Timothia Lives On!

May 10, 2009

Despite Timothia no longer being around, her babies are alive and kicking!  I have built a protective enclosure around the milkweed where Timothia laid her eggs.  It’s amazing that after just 4 short days of a Monarch egg being laid, that they soon turn into caterpillars.  This will be an interesting experiment and learning experience.  Some websites say that Monarchs infected with OE disease will pass this on to future generations.  Additionally it has been mentioned that infected Monarchs should be killed.  I’ve seen pictures of infected caterpillars and chrysalis where the butterfly never developed because of this disease.

I’d be interested in thoughts from others.  Will only a few eggs make it to the caterpillar stage?  How many caterpillars will make it to the chrysalis stage?  How many Monarchs will make it from the chrysalis stage?  If the newly hatched Monarchs are shown to be infected, should they be put down?

Custom Butterfly Enclosure

Custom Butterfly Enclosure

Posted in Butterflies * Butterfly Gardening In Houston * Monarch

by texdr

2 comments

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Elizabeth - While I would like to say “don’t kill it because it is God’s creation”, I have read the explanation of the disease from the link you provided and I have to agree with the last paragraph. Do it to preserve the Magnificent Monarch!May 11, 2009 – 7:33 am

Valerie - Love the butterfly condo! If our collection gets out of control this year, I may have to consider constructing something similar. I believe Timothia had OE and that it was the humane thing to put her down. From what I’ve read, the spores on the abdomen of the mother can rub off and infect the eggs she’s laying. Also, the OE spores rub onto the leaves and the larva can ingest them as it munches away. This is why we keep our caterpillars indoors and feed them bleached milkweed. If we have any butterflies that have OE this year, I’m thinking of keeping them in our old fish tank or a large plastic container, which will be easy to bleach, so that they can live a nice life but not spread their disease (gotta keep ‘em separated. . . ).June 18, 2009 – 11:01 am

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