The Runt of the Litter Emerges

This morning, I awoke to a wonderful suprise.  The last of our 7 chrysalises emerged as a small but beautiful male Monarch.  Since he was the last one, and we had already released the other six, he got our full attention.  We saw him emerge from the chrysalis, which is always a wonderful treat.  I've enclosed some pictures and video clips of him emerging, but here is a brief synapsis of what occurs.

When the butterfly first emerges, his wings are all moise and crumpled, and his abdomen appears bloated.  It is filled with a special fluid which must be immediately pumped into his wings in the first 10-15 minutes after emerging.  If not, he/she will never fly.  It is amazing to watch the wings slowly fill up to their full state.  Thereafter, the butterfly will hang upside down for two to four hours allowing the wings to dry.  Then, the butterfly will take off to the skies.

If after emerging from its chrysalis, it falls from it to the ground, it is imperative that the butterfly quickly be placed back up there so it can continue to fill and dry its wings properly.  Most butterflies do not fall in this way, but if you observe this happen, quickly but gently pick it up and help it grasp its chrysalis again.  If for some reason, the chrysalis is not available for the butterfly to cling to, help it to cling to any object that it can hang from in an upside down position.

In the above photos, you can see how engorged the abdomen is when they first emerge.  Then, as they pump that abdominal fluid into their wings over the next 10-15 minutes, they finally take on their full shape.  Thus far, I've raised over 2,000 Monarchs, and I never get tired of seeing them emerge from their chrysalises as new butterflies.  I hope you get to experience this many times over as you raise your own Monarchs.

Monarch Butterfly Emerging (1 of 3)

Monarch Butterfly Emerging (2 of 3)

Monarch Butterfly Emerging (3 of 3)

So, our first batch of Monarchs is finished.  To recap, we had a total of 13 caterpillars.  The first 5 died due to the parasitic worms of a predatory fly.  Fortunately, the remaining caterpillars were still in their eggs when the first 5 were infected.  Thereafter, the remaining 8 hatched out and began their cycle.  We were able to protect them in our covered pavilions.  Of them, 7 made it to butterflies!  Only one died, and that was due to an accident.  When he pupated, his chrysalis fell and burst open.  So, 7 lived and 6 died.  Believe it or not, that's not a bad start for raising Monarchs.  In the wild, on the average, only one would have made it.

Already our next batch of caterpillars are developing and munching away.  Again, we have a variety of ages, varying from eggs to almost ready to pupate.  We'll keep you updated on the progress of the 2nd wave.

Happy Monarching!

Caleb & Janae Warren

Photography and video shots by E. Janae Warren

P.S.  Note to all educators, teachers, students, children, etc: One of the main goals of this site is to provide you with helpful information and support as you endeavor to raise Monarch butterflies and help restore their habitat in your community.  If you do not find an answer to your questions here on my Blog, or at my website: http://www.savethemonarch.calebwarren.com/, feel free to email me and I will do my best to help.

New Butterflies Emerged Today!

06/10/09

Well, yesterday, five Monarch butterflies emerged from their chrysalises here in our home! We are so excited. We have 4 males and 1 female. But this experience is not our first in rearing Monarchs, so let me back up a moment and give you a little background.

My family and I moved here to South Texas in 2008. Prior to that, we had lived in South Georgia. There, I raised over 2,000 Monarchs in less than 2 years. I was a high school teacher back then, and we had a nice program going at the school that I taught at. However, due to a lifelong debilitating bout with crippling arthritis, I had to quit my job. Additionally, my wife and I had a new baby girl in the family. So, my wife felt it best to relocate to be closer to family for help and support, so off to Corpus Christi Texas we moved, where my wife was born and raised.

Both my wife and I were saddened by the fact that we had to suspend our butterfly rearing project. It brought such great joy to all who were involved with it, both children and adults.

Well, last fall, I had artificial hip revision surgery, and I am currently recooperating from that. The arthritis is in all parts of my body now, and it greatly limits what I can do. However, my wife and I decided to try and rear a few Monarch Butterflies here and there, and yesterday morning, our first 5 emerged! What joy!

We purchased some Milkweed plants from a local nursery, and to our delight, there were caterpillars and eggs already on the plants. Our joy soon turned to sadness and our first 5 caterpillars mysteriously died when they tried to pupate. They all died at the exact same time in their final stage of pupation. This prompted me to do some research on the internet, and I found out that there is a certain predatory fly called the Tachinid fly that lays it's eggs on caterpillars. They feed on the insides of the caterpillar but do not kill it until around the time it pupates.

So, the first 5 were a loss. We were off to a bad start. However, a couple of days later, we notice more caterpillars on the plants. They must have been eggs when we bought the Milkweed. We immediately took the plants inside and placed them in a protective pavillion. There were 8 in number, and 5 emerged yesterday. One fell as it was pupating and died. It looks like the remaining 2 will emerge in the next day or two. We are thrilled!

Lastly, we got a few more Milkweed plants. Again, they have caterpillars on them, so here we go again. Sometimes, it seems the hardest part in rearing Monarchs is keeping sufficient Milkweed for the caterpillars to eat. They have such big appetites.

So, our Texas count for rearing Monarchs in 2010 is 5 and counting. We'll keep you posted.

Warm Regards,

Caleb Warren

SaveTheMonarch1@gmail.com