Lord of the Butterflies?

Another Monarch whizzed by through the bottom of the Swamp Milkweed plants late this afternoon. After waiting excitedly for that precious window of time between the bees pollinating during the day and the mosquitos attacking in the evening hours, I checked as many plants as I could.

No new eggs today.  Maybe SHE was a HE.

I am keeping an eye on the four eggs harvested two days ago.  When I bring in the eggs, I add them to a covered plastic container face down with the egg on the underside that has been layered with two sheets of dampened paper toweling. The lid is snapped closed except to add more leaves with eggs or a spritz of water to keep the dampness even. I keep them in the container until the egg cracks and the caterpillar works his way out and begins to eat his way to about 1/4 of an inch long. This is the first instar stage of the caterpillar of which there are five.

The first instar stage is the time where the caterpillar starts to become a little eating machine. Here is a fabulous up close and personal video by Autum Sasala Macro Photography where you see the tiny caterpillar break out of the egg.  Check out the fabulous macro photography on her page.

OK little Lady Monarchs. We are ready and waiting for you!

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Join our Search Party!

People have been asking me, "Do the eggs just appear?" In northern Illinois the Monarchs have been starting to come through here this week.  If you plant the milkweed, they will come.  I have a small patch of about 25 milkweed plants with pink flowers known as the "swamp milkweed" or Asclepius Incarnate.  The butterflies are attracted to the delicate pink clusters of flowers and lay their eggs underneath the leaves on these milkweed plants.  Everyone in the family is instructed to be on the lookout for Monarchs floating around the yard, and reports their sightings. If one has been spotted, the search party begins. The grandchildren love to take part in the hunt. We start searching the undersides of the leaves on each plant to see if any female Monarch has honored our garden. The eggs are so tiny, smaller than a pinhead.  However, after you have found the first few, your eyes recognize them right away.  Each female Monarch will lay anywhere from 1 to 500 eggs at a time. We carefully take the whole leaf that has an egg or several eggs and bring it inside. Chances of survival are much better for those eggs that are brought inside. According to Monarch Larva Monitoring Project website, fewer than 10% will survive in the wild. According to my 2015 count last summer, less than 10 of my eggs out of over 500 did not survive or develop into butterflies. That's a pretty good average!

Tomorrow: What next? What to do with the eggs when you find them.   

Getting Eggcited...One Egg at a Time!

Today's search left us with one eggstra egg. That brings our count up to four. While it's a small number, we are still ahead of where we were last year when we had to wait for July to begin harvesting the eggs. At the end of each of post, I will update the numbers to document each one. Stay tuned!

Eggs: 4

Caterpillars: 0

Chrysalises: 0

Unreleased Butterflies: 0

Released Butterflies: 0

What Came First, the Monarch or the Egg?

Today, we received a visit from the first butterfly of the season to make an appearance in our garden. Eagerly awaiting their arrival, my granddaughters were the the first to spot her flying about the milkweed, where they love to lay their eggs. Though the appearance came four days earlier than last year, we had been keeping a watchful eye.

With the arrival of the first monarch, came the first egg, which was discovered by my eldest granddaughter. I made a second trip later this evening and found two more eggs. We are well on our way!

Last year, we collected and nurtured over 500 eggs, as we witnessed their metamorphoses. This year, I am hoping that number will grow and I invite you all to share in their transformations. Pictures, logs, and daily updates of each and every delicate creature will be provided throughout the journey.

And, so it begins...

Take a look at the video from last year to see what's in store for the summer of 2016!