Below is a video that I recorded today of Leecy gluing some Monarch Chrysalises to a piece of cardboard.  We tend to do this during Winter months when we still have Caterpillars and Chrysalises and want to protect them from inclement weather (rainy, cold).

To give you a brief verbal summary:  We try and keep the Monarch Caterpillars outside as much as possible unless the temperature is expected to be a little chilly or we are going to have excessive rain.  We’ll gently detach the Monarch Chrysalis from the outdoor enclosure, then bring it inside.  From there, we (Leecy) uses a glue gun to glue the tip of the Chrysalis to a piece of cardboard so that it can continue to develop.  We then flip the cardboard upside down and place it over a container.

Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to answer.

By the way, we have about 36 Monarch Butterfly Chrysalises right now (December 23, 2011)

So on to this post.  I’m guessing that most folks don’t think about Butterflies two days before Christmas, but I wanted to share our Monarch Butterfly story.

While we didn’t see many Monarch Butterflies during the migration, we saw several after the expected migration, and we had quite a bit of Milkweed.  The result?

Lots of Monarch Butterfly Chrysalises!

Carrier Full Of Monarch Chrysalises

We’ve only had a couple of really cold days in Houston (we moved the Milkweed to the garage during that time) with the majority of the Winter being quite nice.  Apparently the Monarch Caterpillars like it as well as it’s given them some time to stock up on eating Milkweed.  Since we knew it was supposed to get a little cold and rainy (just 38 degrees or so), we decided to bring the Chrysalises indoors.  The result is what you see above.  Those black dots next to a couple of the Chrysalises are the skin of the Caterpillars.

We don’t just leave them in this little carrier, Leecy glues them to these cardboard things we have.  I’ll try and post a picture or video of that within the next couple of days so you can see how we do that.  Once the Butterfly emerges we release them as long as it’s reasonably sunny and above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pretty neat huh?

Infected Or Parasitized Monarch Chrysalises

Whether these were infected or parasitized Chrysalises, I’m not sure, maybe a combination of both.  You can see the Chrysalises all have small holes in them, normally indicating they have been parasitized.

Here’s where I could use some guidance.  Although the Chrysalises were in our outdoor Butterfly Enclosure, and were theoretically protected from predators, there was a wasp in the enclosure nearly every day.

Mystery Wasp In Butterfly Enclosure

The strange part was we would release this wasp every time we found it in the enclosure, then the next day another wasp (or the same) would be back in the enclosure.

Can anyone identify this wasp and tell me if this wasp would parasitize the Chrysalises?

UPDATE: Valerie over at Evanson Art And Design was kind enough to tell me the wasp above is likely a Ichneumon Wasp which do indeed parasitize Butterfly Chrysalises.

For those just reading the blog, these Monarch Butterflies that were released today are all from the original female Monarch Butterfly we saw in 2011 (and likely migrated from Mexico).  Overall, I’d say she had a pretty successful brood (is that what they call a bunch of Butterflies?).  When all is said and done, I’d estimate that we will have released close to 50 Monarch Butterflies from this single female.

Now on to the pictures.

My original intention was to film the release of the Monarch Butterflies as Leecy opened the Butterfly Enclosure.  That failed as Leecy opened the top of the Butterfly Enclosure and the Butterflies didn’t even move.  So, Leecy decided to put a few in her hair before allowing them to fly off.

Leecy Gets A New Hair Piece With Monarch Butterflies

Then as soon as 7 of the Butterflies were released, another emerged from a Chrysalis.

Newly Eclosed Monarch Butterfly In Butterfly Enclosure

Not long after that, yet another Butterfly emerged from its Chrysalis and began crawling up the mesh on the Butterfly Enclosure.

Monarch Butterfly Beginning To Stretch Wings Next To Old Chrysalis

Then for whatever reason, both the newly emerged Butterflies decided to slowly inflate their wings together.

Two Newly Hatched Monarch Butterflies Inflating Wings

While these two Monarchs were inflating their wings, I went to take pictures of the Monarchs that we had released earlier.

First there was a female Monarch on the Milkweed stretching her wings.

Monarch Butterfly Basking In Sun On Milkweed

Then a male Monarch was sunning on the purple Bachelor Button Wildflowers.

New Male Monarch Butterfly On Purple Bachelor Button

Then a female Monarch who had been flying around rested nearby the male.  These pictures weren’t staged, I just got lucky.

Monarch Butterflies On Purple Bachelor Button Flowers

I think Leecy said we have about 45 or so Chrysalises in our Butterfly Enclosures.  You’ll notice in this picture that there are two Caterpillars that did not make it to the Chrysalis stage (on the left hand side of the picture).

Other than the two that didn’t make it, and one that looks a little funky, the rest appear pretty healthy.  It should be a big day for releasing Monarchs once they all eclose.  Since they all formed Chrysalises within a day or two of one another, I expect that we will have an enclosure full of Monarch Butterflies to release in a week or so.  I’ll try and take some video of the big release day.

Multiple Monarch Chrysalises On Top Of Butterfly Enclosure

First Set Of Monarch Chrysalises From Mexican Monarch 2011

I’d like to say we’ll have plenty of Milkweed once they eclose, but I already made the mistake earlier this week of thinking we had enough Milkweed and we weren’t even close.

Speaking of Monarch Butterflies, we currently have 8 Chrysalises, 2 Caterpillars (who are likely sick..I’ll explain shortly), and 4 adult Monarchs who just emerged from their Chrysalises today.

About the sick Caterpillars.  We’ve been running low on Milkweed so we purchased several one gallon plants the other day.  Finding Milkweed at any of the nurseries is a real challenge right now as it is January.  When we purchased these new plants, we cut off a couple of stalks to feed it to the 4 Caterpillars that we needed to feed.

Well, it appears the Milkweed was likely sprayed with some chemical.  One Caterpillar spent the last 24 hours writhing on the bottom of the enclosure.  I couldn’t stand watching that anymore, so I finally put it out of its misery and into the freezer.  Another Caterpillar that ate some of the new Milkweed actually formed the familiar “J” shape, but was having a heck of a time forming a Chrysalis.  I watched it most of the day, and it was bending and flexing in directions that I haven’t seen a Monarch Caterpillar do before.  Tonight, it made it to the Chrysalis stage, and it was a mess.  It was extremely misshapen, and fell off the top of the enclosure.  It was still wiggling several hours after it formed a Chrysalis, so I decided to put that one of its misery as well.

That leaves to Caterpillars who have spent the last day and a half just doing circles around the enclosure.  I removed the sprayed Milkweed and put in some Milkweed that was growing in the backyard that I know is safe.  These two Caterpillars haven’t touched it.  Even when I place them on the leaves, they crawl off and start wandering around.  My guess is that they are poisoned (although maybe not as much as the others were), but I seriously doubt they will make it.  They’re spending an enormous amount of energy crawling around the cage and never stop.

So what’s the lesson here?  Be careful on the Milkweed you buy.  I bought from a nursery I really trust, but these things can happen.  Strangely enough, I always like to see a few Aphids on Milkweed as that usually indicates the Milkweed has not been treated.  The nursery was told by the grower that they purchased it from that it was not treated.  Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, or maybe another plant was sprayed in their greenhouse and it landed on the Milkweed.  Just be careful is all I’m saying.  The only true way to know you are getting untreated Milkweed is to grow it yourself, but when it’s the middle of January, unless you have a greenhouse or are growing some indoors, you may not have a choice.

Now on to more positive news.  The Male Monarch that I released today spent several minutes sunning himself before flying off, and that gave me an opportunity to take a few pictures.

In this first picture, I was using my new 300 f2.8 lens without a teleconverter.

January Male Monarch Butterfly Sunning

In this second picture, I used the same lens, but added the 1.4x teleconverter.

January Male Monarch Butterfly Sunning Before Flight

Tomorrow (Saturday) it’s supposed to be a beautiful, sunny day, so Leecy and I are planning on taking a trip down to Brazos Bend State Park.  I may take the 4 Monarch Butterflies that eclosed today down there as well to release them.

We placed this male Monarch on this Pine branch.  He was very anxious to fly since he had been indoors and facing the sun.  After just a couple of shots, this guy thought he should try and fly.  He didn’t get very far.

Male Monarch Butterfly On Pine Branch

He flew into this big tree we have (I can’t recall the name off the top of my head) and faced towards the sun to continue to warm up.

Male Monarch Butterfly Warming Against Blue Sky

At first I thought, oh well, he took off and he’s too high for me to catch and bring back indoors.  He wasn’t in this location for more than 30 minutes before he flew back down to where I was and landed on the Bamboo (seriously).  I just reached up and grabbed him, and brought him back indoors.

I’m not sure how fond he is being in this Butterfly enclosure, but I bet he appreciates being indoors right now especially since it’s supposed to get down to 27 degrees tonight:-).

Strangely enough, we have quite a few Monarch Butterflies right now.  We’ve been releasing 1-2 Monarchs per day for the last couple of weeks.  In a way, this makes some sense.  In October and November, the Monarchs we saw were likely migrating to Mexico and had not yet mated.  The Monarch Butterflies we are seeing right now have definitely mated, and are laying lots of eggs.  As we find the Caterpillars, we bring them inside and give them fresh Milkweed.  Could these just be local Monarchs that spend much of their time in the warmer climates?  They definitely don’t appear to be as worn as the October/November Monarchs were.  Another little interesting tidbit.  The majority of the Monarchs that we have been releasing have been female.  I’d say the ratio is like 3:1.

Right now we have 2 female Monarchs that we should be able to release tomorrow, and there’s a good chance another 2-3 will become Butterflies by morning.

We also have several Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars, Chrysalises, and Butterflies.  We haven’t been bringing in as many Caterpillars from this species inside as they tend to hide a bit better than the Monarchs (at least in our yard).

We’ve had a few days of below freezing temperatures, but not for very long (typical of Houston).  We have been covering much of our outdoor Milkweed with a clear shower curtain (Leecy’s idea) and that appears to give the Milkweed sufficient light, protects them from frost, and also serves as a nice bit of insulation.

Fortunately for the Butterflies, we still have quite a few Nectar plants (Lantana, Milkweed, Penta, Mexican Flame Vine) that have been providing the necessary food that these insects require.

This upcoming week is also Christmas!  Leecy says she doesn’t want anything for Christmas and wants to do something for a needy family so we’re going shopping tomorrow to buy some presents for whomever we decide to give them to.  There is a family we are thinking about that have 3 kids, so we talked about buying 3 bikes for them.  My idea is just do drop the bikes off during Christmas Eve night and let them think it’s from Santa.  I’d prefer they not know they were from Leecy and I.

Also this upcoming week I’ll be receiving my rented Canon 300mm f2.8 lens.  I’m really looking forward to shooting with this lens.  If I like it, and I don’t end up taking that trip to Mexico, I’ll probably end up buying one early next year.

That’s about it on this end.  I’m going to try and take some pictures of the Monarch Butterflies that we’ll release tomorrow so check back if you’re interested in seeing the pictures.

Then I got up early this morning, and sat in this stool for another 3 hours waiting for this to occur and I finally got it!

Once again I continue to be amazed by these creatures.  This Caterpillar struggled for hours to loosen its skin.  At one point I thought the poor thing might just run out of energy.

I used a little creativity by adding some music and transitional text.  You’ll also notice that there are several other Monarch Chrysalises in the video.  It’s supposed to be a little chilly this week, so for those that eclose this week, they may be staying indoors for a few days.

So without further adieu, here’s the video.  The video runs about 3 1/2 minutes.

We have 13 Chrysalises, eggs all over the outside Milkweed, and probably 10 Caterpillars.  As we find the Caterpillars we bring them inside as the weather does occasionally get a little cold at night.  There are at least 3 Female Monarch Butterflies that alternate between getting nectar from the Milkweed and laying lots of eggs.  One particular Butterfly looks very tattered, but she is the one laying the most eggs.

Here’s some pictures from today.

Monarch Caterpillar On Milkweed Stem

Monarch Caterpillar Eating Milkweed Pod

This is the tattered female Monarch that is laying lots of eggs.

Tattered Monarch Getting Nectar And Laying Eggs

I spent 3 hours trying to record a Monarch Caterpillar moving to the Chrysalis stage, but it never happened.  Perhaps I’ll be able to capture that tomorrow.

The one I was trying to record is on the right, but since that didn’t work, I just took a picture of one of the Chrysalises who didn’t quite finish shedding its skin.

Monarch Chrysalis Next To Monarch Caterpillar

We had two Monarch Chrysalises that looked like they were ready to hatch (eclose) today.  I brought the Butterfly enclosure outdoors and grabbed the video camera.

And waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Finally one of the Monarchs started to eclose.  After about 20 minutes of watching the Monarch work its magic, the other Butterfly started to eclose.  Then I ran out of tape on the video recorder.  A quick switch, then I recorded most of the remaining event.

So, I’ve got 3 videos to share.  One is a “movie trailer” I created using Apple iMovie 11.  The second video is of the first Monarch eclosing.  The third video shows the second Monarch eclosing, then I expand the scene to show both Monarchs at the same time.

Hope you like the videos. I sped them up to decrease the viewing time.  I had fun recording them.  Let me know what you think.

Monarch Eclosing Trailer

First Monarch Eclosing

Second Monarch Eclosing

I saw this dark Chrysalis early this morning.  I assumed this Butterfly would emerge from the Chrysalis today, but I’ve never been around at the “right place and right time” to actually photograph the event happening.

I was just staring at the Chrysalis seeing if I could detect any movement and I didn’t see anything happening.  So I went to another side of the yard to take pictures of the other Butterflies that were fluttering about.

Sure enough, when I walk back to the Butterfly enclosure the Butterfly had just emerged from the Chrysalis.

Female Monarch Coming Out Of Chrysalis

I called for Leecy to come take a look at the new Monarch Butterfly.  Leecy took one look and said it didn’t look so good as it’s stomach was inflated and the wings appeared somewhat small.

I suggested we just wait, let the Butterfly do its thing.  In case you’re wondering, that dental floss and tape that the Chrysalises are attached to.

Female Monarch Beginning To Stretch Wings

We decided to do our normal Saturday chores and leave the Butterfly alone in the sun and allow some time for its wings to dry.

On returning home, the Monarch Butterfly was flying around the Butterfly enclosure obviously ready to leave.  We tagged her and placed her on the Milkweed.  She turned out to be a perfectly normal healthy female Monarch Butterfly.

Female Monarch Drying Wings

I guess the direction of the wind really does play a significant role on how the Monarchs migrate through Texas.

I tagged more Monarchs today (8 total) than I have all season!  There were 2 males and 6 females.  We also had one of the Monarch Chrysalises we are rearing hatch today.  Since that Butterfly didn’t hatch until late afternoon when the temperatures started to drop, we brought it inside for the evening.  We will tag and release that one tomorrow.

Now on with the pictures.

I wasn’t sure if this Chrysalis would eclose today or tomorrow.  I was watching it most of they day and sure enough, just as soon as I decided the thing would not eclose today since it was late afternoon, it did what I said it wouldn’t do!

Monarch Chrysalis Ready To Eclose

Since Leecy had just arrived at home, and since she is well known for being such a wonderful hand model (especially with her sister) I decided to utilize her assets for the new Butterfly.

Newly Eclosed Monarch In Palm Of Hand

For the rest of the pictures, they are some of the other Monarchs that were in the backyard today.  Compared to having just one or two, it was quite thrilling to see up to eight at one time bouncing from one Milkweed plant to the next.

Monarch Feeding On Milkweed Oct 29

Female Monarch Feeding On Milkweed Oct 29

Side Profile Of Monarch Feeding On Milkweed Oct 29

Monarch Feeding On Milkweed With Tag NGC 414

Monarch On Milkweed With Green Background

Despite no pictures, I have some good news to share.  Six out of the seven Mexican Monarchs hatched today.  We had 4 Males and 2 Females.  As soon as I opened the enclosure they flew away.

So all you folks in the North get ready!  I think we’ve seen all the Monarchs we’re going to see until later in the year.  I haven’t seen any at all and certainly no eggs.  I’m hopeful they will be able to build up their numbers as they Journey North.