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.

Roamy Chrysalis Comparison

Tie a red ribbon round the old milkweed...

I have started tying red yarn around each leaf where an egg is located. Once they all hatch I have no idea how I will be able to tell them apart! Maybe I will name them all George like George Foreman did with all of his sons.

Caterpillar Nursery

I was on the porch reading when I saw a Monarch butterfly flutter by the rail. It moved quickly from milkweed to milkweed. I was able to snap one halfway decent picture before it flew away. My parents now have 11 Monarch caterpillar eggs on their milkweed stalks. Ok-- some of them are over the gate in the neighbors yard, (I'm hoping they don't mind me in their yard.). While looking for the eggs I was surprised to find 2 little caterpillars. The little one didn't surprise me but the bigger one did. I am naming them Oo and Ah because that is what my thought was when I saw them. Oo is the small one and Ah is the bigger one.

No Change

Not much to report. When the chrysalises start to darken I will make a post. While your waiting get outside and start looking for caterpillars and butterflies.

My parent's Monarch egg still hasn't hatched. It has been 7 days since I spotted it.

Enjoy this stunning dragonfly that I captured off the pier behind my parent's home.

Chrysalis or Cocoon?

Daniel and I had a discussion about whether butterflies make a chrysalis or a cocoon. I told him that not all "flying flowers" are butterflies--some are moths. There are several differences between butterflies and moths. One difference is that a butterfly makes a chrysalis and a moth makes a cocoon. We went searching this morning for a moth so we could study the difference and wouldn't you know it we couldn't find one. We did come across a fluttery white butterfly. We will keep searching. Be on the look out for a moth and see if you can spot any more differences.

Beyond Beauty!

Here is Homebody's chrysalis. Isn't it beautiful! It is truly a stunning green and gold jewel. The smoothness of the chrysalis invites touching, but you want to leave them alone. Inside this delicate case is a work in progress. Our cute squirmy caterpillars are making themselves into a butterfly. I wonder how long it will take for them to make the metamorphosis to a new creation

Daredevil Changes!

Attached is a crude movie of Daredevil changing into his chrysalis. It is blurry and I couldn't figure out the problem but hopefully you can see the process. Homebody changed about 2 hours after Daredevil and Roamy is speedy. He formed a "J" and changed to his chrysalis by this morning.

I sat on a stool and kept watch on Daredevil because I was determined to see him change into his chrysalis. He started to wiggle and jiggle about. His body was moving inside of his skin. About an hour later he split his skin and wiggled the skin toward his tail and then did big circles with his body till the old skin fell away. AMAZING!

Making a "J"

Last night Daredevil and Homebody were making the "button" that they will attach to in order to hang into a "J" shape. Once they had the button done they turned their body around and attached their tail to it and then released their legs slowly. It was a long process that took 1 hour and 45 minutes. I was curious as to how they release their body into the "J" position. First they let go of the back two feet. Then they release the front two feet. After waiting for awhile they let go two more feet in the back and then last they release one foot at a time of the last 2 feet and swing into the "J" shape. If you look closely at their heads you can see that they are turning green. When I got up this morning they were still in the "J" Position. Roamy is still eating.

The caterpillars have been eating constantly as you can see from the pictures. Daredevil is on the side of the cage. He has been there for a long time so I think that means he is going to molt. Look at the picture of him hanging onto the cage with his feet. See the silky threads on the cage? Caterpillars use that silky thread as their safety line. If they lose their grip the thread will keep them from falling too far. They are all getting really fat and moving much slower. Roamy is not roaming so much. It is getting harder to tell them apart. I think that they will form their chrysalis in this order: Homebody, Daredevil, Roamy.

Just Like My Children

One of the pictures attached shows Roamy and Daredevil fussing with each other. I think they both wanted to eat off the same leaf. They were nudging each other with their heads. They finally compromised and one ate on one side of the leaf and the other ate on the other side. Just like my children!!

One of the other pictures shows Daredevil doing something I haven't seen before with caterpillars. He was eating on the spine of a leaf and it was really juicy. He was taking his mouth and scooting the juice down the spine and then wipe his mouth by rubbing his mouth up the leaf. Again--Just like my children.

New Home

The caterpillars made the 2 1/2 hour trip up to my mom and dad's home in Northern Indiana. They live on a lake where I grew up. It is cooler up here so the caterpillars have to come in at night. My parents have milkweed in their flower garden, (only because I threatened my dad with his life if he cut down the stalks--he also humors me like my husband), and there is a Monarch caterpillar egg on one of the stalks. Their milkweed looks slightly different up here. It has bigger leaves and beautiful purple flowers on top. I will have to research the different varieties of milkweed. I may have to bring some of that milkweed home with me and try planting it. My dad was making fun of my "Central Indiana city caterpillars" being up here in the North.

Daredevil Close-up

Here is a close-up picture of Daredevil's tail. Notice that his antenna got messed up from the cold the other morning. Once he molts again he will look good as new.

Roamy being Roamy

Here are two pictures of Roamy. He was playing dead and then slid down the leaf and was still playing dead while hanging over the leaf next to the milkweed. He is so dramatic!!

Blowin' in the Wind

The wind was very strong yesterday. The milkweed was whipping back and forth so hard that poor Homebody was thrown from the stalk 3 times. You know how he likes to stay at the top of the milkweed. I guess that is not a good place to be when the wind is blowing hard. Katie and I rescued him each time and then decided it was time to cut the milkweed and bring them inside. We are leaving to go up to my parents home for the month of July and we shall take them with us. They are very happy to be inside out of the wind. When I was cutting the milkweed a baby praying mantis went running along the sidewalk. Now that really helped make this decision easy because praying mantis love to eat caterpillars and butterflies. I knew that the preying mantis were out there because I saw them hatch out of their cocoon in May. Hundreds of them in my window trapped between the screen and window. I will be continuing the blog while on vacation. We should be getting close to having the caterpillars form a "J" and then their chrysalis. Hey! Did you see that you can vote for your favorite caterpillar?

Before/After of Roamy

Roamy finally molted. He did not move from 1:30 PM till I went in for the evening around 8:00 PM and had still not molted. This morning he is looking very proud of his new skin. His bad stripe day lasted all day yesterday so he has to feel so much better today. Now here is the question--Will Roamy go roaming today? We will be gone all morning so he is on his own if he gets off the milkweed. Maybe he will be so hungry from molting that he will stay put. That is what I noticed about Daredevil. He ate half a leaf yesterday. Check out the picture. I also included a picture of Homebody being adorable and still at the top of the stalk. Hey--if you haven't figured it out yet you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Caterpillar Bridge

I know this picture is blurry but I thought it was really cool! This is Roamy on another one of his quests for adventure beyond the milkweed.

Homebody Molts

Look at how bright Hombody's colors are after molting. I wonder how many times a caterpillar molts before forming its chrysalis?

Friends

Homebody and Daredevil having lunch together.