Monarch Morph Project

Summer 2010–bringing nature indoors

Day 1: Watching Monarchs Morph in My Kitchen

monarch caterpillar on a milkweed leaf in a jar

I made a discovery today.

This week I’ve been reading about a project my friend is doing with her daughters; they’re posting photos on Facebook so we can watch 36 monarch caterpillars morph into butterflies.  I’ve been intrigued with the project and a little envious that I never thought to do this with my children.  It didn’t take too long before I was thinking, “Well, why don’t I find a few caterpillars of my own?  I don’t have to settle for a virtual experience; I can have a real one!”

When I took my walk today, I stopped to examine several milkweed plants but didn’t see any caterpillars.  I wondered if my friend just happened to be lucky enough to have monarch caterpillars in her yard and I wasn’t so lucky.  But then, on my way home, I found a short little plant with lots of holes in the leaves and some white powdery stuff around the holes… and at least 3 visible caterpillars munching away.  Big smile.  Happy heart.  Childhood feelings of discovery rising.  Carefully I pulled up that plant and brought it home.  I knew I had a gallon-size jar that would be a temporary home for my “babies” but I knew I’d need something larger (my friend is using an old aquarium).

After I settled the babies into the jar, I posted my project on Facebook and asked if anyone has a vacant terrarium or aquarium I could use.  This afternoon at work, I’ll ask around.  There are lots of animal lovers at the camp so I suspect someone will have something in a basement or attic that I can borrow for a while.

I’m looking forward to learning about monarchs for myself.  My friend and her daughters will have much to teach me, I’m sure.  This is feeding my soul in an unexpected way; I don’t have to be raising a child to do a science project!  I can do it just for myself!  Why didn’t I figure this out ten years ago?

Day 2: Learning Curve

caterpillar on the left is one inch long; small one on the right is 1/4 inch long

Yesterday I became the proud parent of 4 monarch caterpillars.  One was barely visible, less than 1/4 inch long.  The other three were close to 1/2 inch in length.  Could it be possible that they double their size overnight?  Today there’s a little guy about a 1/4 inch long and 3 biggie-size caterpillars about an inch long.  I wonder if this growth rate will keep up?

Yesterday at work I talked with two friends who have raised Monarch caterpillars many times in the past.  They assured me my jar is big enough for the project so I don’t have to find an aquarium.  They recommended adding some water drops when I put in fresh milkweed leaves.  From my friend Natalie’s Facebook page, I’ve already been warned about cleaning up their poo.  And yes, I think I’ll do that tomorrow.  Today I need to freeze some green beans from my garden.

this hungry caterpillar munched this much in less than two hours

This morning I added four milkweed leaves, freshly washed, before I left to visit my neighbor.  Two hours later, this is what I found:  one hungry guy had found a fresh leaf and munched this much in less than 2 hours.  Guess that’s why they grow so fast!

After my husband and I had our own lunch, we trekked south and west to Mount Pocono to find a farmers market we learned about in the local paper only to discover they must have sold out of everything early.  All that was left in the parking lot was dust.  Feeling a little disappointed but not completely discouraged, we headed north to Newfoundland for some manly-ness.  Our mechanic was hosting an antique car show at his shop to celebrate two years of owning the (very successful) business.  Such fun to look at all these grown-up toys.

tenacious bug on the hood of our car

As we got into our not-so-antique car, I noticed a large green bug on the hood.  Not quite a praying mantis, not quite a grasshopper, but not sure what it is.  We figured it would hop off the car while we drove home, but no! It was quite firmly attached fifteen miles later.  I grabbed the camera to memorialize this tenacious creature.  (Later I learned it is a katydid.)

Now it’s time to preserve those garden-fresh green beans.  And have some for dinner to celebrate this summer day in the Poconos!

Days 3 & 4: Dealing with Death

Day 4 – 1.5 inch “monster” caterpillar

Day 3 was a sad, sad day for the Monarch Morph Project at my house.  Before I cleaned out the jar and gave the caterpillars fresh leaves for breakfast, I counted four one-inchers, two half-inchers, and one quarter-incher for a total of seven lively caterpillars.  Later in the day, two of the caterpillars were dead and I haven’t been able to figure out exactly why.  Maybe it was just their time to go.  Maybe I had too much water on the leaves (I noticed a little moat of water along the base of the jar so maybe I drowned the poor things).  Maybe I handled them too roughly when I transferred them from old leaves to new leaves.  The reason for their demise is unknown, but I found myself grieving  the loss of two potential Monarch butterflies who would miss the adventure of international flight someday.  Memories fluttered through my mind…

Summer 1991… vacation at Bethany Beach… two little kids spending time with their grandparents… “What are those?” “Why, they’re hermit crabs, dear.”  “Can I bring one home?” “Well, of course, dear, if your Mommy and Daddy say it’s okay…” bringing the accouterments of hermit crab life back to the apartment… two very excited children… not long before the excitement wears off… one dead hermit crab… a little girl grieving her first loss… a funeral service beside a grave dug in the sand behind the building… stone markers so we’ll always remember our dearly departed friend.  My husband shares the memories with me and we chuckled at the thought of a cemetery for dearly departed caterpillars.

Today is Day 4.  When I cleaned out the jar, I noticed another dead caterpillar.  It was on dry land, not in the moat, so I don’t think it drowned.  Ah! the mystery of the circle of life.  When I pulled out the old leaves, I discovered a total of five living caterpillars.  That means I’ve missed the birth of at least one caterpillar along the way but don’t ask me to prove this to you mathematically.  Today there are two “monsters” measuring 1.5 inches, two one-inchers, and one half-incher.

I cleaned the jar carefully, dried it out, then put some lightly-misted leaves inside.  Instead of pushing caterpillars off old leaves onto new ones, I clipped portions of the old leaves and gently laid them into the jar alongside new leaves so the caterpillars were minimally disturbed.  I’m hoping for 100% survival when I clean the jar tomorrow.

Day 5: Field Trip to Natalie’s House

I started Day 5 with a field trip to Natalie’s house to see her monarch collection.  She has about 20 chrysalises and 20 caterpillars plus uncounted eggs and newly-hatched caterpillars on leaves she and her daughters collect for food twice a day.  They are breathlessly waiting for their first chrysalis to erupt into a butterfly.  When they first pointed out that chrysalis to me all I saw was a black-brown shape compared to the others that were still bright green.  “Look! You can see the butterfly inside!” Natalie said.  I looked.  All I saw was darkness.

She pointed out the two caterpillars that were moving into the pupation stage; they were hanging from the screen at the top of the aquarium in a “J” shape.  She told me how they’d shed their skin and formed the chrysalis, then two weeks later the chrysalis would change color and within 24 hours the butterfly should emerge.  She pointed out the sparkling gold ring around the top portion of each chrysalis and we marveled together that God would include such beauty in something so seldom seen by man.

The more I looked at these creations, the more my eyes adjusted to the world of caterpillars.  I began to see the butterfly inside the dark chrysalis… and the dots of gold where the chrysalis attaches to the wall of the aquarium or the screen or whatever it happens to attach itself.  The more I looked, the more I saw.

the “J” shape is the beginning of the pupation stage when the chrysalis is formed; notice the gold rings around the top portion of the bright green chrysalises

Depending on your computer’s capabilities, you should be able to click on the photo, then enlarge sections of the photo so you can see the gold rings better.

Back home to a mystery

At home, it was time to clean my jar and take account of caterpillar growth.  My monster is 1.75 inches long today.  His buddies are 1.5 inches, 1.25 inches, 0.8 inches, and 0.6 inches in length.  It appears I have four very happy caterpillars and one that may be sick.  Its antennae are droopy and it’s leaving a pile of explosive poo instead of tidy turds that fall to the bottom of the jar.  Natalie concurs that antennae perkiness is a sign of good health.  She’s lost a few caterpillars in the process, too.  By the way, she’s never added water to her leaves.  She thinks the milky substance in the milkweed is all the moisture the caterpillars need.  She and her daughters collect fresh leaves in the morning and before bed at night.  I like that plan.

back at my house I noticed this little guy may be sick; clues: its droopy antennae and the explosive poo

It’s really true that the more I look at these creatures, the more I see.  Life is like that, isn’t it?  We can walk past beautiful things (and interesting people) every day without truly seeing them.  We focus on things that can be called “tyranny of the urgent” and miss the splendor of our world.  Stopping to smell a flower in bloom or to watch a katydid crawl across the hood of the car are little things we can do to redirect our focus.  The more we observe the natural world around us, the more we will see.  The cycles of life are intriguing.  Messy sometimes, but full of wonder.

Day 6: Mystery Solved

Just a quick report today: my sick caterpillar isn’t sick at all!  After looking at my photo on Facebook, Natalie told me the caterpillar was simply shedding it’s skin so it could grow.  What a relief!  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 1.3 inches, and a baby at 0.8 inches.

Late yesterday, Natalie posted photos of her first Monarch butterfly.  Apparently my timing was perfect for seeing the pupa at its last moment of metamorphosis.  Someday soon I’ll see it in my own kitchen.

Today I think I’ll do some sketching or painting or something.  I’m scheduled to work in the Dining Room at lunch, but the rest of my day is open.  There’s more to life than work and caterpillars, so here I go.

Day 7: I Saw the Change with My Own Eyes!

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 who were still crawling around: two of them were 1.5 inches and one was 0.8 inches.  The other two were hanging on the edges of the jar in a “J” shape, soon to become crysalises.

I made it to work on time (good girl), served breakfast with a smile (very good girl), laughed with Chuck’s antics (of course that’s good), barely took time to eat a snack (that’s bad) or use the bathroom (tsk, tsk), did take time to flirt with my husband when he dropped by on his morning break (good, very good), then did some banking (that’s necessary), and purchased some produce from two farmers “on the way home” (good, good, good).

I aimed for the kitchen as soon as I walked in the door so I could check on the caterpillars.  I noticed one of the “J” shapes was beginning to turn green.  In about five minutes, the striped caterpillar was “gone,” completely covered in green crysalis.  The effort it took for this creature to go through this process kept me glued to the show; I didn’t even think about getting my camera.

crysalis forming

Then I noticed the other “J” shape was beginning to turn green, too.  This time I captured the process in photos although video would’ve been better.  In this photo, you can see the first crysalis in the background.  At this point the second crysalis was beginning to form and the caterpillar was fairly still.  But not for long.

For several minutes the caterpillar thrashed about, shedding its skin and acquiring the new green “skin” of the crysalis.  Once inside the crysalis, the caterpillar still wiggled around, shrinking into itself and adding inner layers of green so eventually I couldn’t detect the yellow and black stripes of the caterpillar anymore.

completed crysalis in background; crysalis in motion (thus blurred) in foreground, black stuff is old skin being left behind

This was when my husband came home for lunch.  He listened to my excited gibberish, looked at my pictures, and watched the wiggling form shrink into the shape of the first crysalis.  Maybe it’s like me watching replays of NASCAR crashes.  I never seem to be in the room when the crashes happen, but I hear his hoots and hollers, then watch the replays and listen to him and the announcers describe the action.

After Steve went back to work, I took a peek at the jar now and then to see if any more action was taking place, expecting the other two big caterpillars to attach themselves to something and form that “J” shape.  Sure enough, one guy started crawling up the side of the jar, but instead of latching on to the jar, he crawled onto the first crysalis.  Maybe he was curious about the strange thing in his jar.  Maybe he realized his friend was gone.  I thought he was throwing threads to attach himself to the jar, but  he may have been throwing threads to help his friend’s crysalies stay firmly attached.  If so, that is an amazing behavior of instinct!  Then he crawled over and did the same thing to the second crysalis.  I don’t have an answer for this one, just speculation.

As I type, the curious caterpillar has crawled onto the screen on top of the jar.  He’s just suspended there, upside down, horizontally.  No “J” shape yet.  Guess the action’s over.  Time for me to do my stretches (undoubtedly good).

Day 8: Saturation Point

recycled art by Andrea Ykema de Vries

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,  “You can put them outside, you know.”  Sensing my OCD-ness rising in me, I said,  “No, I’m still interested in watching the complete process, but only with five.  Feeding hungry caterpillars is a lot of work.”

It was a beautiful day for a walk so I decided to look for caterpillars “in the wild.”  When I found the second half-incher, I was tempted to bring them home but I caught myself, almost slapping my hands.  Purposefully I moved on, looking for chrysalises “in the wild.”  During my hunt, I saw several more inch-long caterpillars and a couple of almost-two-inchers.  This time I felt only mild temptations to bring them home; the curiosity to spot chrysalises was greater so I walked and observed.

At home, another more calming thought entered my mind:

The acquisitive instinct is incompatible with true appreciation of beauty.

You may remember my post from June 14th about the piece of art created by my daughter that hangs on my front porch.  She was inspired by this quote from Anne Morrow Lindbergh (see previous post).  I guess walking past the window on my way into the house helped me get some perspective on my obsession with caterpillars.  Something I’d heard in a conversation on Wednesday began to make more sense, too.

Topher and Karen brought three-year-old Lily to our house for dinner on Wednesday so I showed them my caterpillars.  Of course, Lily started begging for a pet of her own.  Her daddy responded firmly,  “We don’t bring pets indoors; we observe animals outside and leave them there.”  At the time I thought that was a bit extreme.  Will he feel that way when she wants a kitten or a puppy?  Maybe not.  But for now, his resolve is an easy way to keep the parents from getting saddled with pet management when their pre-schooler gets bored with the responsibility.

In contrast, my friend Natalie and her husband, Andy, are eagerly collecting caterpillars for their daughters to observe.  The collection is upwards of forty-ish; every day they are watching butterflies emerge from their chrysalises and fly away.

July 27, Day 11 waiting for the last caterpillar to turn into a chrysalis

There’s a wide spectrum of attitude here: Natalie–Me–Topher.  Maybe if I had an aquarium so it was easier to clean and replenish leaves, I might be more interested in having a larger collection.  My jars limit the number of caterpillars I can care for,  and that’s probably good.  Like Anne Morrow’s walk on the beach to collect seashells: one is a rare gem, several is beautiful, but pockets full are just shells.  For me, feeding five caterpillars was my saturation point.

Now it’s a whole week later.  All five caterpillars are safely tucked in their chrysalises so I don’t need to collect leaves or discard poo.  I anticipate my first butterfly to emerge around August 6th, Day 21 of the Monarch Morph Project.  Until then, I doubt I’ll be making any more entries since not much is going on.  I watch the chrysalises wiggle every now and then.  I mark off the days on my chart (that OCD in me just can’t be subdued).  I’m still intrigued.  And quite content.

Day 16: I am Not a Prophet

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 black wing tucked inside, too.

I thought I’d use this opportunity to give you some photos I was able to take outside the jar.  One of the caterpillars decided to attach itself to the mesh cover of the jar so I could move it around.  In this photo

“J” shape is the beginning of pupation

it’s hanging in the classic “J” shape.  Once it’s attached, it takes about 24 hours to change from a striped caterpillar to a green exoskeleton (I sound so official, now, don’t I?).

I tried to capture a video of this caterpillar’s transformation from “J” to chrysalis, but I had to go to work so I missed the action.  Still, I was able to get some close-ups outside of the glass jar so you can see the gold dots on the chrysalis.

chrysalis has gold dots that mesmerize me

So here’s my parting shot: a glimpse of my jar with all five chrysalises, two are black today and will have butterflies emerging tomorrow.  Change is in process!

can you find the two black chrysalises? then the other three that are still green?

Day 17: Wrong Again!

Anna made friends with “John”

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 crawl out when they felt ready for adventure.

two butterflies emerged at lunchtime

Butterfly Babies #1 and #2

The first to emerge was a female.  In keeping with my husband’s Dutch heritage (and also to honor our new son-in-law’s Dutch lineage), I decided to name her Mary Beth.  That’s my mother’s name… and since I’m the mother of this baby, it is named in honor of my mother.

The second to emerge was a male.  His name is John, in honor of the father’s father.  (Steve just shook his head at my silliness.  Are you shaking your head, too?  I would if I were you.)

You know how it is with babies… you want to show them off to everybody… and I’m no different.  I called my neighbor, Kathy, and asked her to bring her daughter, Anna over so she could see the babies before they flew away.  They’ve been away on vacation while I’ve been doing the Monarch Morph Project, so there was a lot to tell them.  Anna was impressed with the chrysalises and how John was climbing out of the jar.  She was happily surprised when John took flight and landed on her hair.  “That’s good luck!” said her mom, smiling gently.

As we swapped some more stories from our summers, Kathy was patient with me as I snapped photos in an attempt to catch the butterflies with their wings fully extended so you could see the difference between a male and a female.

Here is Mary Beth.

Mary Beth, my first baby girl Monarch

Her brother, John, has two black spots on his lower wings.  That’s how you tell a male from a female, just two little spots.

John, my first baby boy Monarch

As I type this post, the third chrysalis is turning black so I’m daring to make a prediction: tomorrow we should have another butterfly.

If my eyes were really sharp, I’d be able to tell the gender from a little indentation (or lack thereof) on the chrysalis.  I don’t know how good my eyes are, but I’m going to go out on a limb and predict three more males (no identations that I can see).  Stay posted.

Let’s see.  If there are three more males, the second male would be Curtis in honor of my father.  I’ll have to call my daughter to find out the names of the other two; I can’t remember if I should honor Steve’s uncle or my uncle or my  brother next.  (I see you rolling your eyes!)

Mary Beth shows off her profile

Day 22: Last report

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 discern genders from little indentations on the chrysalis since only two out of the three were male.

Here are photos of the last three babies.

Curtis, baby #3

Butterfly Baby #3

I named him Curtis, in honor of my father.  The Dutch baby-naming system jumps back and forth from mother’s family to father’s family.  (It makes sense to them but I get lost after the third or fourth round.)

Curtis wasn’t very cooperative with the photographer.  He didn’t open his wings very often but I was able to see the markings that identified his gender.  The shutter on my camera wasn’t fast enough to capture his full wingspan.

I’m intrigued with the similarity between butterfly and namesake.  My father has always been a man of his own mind, doing things at his own pace often without informing anyone of his plans.  I remember a road trip to Mexico that he had planned for years (in his head) then popped the plan to my mom not long before he packed up his little red pick-up and took off.  When Mom said good-bye to him, she truly said good-bye since she didn’t know if he’d become the victim of some roadside thieves along the way.  He was gone several weeks.  I’m proud to report that he contacted her several times while he was away.

One more interesting tidbit.  Did you know that east coast Monarch butterflies migrate to Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve in Mexico?  No one butterfly makes the entire journey, but each one contributes to the next generation so that the migration takes place after four or five generations.  I wonder how close Curtis will get to that final destination?  We will never know.

Wesley ready to emerge from his chrysalis

Butterly Baby #4

I watched this butterfly’s birth.  In this photo, you can clearly see the orange and black wings inside the chrysalis.  It only took moments for the butterfly to emerge and start unfolding its wings.  Unfortunately, my photos of this process are all blurry so I can’t share them with you.

Baby #4 was a male so I named him Wesley, in honor of our son.  (We couldn’t decide whether to honor Steve’s uncles or my brother, so we compromised and chose our son.  The Dutch probably would frown on our choice.  Oh well.)

Wesley, baby #4

How appropriate that I watched this baby’s birth since I was so very present at my son’s birth.  And how odd that this particular photo happened to be image #1986 on my camera, the year of our very-tall-and-handsome son’s birth.

After I shot this photo, I went to work then was surprised to see Wesley still enjoying the petunias on my front porch later that evening.  I smiled as I remembered our son’s good-bye comments to me after his visit home from Cleveland last week, “I really enjoyed being here.  It was a great break.”  It made my momma-heart all warm and fuzzy to know that it was worth two days of driving to spend one day with us.

Marilyn, Baby #5

Butterfly Baby #5

The last baby to emerge was a female, named Marilyn in honor of my husband’s mother.  Now we’ve honored all four of our parents in the Dutch tradition.  Hoozah!

It didn’t take long for Marilyn to dry her wings and make a hasty retreat from our front steps.  She didn’t linger on the petunias and we haven’t seen her in the grass anywhere.  Again, there’s a similarity between baby and namesake.  Marilyn is the only one of our parents who has died.  She suffered over thirty years with lupus before she died at age 77 only five years ago.  To my husband, it felt like she died when she was 40–the changes in her personality and stamina created a totally different set of childhood memories for him compared to his three older sisters.  There will always be a Marilyn-shaped hole in the Ykema family tapestry.

I hereby declare the Monarch Morph Project to be a success.  Only two caterpillars died.  Five have taken flight towards Mexico.  We are empty-nesters again (and loving the freedom) but I’ll keep watching the petunias to see if any Monarchs come to visit.

Wesley savored our front porch petunias late into the evening

Summer 2011–keeping it outdoors

A Walk on Lake Russell Road in Mid-July

c 2011 Kim Ykema. my mystery flower… do you know what it is?

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 clouds worked together to create a palette that was alive with movement and light.  Now and then I looked at the underside of a milkweed leaf in search of a monarch caterpillar.  Perhaps it’s still too early in the season for the butterflies to come to my backyard, but I know a friend several miles away has seen a monarch butterfly, so there’s hope.

Thinking that I might be able to get some good photos, I ran back to the house to get my camera. This summer I will resist bringing caterpillars into my house for observation.  Instead, I’ll capture photos of what I find on my walks.  Last year I couldn’t find a chrysalis outside so that’s a goal this summer.

Today I found milkweed plants in various stages of bloom.  Lucky me!  When I turned over a leaf that had a hole munched into it, there was a monarch caterpillar having lunch.  I think it was less than a quarter of an inch but the distinctive stripes were visible.

c 2011 Kim Ykema. there’s a caterpillar under the leaf on the left in the middle… see the little holes?

Under that leaf was this little critter.

c 2011 Kim Ykema. there it is! at the top of the photo… click to enlarge the photo

Along the road I spotted black-eyed susans, crown vetch, thistles, wild daisies, yarrow, Queen Ann’s Lace, and various grasses.  One of my favorites is a yellow flower that reminds me of a snapdragon.  If anyone knows its name, please leave a comment for me.

To learn more about milkweed, check out these links.

Dave’s Garden tells you how to grow milkweed

Marcia Bonta describes animals, insects, and other plants in a milkweed habitat

Muhlenberg Botanic Club compares several varieties of milkweed

My friend Kathy identified the mystery flower: yellow toadflax (Linaria vulgaris). It’s also called jacobs ladder.  When we first moved here there were lots of them in our back field.  Steve used to bring in lovely wildflower bouquets.  I miss them.

Another Walk on Lake Russell Road.. one week later

c 2011 Kim Ykema. black-eyed susans

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, I heard lots of bees buzzing and bird songs while the gravel crunched under my shoes.  Then I saw red beetles and a cream-colored moth.  Apparently both of these insects are among the few that are able to eat the poisonous milkweed and live to tell the tale.  Aphids, ants, and spiders were common, too.

Oh! and I noticed some of the milkweed flowers turning into seed pods that are only a 1/2 inch long.  In the past I’ve only noticed the pods after they reach maturity, about three inches long.

Last summer my focus was on bringing caterpillars into my kitchen so I could observe them.  I walked Lake Russell Road to collect fresh milkweed leaves to feed the caterpillars, but I didn’t take time to notice the other things living on and around the milkweed plants.  This year I’m determined to see the caterpillars in their habitat and I’m getting unexpected rewards.  I like this slower pace.

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Mid-August on Lake Russell Road

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 holes on milkweed leaves, but no caterpillars.

Lots of ants.

A red milkweed beetle.

Then…

c 2011 Kim Ykema. there it is! munching away…

This is one hungry caterpillar, almost ready to find a place to hang to form its chrysalis.  To give you an idea how fat it is, I added my finger to the picture for perspective.

c 2011 Kim Ykema. approximately 1.5 inches long… ready to start morphing…

Ah!

Finally I found one.

Recently I asked Natalie Trout how this year’s monarch collection is growing in her household.  Last year the Trouts inspired me to start a collection of monarchs in a jar on my kitchen counter.  They nursed oodles of butterflies into existence while I exhausted myself with fewer than ten.  This year they are raising a “normal” collection of twenty.

Normal?  What’s normal?

Natalie agreed that the caterpillars are harder to find this year.  That makes today’s discovery so valuable.

I decided to boost my cardio workout just a little more… up a hill and down the backside.

Hmmm…. more milkweed.

Keep walking.

Pace is slowing.

Is…. that…. another… caterpillar?

c 2011 Kim Ykema.

Yes.  Another hungry caterpillar.

But no more on today’s walk.  I scanned tree trunks for tiny green spots hoping to find a chrysalis in the wild.  No chrysalis sightings to report this time, but I will keep looking.  And walking.

Related articles

• The monarch butterfly: a vanishing species (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

It’s Still August… The Butterflies are Migrating to Mexico

c 2011 Kim Ykema. Is there a chrysalis hanging alongside the pinecones?

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 I looked high and low on tree trunks, rocks, woody shrubs, even signposts.  Since the monarchs choose to overwinter in Mexican conifer forests, I paid attention to the evergreens along the road.  If those caterpillars prefer the branches above my head then my search is doomed for this year.  Right now I’m toting my “dummy” camera on my walks; next year I may have to bring binoculars, too.

Yesterday I found several caterpillars: one was a quarter-inch newborn, another was one inch long, and several were close to 1.5 inches, just about ready to latch on to something for the transformation into a chrysalis.  I also found a red milkweed beetle and a milkweed tussock caterpillar.  Towards the end of my walk, I saw a pale yellow moth then I followed a female monarch butterfly and was able to capture some close-up photos when she stopped for nectar from a thistle.

I’m encouraged by the number of caterpillars I found yesterday; my probability of finding a chrysalis is improving.  Here’s a slideshow of my hide-and-seek nature walk.  Enjoy the beauty of nature… and an encouraging update on the progress of my vegetable garden.  Despite the cold, wet summer in the Poconos, there is hope that some of my tomatoes will ripen.  The yellow pear tomatoes are turning yellow and the Roma plum tomatoes are getting a red tinge.  Hoorah!

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copyright 2011 Kim Ykema.  Photos and text can not be used without permission of author.