" describes the butterfly lifecycle very well. Here is the link to an interesting read:

http://www.thebutterflyfarmer.com/butterfly-life-cycle.shtml

Container ideas and easy cleaning

At first the larvae will look cute and tiny, happily munching on the milkweed. Don't let this happy little larvae fool you. Wait until it starts to get rid of all the milkweed it is eating! Luckily, the frass (a fancy name for insect poop) get bigger slowly. I have found several ways to deal with this disgusting problem. My goal is to find the easiest way to clean the container that reduces the time I have to look at the excretions. Here are some ideas:

1. Use an ice cream container to raise the larvae. You will need about 15-20 small paper plates, a few napkins or paper towels and a bowl to put the milkweed in. Place a small paper plate at the bottom of a 5 gal ice cream bucket. Put the milkweed and caterpillars on the plate, as well as a crumpled, soggy paper towel or napkin. The water filled napkin will provide moisture as well as a drink for the caterpillars. After the larvae are a few days old, begin to clean the cage daily. Simply remove the paper plate, pick out the milkweed with caterpillars and place the leaves on a new paper plate, setting it in the bottom of the ice cream bucket. Add fresh milkweed and a new soggy piece of paper towel. Put the dirty paper plate, old milkweed and all, into this morning's newspaper bag and through away. So easy! Be careful not to overstock the bucket with caterpillars. One pail can hold 4-5 small caterpillars, but in the last few days as a larvae I would only recommend 3 cats per bucket. Once the caterpillar has gone into J formation or spun its chrysalis, another cat can be added to the pail. The concern with too many caterpillars in one pail is that too much frass is produced and the cats can become ill.

2. Mayo jars and peanutbutter jars also work well. These jars (see below) should be lined with a napkin or piece of towel. When cleaning the cage, remove the milkweed leaves that have larvae on them. Roll the napkin up, leaving the remaining chewed leaves and frass to be rolled into the napkin. Replace with a clean napkin, spray to dampen it and return the leaves with larvae to the clean cage. Don't forget to add some fresh milkweed as well. When the larvae are small and less frass is produced, be sure to spray the napkin to moisten the container and give the larvae water.

3. My favorite container is the small aquarium for reptiles (see below). This can be purchased at any pet store. It is light weight plastic and very portable for caterpllar hunting. The floor of the aquarium is the perfect size for one sheet of narrow paper towel. I put the leaves with larvae in a bowl, roll up the paper towel, replace the towel, moisten with a spray bottle, and put the cats back into their clean home, adding fresh milkweed as well.

Disappearing butterfly blog

As I sit here gazing at flowers that once held the butterfly below, I think of all the things I should post on this blog. I realize that I have very little info on how to actually go about raising the cats yet I have no motivation to post. Maybe someday soon? Just a small update - I have 9 larvae and 5 eggs. We are in the 2nd cycle of butterflies of the summer. The largest cat is in its 3rd instar (I have two of those). Both neighbors have jumped on the butterfly bandwagon, as well as a sister in Duluth. I have eggs and caterpillars on the milkweed in the yard, even though most is only 9-12 inches tall. The taller milkweed in the back by the purple cone flowers have some eggs as well but the milkweed garden seems to be most popular. I am contemplating covering the milkweed with mosquito netting, but then where will the last of the butterflies lay their eggs in our yard? I have seen 1 to 2 monarchs each day for the past 4 days but no others. 2 weeks ago I saw 1 red admiral. Last year we almost had an infestation of them? I am concerned that the timing of the butterfly births and the spraying of mosquitos by the county may be effecting the numbers in the area. We miss the swallowtails, with so much dill and parsley planted and no cats to eat it. Anyone else seeing this trend?

 

 

 

2 down, 1 to go

Here is the 2nd butterfly of the morning emerging from its chrysalis:

New Butterfly, Part 2

The new butterfly extends his wings by pumping fluid through them.

It's here!

The butterfly emerges from the chrysalis upside down.

The soft wings unfold as the butterfly emerges.

The butterfly clings to its transparent chrysalis as the wings dry. * Double click on the photos to enlarge them. *

July 1st at 8:28 AM

Our first monarch will come out of the dark chrysalis.

Ready for the big event.

The Chrysalis' are now covered pending the arrival of our first Monarch of the season. The chrysalis darkened throughout the evening and is now almost transparent. The butterfly should emerge mid morning. Hopefully the children will be home in time to see it.

Lots of Chrysalis

J ust Beautiful

Chewy & Beatrice

These monarch caterpillars are in their fifth instar, which means they are almost full grown. I expect them to head to the top of the jar soon and begin the process of forming a chrysalis.

Growing..

How do I get those eggs to hatch?

Lay the leaves in a pan on a wet paper towel.

Do you see the two white dots on the closest leaf? Those are eggs.

Put a damp paper towel over the eggs.

Check daily and mist with water to keep moist. When the egg turns dark or is clear with a dark spot, put the leaf in a jar with a small damp piece of paper towel.

This egg will hatch within a few hours. The new larvae will then eat it's egg for nourishment.

What does milkweed look like?

I found a website with great pictures of common milkweed. Click HERE to learn more about milkweed and the animals that can't live without it.

We have our 1st larvae!

Took all morning to hatch. She is awfully small but will double in size in a day. She is right above her Creator's name on the nickel - God.