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?

I’m assuming this one is a male since it made no attempt to visit the Passion Vine and instead spent its time eating nectar from Lantana and Zinnia.

Gulf Fritillary Feeding On Purple Flower

Gulf Fritillary Feeding On Orange Zinnia

What I’ve also noticed is that these Butterflies are mating, and in the case of other males, chasing each other.

Monarch With With Wings Spread Wide In Early Morning Sun

Clean Monarch Butterfly Feeding On Red Zinnia

We’ve also located several (around 15 at last count) Monarch Caterpillars on the Milkweed.  The two guys are the picture below were so tiny I almost didn’t see them.  It’s been like this for several days; we check the Milkweed for Caterpillars, see none, and assume there are none.  Two days later, we see little Caterpillars like these.

Two Tiny Monarch Caterpillars Feeding Off Same Leaf

There are also several large Caterpillars on the Milkweed.  I brought them inside for one day since it was a little chilly, then took them back outside the next day since the weather has been really nice.

Large Monarch Caterpillar Upside Down In Between Two Milkweed Stems

I remember when I went to the Cockrell Butterfly Center a few weeks ago for their Fall plant sale that Nancy Greig, Ph.D. basically said the same thing.  She had seen very few Gulf Fritillaries this year.  I haven’t read any hypothesis as to why this is occurring, but I’d be interested in hearing ideas from others.

Despite what I said above, I finally did see a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly today.  It was flying around the Passion Vine, but I didn’t notice this one laying any eggs.

Gulf Fritillary On Passionvine Oct 2011

As I’ve mentioned hundreds of times already, these Butterflies (and others) are drawn to the nectar in the Zinnia gardens.  This is definitely a plant I’m going to keep.  For what it’s worth, they are most attracted to the yellow and orange Zinnias, along with the occasional Pink.  They seem to avoid the red ones.  Although I have Milkweed all over the yard, I haven’t seen many frequent the flowers on there near as much as the Zinnia.

Monarch Butterfly Getting Nectar On Pink And Yellow Zinnias

Male Monarch Getting Nectar On Pink And Red Zinnias

Female Fall 2011 Migration Monarch On Milkweed

Another little interesting tidbit.  Whereas the big Fall Monarch Migration of 2011 have had reports of the Monarchs in Texas, to the best of my knowledge no large colonies have been seen around the Houston area, nor have any of the folks I know reported seeing a big influx of Monarch Butterflies.  Personally I am expecting larger sightings of migrating Monarchs within the next 2 weeks.

If you’re reading this and located along the Texas Gulf Coast, have you been seeing Monarchs?  Let me know, I’m curious!

The picture below is just one of the 5 Monarch Caterpillars I found.  All but one are this size, so it would seem that some Monarchs visited the backyard 1-2 weeks ago.  The background are the flowers from our Zinnia garden.

Monarch Caterpillar On Milkweed Stem Against Zinnia Background

Let’s talk about here in Texas.  Next week they are forecasting more 100 degree temperatures.  I’m really starting to see the effects of the drought in my own backyard.  I’m only watering twice a week and now that’s not enough.  I could probably water all day long and it wouldn’t be enough.  I have brown patches throughout my yard (it’s just grass so I’m not distraught over that).  The trees, not only in my yard, but across Houston, are turning brown, or are already dead.  I read a news report that suggested this drought in Texas may last another year.  When I do water, it brings out every living creature as I’m sure they are dying of thirst.

I’ve never had Honeybees swarm my Hummingbird feeders and bird baths to get water.

Honeybees Drinking Sugar Water From Hummingbird Feeder

What will this mean for the Monarch Butterfly migration.  On Journey South’s posting this week, Dr. Lincoln Brower thinks that the Monarchs will have a really hard time building up their fat reserves once they enter Texas on their way to Mexico.  I can certainly see this.  I can almost guarantee you that other than from the concerned Butterfly gardeners, there will be little Milkweed and/or nectar plants in the wild that have done well during this drought.

What about the Ruby Throated Hummingbird migration?  Once again I’d be willing to bet that the Hummingbirds will have a tough time as well for the same reasons I mentioned above.

As I sit here and analyze myself, I guess this weather saddens me, and makes me angry.  When I go out the in backyard and see all those brown leaves, I get frustrated because I know at this point I simply can’t water enough (plus I’m trying to do my part to conserve).  My backyard has always been my little private sanctuary, and seeing how the plant and animal life is struggling is tough.  It’s worse driving around Houston.  You see these big giant Oak trees dying.  You can’t replace those, they are decades old.  Pine trees, so many are dead.  Lakes and ponds are completely dry.  Migrating birds this winter will have it tough.  I can’t imagine any gardener or wildlife lover enjoying what’s happening right now.  I realize some things you can’t control and this is certainly one of those “things”, but it’s driving me nuts.

Alright, venting over for the moment.  I’m starting to see more Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.  Those that choose to hang around my yard will have plenty of sugar water to drink.  One of the recent males that is visiting we are calling “Mr. Soul Patch.” We gave him that name because of that little speck of white on the bottom part of his beak (or is it bill)?

Mr. Soul Patch Male Ruby Throat

Before I get to that, I wanted to share some information and see if others might have noticed the same thing.

We’ve had quite a few eggs and Caterpillars from the Eastern Black Swallowtail, but just as the Caterpillars get to be a decent size, they disappear.  I now have a theory.  I think the Green Anoles have been eating them.  I offer that theory for a couple of reasons.  One, those Anoles have been really stalking our outdoor Butterfly Enclosure that contain the Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars and Chrysalises.  I’ve pretty much “Lizard-Proofed” the enclosure, but they haven’t stopped trying to find a way in.  My second reason for this theory, is that the Green Anoles were hanging around the Fennel and Dill where the eggs and Caterpillars were feeding until I took them inside to raise them.

So what do you think?  Have you ever observed Green Anoles feeding on Butterfly Caterpillars?

Now for the pictures.

This first picture contains two Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars.  You can see the one on the left is absolutely huge!  I thought for sure it would begin forming a Chrysalis yesterday, but it continues to feed.  It almost looks like it’s about to burst.

Two Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillars Feeding On Fennel

In comparison to Monarch Caterpillars, the Eastern Black Swallowtail tends to prefer structures where it can attach itself to a structure and hang.  This wire structure that the Caterpillar and Chrysalis are attached to is at the bottom of our indoor Butterfly Enclosure.  They didn’t attach themselves to the top of the enclosure like a Monarch would typically do.  It doesn’t seem to be as concerned about protecting itself from the elements like a Monarch Caterpillar.  The only problem with these Eastern Black Swallowtails attaching themselves to this location is there is no way they could exit the Chrysalis and dry their wings without us moving the structure as it’s barely an inch off of the ground.

If you’ve ever wondered what an Eastern Black Swallowtail Chrysalis and Caterpillar look like side by side, well here’s a picture.  It’s pretty obvious how difficult it would be to find the Chrysalis in the outdoors.  It would likely attach itself to the stem of a plant that matched the color and texture of the Chrysalis and unless you have “eagle eyes” it would be difficult to find.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillar And Chrysalis Comparison

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

This is the first Pipevine Swallowtail we have seen in 2011, and it was going crazy on the red Wildflowers.  It was just bouncing from one red Wildflower to the next getting nectar.  If you can see the proboscis it’s covered in pollen.  While I didn’t notice this Butterfly laying any eggs on our Dutchman’s Pipevine (we have lots of it and it looks really good right now), I’m hopeful that other Pipevine Swallowtails will begin to visit and lay some eggs.

First Pipevine Swallowtail Of 2011 On Red Wildflowers

These don’t look like any type of Butterfly eggs that I’ve seen before.

Mystery Eggs On Redbud Tree

Mix Of Mystery Eggs On Redbud Tree

I’m not even sure how to describe what this insect looks like.  It’s shaped like a cone.  In the second picture, I think there some kind of head (I’m looking the brown part of the insect).

Any guesses what kind of insect (I’m assuming it’s an insect) this is?

Unknown Insect Eating Sassafras Leaf 2

Unknown Insect Eating Sassafras Leaf

Monarch Caterpillars Fighting Over Milkweed

I was totally surprised when I went outside to check on them and found out that they were clustering on the two remaining Milkweed plants they had not already devoured.  I’m going to have to buy more Milkweed again.  I thought I would probably have enough, but now I’m not so sure.

I did see a Monarch Butterfly today but he/she never came close to where I was or at least where I could take a picture.  Perhaps tomorrow.

Large Butterfly Enclosure Protecting Monarch Caterpillars

There are six Milkweed plants in the Enclosure.  With so many Monarch Caterpillars, I don’t expect these plants to have many remaining leaves after a few day.  I still have a quite a few other Milkweed plants that I can rotate into the enclosure when the leaves have been eaten.

We stopped counting after 50, but if I had to guess, I’d say we have 55-60 Monarch Caterpillars right now.  Each time we check the Milkweed plants that are not in the enclosure, we tend to find another 1-2 Caterpillars.

Notice how they are roughly all the same size?  I think that’s because they all came from the first female Monarch we saw a few weeks ago.

Monarch Caterpillars Devouring Milkweed Plant

Additional Monarch Caterpillars On Milkweed Plant

The good news for the Caterpillars is that they should be safe from any predators.  The lizards are eyeing up the enclosure like crazy, but they shouldn’t be able to get in.  Although many birds tend to avoid the Monarch Caterpillars, I wanted to be on the safe side and protect them from any birds that might look for an easy meal, or those pesky red Paper Wasps.