I’m hunting for a chrysalis in the wild. The monarch caterpillar seems to prefer woody stems but will choose the side of a building, a fence, or a rock when it’s time to move from the larva to the pupa stage. Sometimes the caterpillar will travel 30 to 40 feet from its host plant. So [...]
Today’s walk on Lake Russell Road was more for my health than for finding monarchs. I saw butterflies, but not monarchs. The milkweed pods are maturing, almost to the full length of three inches. Soon they’ll pop open to let their seeds fly. A grasshopper landed on my leg… twice. I noticed lots of munched [...]
Today I found another monarch caterpillar on a milkweed plant… but my camera skills failed me so I don’t have photographic proof. I also saw a monarch butterfly but it never landed to give me a photo op. You’ll just have to believe me. But… I found other things while I hunted for caterpillars. First, [...]
Before the summer sun became too intense, I slipped into my sneakers for a walk on Lake Russell Road. I caught a smell on the breeze; I smiled at the intoxicating scent of milkweed flowers and took another breath. All around me wildflowers were blooming in the fields. Along the roadside, the breeze and the [...]
This is my last entry in the Monarch Morph Project. Yesterday was Day 22. All five butterflies have emerged and flown away. In my last post, I introduced you to Mary Beth and John and made the prediction that the last three butterflies would be male. Well, I admit my eyesight wasn’t keen enough to [...]
Today is Monarch Morph Project Day 17 and I’m wrong again. I thought the butterflies would emerge tomorrow but they were waiting for me when I got back from running errands at lunchtime. Together with my husband, we watched them test their wings, then we took them out to the front porch so they could [...]
I was wrong! Things are happening before August 6th. Today two of the chrysalises have turned black. When you look closely, you can see butterflies inside of them. I tried to capture the image through the glass. Maybe if you click on the image and enlarge it, you’ll be able to see the orange and [...]
Exactly one week ago, I reached my saturation point in the Monarch Morph Project. It was a slow awakening. Before he headed off to work, I commented to my husband, “I don’t know how Natalie does it, collecting more and more eggs and caterpillars. Five is enough for me!” Always the supportive husband, Steve responded, [...]
It was raining this morning. (That’s good. Very, very good.) I was rushing to get ready for work. (Work is necessary; rushing is bad.) I took time to collect some fresh milkweed leaves for my caterpillars. (That’s good, for them and for me.) For the sake of anyone who cares, I measured the three rascals [...]
Just a quick report today: my sick caterpillar survived! Putting in fresh leaves last night made a big difference, I think. Everyone is perky today. Here are the measurements if you care: the monster is still 1.75 inches and getting fatter, the next guy is catching up at 1.6 inches, there are two caterpillars at [...]
