Every July I eagerly await the arrival of the Monarch butterflies to western, N.Y. This year was no different and it was the end of the second week before I noticed the first one in my butterfly garden.
It was a male enjoying some nectar from some of the Zinnias that I plant especially for them.
The following day I watched a female laying eggs on the patch of Milkweed at the edge of my yard. It was time to inspect the undersides of the leaves to find some eggs. I gather as many of them as I can find. There are many predators that feast on the tiny caterpillars, and I like to give them a fighting chance to survive.
Finding Eggs
The eggs are the tiniest little white dots on the underside of the leaves and are very easy to spot if you know what they look like. This is the first stage of the caterpillar's life.
The babies in the photo above are already a few days old. Otherwise, you would barely see them in the picture. When they first hatch they are a miniscule black spot on the leaf. It takes another day or two before they put on any size. At this stage, I have to be so careful transferring them to another fresh leaf.
Changing leaves
Every morning, even before my coffee, I gather fresh Milkweed leaves for them. I have floral tubes that hold water so that I can put them in to keep them fresh for the day. I carefully trim out the leaves around the babies and gently place them onto the new leaf.
The young caterpillars stay in this large netted home until they are large, just before the third stage which is when they will hang in a J formation.
Various Stages
At this point, I have a total of 10 caterpillars all at different instar stages.
Every day I am amazed, I still can not get over how quickly they grow. It really does not take long before I have to separate the large caterpillars from the newly born ones. I actually had a large one kill off a baby last year. I don't know if it was intentional, but it happened so I am careful to separate them now.
These big boys can devour a leaf overnight and I often find them scrounging from another caterpillar's leaf.
These four were born a day apart and will probably pupate at about the same time.
Shedding Skin
Because the caterpillars grow so quickly they have to shed their skin to make room for the enlarging bodies. Below is a video that I took last year. I actually have shared it with the post I did back then. You can see the "The Last Butterfly Hatched" post here if you would like.
Final Home
When I feel the caterpillars are getting close to the third stage, I will move them into this smaller cage. This is where they will pupate and transform into beautiful butterflies.
The J Stage & Pupation
After climbing to the top and spinning the web they will hang from, the caterpillars begin the J formation which will then, in turn, become the Chrysalis where transformation takes place.
After approximately 10 -14 days the chrysalis will turn very dark and you will start to see the Monarch inside. This is when you will want to keep a very close eye on it. It will not be long before a crack appears and the Monarch will emerge. That my friend I will share in another post.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing my little colony of caterpillars. Below is a site that explains the different Instar stages of their lives.
"A Monarch Butterflies Life"
Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing Your Day
