Butterflies And Wildlife » Monarch

Butterflies Were Everywhere Today

texdr — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 04:30:57 +0000

Holy Cow! Today there were Butterflies everywhere in the backyard. We had a Monarch, Question Mark, Variegated Fritillary, Giant Swallowtail, Grey Hairstreak, Eastern Black Swallowtail, some type of Crescent Butterfly, and a Pipevine Swallowtail.

I got a few pictures, but I missed several and several others weren’t that good as I got over-excited.

The plants that seemed to be attracting the most Butterflies were the Lantana and Butterfly Bush.

The most prevalent Butterfly I saw today was the Eastern Black Swallowtail. Interestingly, none of them were laying any eggs, they were just going after the nectar and chasing each other.

Eastern Black Swallowtail On Butterfly Bush

On top of all that, we’re having a crisis. We are running out of Dutchman’s Pipevine (Aristolochia Fimbriata) and neither Joshua’s Native Plants nor Buchanan’s Native Plants has any in stock. We have at least 15 huge Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillars and although I’ve been thinking they will soon stop eating and form Chrysalises, I’m apparently mistaken. I could have sworn they were going to stop eating yesterday, and yet today there they were, still munching away. They were even eating the Dutchman’s Pipevine stems since there were so few leaves.

I’m going to start calling first thing in the morning and see if any other nurseries have this plant in stock. For those of you in the Houston area reading this, if you know of a source, please share!

Late Arriving Female Monarch

texdr — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 03:40:22 +0000

Riddle me this Batman. Monarchs have already made it up to Canada, and yet this female Monarch I saw today was laying eggs on the Milkweed. Isn’t she a little behind schedule?

Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to see her, but I’m thinking most of her “friends” have already long gone.

Based on how well her wings look, I’m guessing she is fairly young.

I wonder if she will actually try and migrate towards Canada or if she’ll just hang around locally?

What do you think?

Female Monarch Spreading Wings On Milkweed

Female Monarch Laying Eggs On Milkweed

Young Male Cardinal Posing In Front of Milkweed

texdr — Sun, 30 May 2010 03:52:18 +0000

After one of the young male Cardinals finished bathing, he took time out to pose in front of the Milkweed.

Some of you Butterfly Gardeners may notice how full that Milkweed is. The reason it’s so full, not just in this particular place but all across the yard, is because we only had 7 Monarch Caterpillars so far during the Spring until now. Once they return in the Fall, we’ll be able to feed them to the point of exploding!

Young Male Cardinal Posing By Milkweed

Another Monarch On Milkweed

texdr — Wed, 12 May 2010 04:19:18 +0000

I suspect these is one of the same Monarch Butterflies that I saw yesterday. When I saw her today, she was only gathering nectar.

Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed By Pool

Two Female Monarchs Get Nectar And Lay Eggs

texdr — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:17:07 +0000

Today was a good day in the backyard when it came to the Spring Generation of Monarch Butterflies. We had two female Monarchs getting nectar from the Milkweed as well as laying lots of eggs.

This proves once again that I didn’t know what I was talking about when I thought we’ve seen all the Monarchs we were going to see until the Fall.

Spring Generation Monarch Feeding On Milkweed

Because both of these females were laying so many eggs, I’m hopeful that we will get quite a few Monarch Caterpillars in a few weeks.

Monarch Feeding Before Laying Eggs

Spring Generation Monarch On Milkweed

texdr — Sat, 08 May 2010 01:53:55 +0000

Finally! I never thought it would be so difficult to take pictures of Monarchs, but with the population so low (at least around my backyard) it’s been tough. Fortunately a Female Monarch, I’m assuming from the Spring Generation, decided to stop by my Milkweed and load up on some nectar.

Spring Generation Monarch On Milkweed

Monarchs Make It To Canada!

texdr — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:47:52 +0000

Good news today reported on the Journey North Monarch site. The Monarch migration has made it all the way into Canada! In fact, Monarchs were reported in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, and Illinois for the first time this year. This is the start of the first of the Spring Migration generation of Monarchs.

We also saw a Monarch flying around our Milkweed this evening. However, I didn’t notice any eggs on our Milkweed. I’d love to get some additional Monarch pictures over the weekend, so we shall see.

Good luck to all you folks up North with the new visitors!

6 out of 7 Mexican Monarchs Hatched Today!

texdr — Sun, 02 May 2010 19:46:22 +0000

I’ll start right off in saying that I didn’t get one stupid picture.

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.

Good Video Of Monarch Leaving Chrysalis

texdr — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:17:19 +0000

I thought this was a great video showing how a Monarch leaves the Chrysalis. Check out this link http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/spring2010/Caption042210_1.html for the video. Also, you may want to check out this weeks update about the Monarch Migration http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/spring2010/Update042210.html.

We Have Monarch Chrysalises!

texdr — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:31:58 +0000

All but one of our “Mexican” Monarch Caterpillars have turned to Chrysalises! (we have a total of 7)

The light was terrible, but I wanted to share the first pictures I was able to get this season.

Mexican Monarch Chrysalis

I also wanted to share a close-up macro picture of one of the Chrysalises. The thing that really struck me about this close-up shot are the ridges on that golden band. It’s really amazing that these Caterpillars can go from that, to something like these Chrysalises.

Mexican Monarch Chrysalis Up Close