End of the Season

Ok. I am a little slow in posting the birth of my 4 butterflies. I got kind of busy.
We had 2 males and 2 female butterflies. Katie, (my daughter), took a butterfly class at our local nature center and learned how to identify male from female and how to hold a butterfly. A male butterfly has two black spots on the inside lower sections of its wings.

Now that fall is here I won't be posting as much on this site until spring. Please check out my other blog site, "Knit, Swurl, and Other Stuff", which you can access by going to my profile. I love to knit and will be doing a lot of knitting now that caterpillar season is over.

Getting Ready

The first chrysalis has turned clear. A beautiful butterfly is about to emerge! I picked some wildflowers in preparation of this event.

Newly Formed Chrysalis

The first picture show Jiffy in his newly formed chrysalis.

And then there were four...

These are my last caterpillars for the season. It doesn't matter how many caterpillars I watch grow and change I still find it great fun to be a part of this amazing process. My favorite picture above is of the upstairs/downstairs caterpillar neighbors.

Jiffy and Friends

Jiffy is posing for the camera--or so it appears. The other 3 caterpillar friends have been very still.

Caterpillar Art

One of my four caterpillars is an artist. He ate a picture of a butterfly into his milkweed leaf this morning. I think he is dreaming of what he will become in a few more weeks.

I went out into the fields and found 2 caterpillar eggs. Then I came home and found 2 more eggs on my milkweed. I watched them closely and when they started turning black I snipped of the leaf and brought it inside to my cage. All 4 eggs hatched but sadly one caterpillar died. I found him hanging by his thread a couple of times and then he must of fell.

Today I went out into another field that had lots of wildflowers. There were so many butterflies fluttering about sipping nectar. I was in awe of their gentle beauty. I'm going to return to the same field and get some video of the butterflies. Oh--I also found 3 eggs which I took to my school and will offer to my teacher colleagues for their classrooms.

Sadness and Disbelief

I can't believe that I HAD 14 caterpillars and now I have none!! I resisted the urge to bring them inside and a praying mantis ended up eating them all. This must be why butterflies have to lay so many eggs. I am really sad but know that this is how nature works. If all creatures lived our Earth would be overrun by them. I think that the caterpillars that are born early in the summer have the best chance at survival because the predator numbers are fewer. I'm going to go out and find a caterpillar to keep in my cage so I can end my summer on a happy note.

All Have Hathched!

All 14 eggs have hatched, but I've only found 7 caterpillars. There was a heavy rain storm and when I got home this evening the milkweed stalk was bent to the ground. I don't know if the other 7 caterpillars got washed away or I just haven't found them yet. If only 7 out of 14 caterpillars survived what is the percent?

Also--Milky left to find a quiet stable place to make a chrysalis. I looked all around but can't find him. I hope he is near so I can see him fly away.

Pattern

When I taught 2nd grade I had the students color a picture of a caterpillar making the pattern black, white, yellow. Great exercise in making a pattern but look closely at the picture of "Milky". He does have a pattern but it is not as simple as black, white, yellow.

Guard Cat

Our Cat Mao-Mao is guarding the milkweed for us. I am not sure what he would do to the predator. He never was very fierce. When he lived indoors he would come get us if he saw a spider so we could take care of it.

More Eggs

I went out to get the mail and just glanced at the milkweed and saw a new egg. After looking further I found 5 new eggs in all. The butterflies are busy today!

9 New Eggs!!!!!

9 New Eggs!!!!!

We were turning into our driveway when I saw a Monarch Butterfly flitter away from the milkweed. I had looked at the stalk before we went to lunch and there were no eggs on it. "Milky" our lone caterpillar that we brought home from the lake was munching his lunch. Well--to my great delight that butterfly laid 9 eggs!!!! Katie and I are so excited!

Laying Eggs

A Monarch Butterfly was laying eggs yesterday. It flitted quickly from one stalk to the next. It only took it a second to lay an egg. I think it layed 4 eggs during this visit. I love to watch them fly. My mom and I wondered if this might be Homebody, Roamy or Daredevil.

I can't find Oo and Ah. Either they went off to find a place to make their chrysalis or they are good at hiding in all the milkweed. George the caterpillars are growing. We go home today from the lake. I think that I will take a couple Georges with me. It has been a fun caterpillar adventure this summer.

Oo is Found!

I was looking at Ah munching on his dinner when I spotted Oo way in the back of the milkweed stalks.

I have only been able to find 2 of the 11 caterpillars that hatched. Either they are hiding or have been eaten by predators.

Saved a Life

I was looking for all of the newly hatched caterpillars and found one hanging by its silky thread. He was dangling 6 inches from a leaf. There was no leaf close enough for him to grab on to so I gentle placed my hand under him and caught him. So tiny!

Ah

After searching and searching I found Ah the caterpillar. Oo is still somewhere in the milkweed. When you have so many stalks growing together they like to travel from stalk to stalk. How I located him was to squat down and look up under the plants and to look for caterpillar poop.

Milkweed Seed Pod

Here is a picture of what a milkweed seed pod looks like. If you were to open it up when it reaches its full size silky white seeds would go everywhere. During WW II what part of the milkweed plant was used to make flotation devices? Anyone? Anyone?

Butterflies are Born

Katie, Daniel and I had to head home from my parents last Wednesday for a dr. appointment. I debated on whether to take the cage with me but feared that the ride might be too bumpy and disturb the chrysalises.

My mom called me on Thursday and Homebody had come out of his chrysalis. I found this interesting because Daredevil was the first to make a chrysalis. I guess like babies they find their own time to emerge into the world. Daredevil was next on Friday at 9:30 AM and then came Roamy at 12:00 PM--both flew away at 2:50 PM. Mom said that Roamy took a grand maiden flight around the house and then landed on the front porch. Isn't that just like Roamy.

A big thank you to my mom for taking pictures and keeping data.

Moth

If you have been reading this blog you know that Daniel and I have been looking for a moth with no luck. I walked into the bathroom at my parents home and there was a moth on the mirror. We captured it in a clear plastic container. Take a look and see if you can see what is different about a moth compared to a butterfly.

My Two Caterpillars

Here are my two children at the zoo hatching from eggs.