More baby Monarchs Soon To Come...Maybe.

Today has been once again an interesting day.  First, two new males emerged from their chrysalises this morning.  I went ahead and placed them in with the others, so there are now 5 Monarchs in the outdoor pavillion.  There are three males and two females.

After taking care of some morning errands, I came home to find that there had been an afternoon shower here.  What a welcomed relief.  We need the rain here so badly.  As I was looking in my outdoor pavillion, I noticed that I only saw three butterflies.  I knew that I had a total of five in there as of this morning, so my mind started to race, and I began to fear the worst.  However, to my great relief, I found the other two together on a Milkweed plant.  Yes, you guessed it, they were mating, or at least attempting to.

(Two Monarchs mating in my outdoor pavillion.)

I'm not entirely sure if the mating attempt was successful or not.  When I found them, I immediately ran and got my camera.  But by the time I returned, they had already separated.  This is unusual.  In my experience, mating pairs stay connected for 12-24 hours.  So, perhaps they got interrupted for one reason or another.  However, it certainly is a promising sign.  If they do successfully mate, then we should have a new batch of babies in about a week or so.

Happy Monarching!

Caleb & Janae Warren

 

One Triumph! One Tragedy.

Yesterday evening, I noticed two chrysalises were changing color.  They are located in the corridor between our back door and back entrance to our house.  This small area is called the "Mud Room" by my wife.  Well, this morning, I awoke to a triumph and a tragedy.  Two Male Monarchs had indeed emerged, but one had fallen from its perch.  The fall damaged its abdomen which contains the fluid for the wings.  It couldn't manage to crawl back up to its perch.  Its wings were deformed.  It would never fly.  Even if I had been standing right there, I'm not sure if I could have saved it, since its abdomen was damaged in the fall.

(Male Monarch fallen from its perch.)

This raises a question I hear often.  What should you do if you know a butterfly is injured beyond recovery?  Is there a humane way to help end its suffering?  The answer is yes.  The most humane way is to put it in a container with an enclosed lid and place it in the freezer.  The cold slowly and gently puts them to sleep.  If you see they are suffering, this is the most humane way to end their pain. 

Believe it or not, there are a lot of emotions that well up when you lose a butterfly this way.  This is especially so if you have hand reared them, provided them a lot of care, and helped them to get to this point.  And, then, when they are so close to being a successful adult flying Monarch butterfly, so see them die this way is heartbreaking.  However, we still have nearly a dozen Monarchs remaining to emerge from this batch, not to mention three Queen butterflies on the way.  And let's not forget, one male Monarch made it this morning!  So, withstanding this tragedy, we still have a lot of exciting things to look forward to.

(One Male Monarch made it!)

Happy Monarching,


Caleb & Janae Warren
savethemonarch1@gmail.com

How to Determine the Sex of a Monarch Butterfly

As you know, questions about Monarch butterflies are always welcome here.  My first question comes from none other than my dear sweet mom.  She writes: "How can you tell males from females in Monarch butterflies?"

That's a good question.  It's really quite simple.  Male Monarchs have two black dots on their lower two wings.  (see photos below.)  Females do not have these dots.  The dots are in fact scent glands which releases a pheromone that attracts the females to them for the purpose of mating.

It is even possible to determine the sex of a Monarch butterfly while it is still in its chrysalis.  This is done by taking a close look at the top of the chrysalis.  You might need a magnifying glass for this.  As you look at the top of the chrysalis, you will notice three pairs of two dots right below the cremaster.  Look right below the most bottom set of dots.  If you see a verticle line, then it is a female Monarch that will emerge.  If there is no verticle line, then it will be a male.  (see photo below.)

(In the above photo, the verticle line indicates that this a female Monarch.)

Happy Monarching!

Caleb & Janae Warren

One Monarch Emerges and One Escapes

Well, today is not yet even half over, and it has already been an eventful one.  Monarch #6 emerged this morning, and yes, it was another male.  My son and I decided to put them all in a big pavillion that we have.  Well, in the process, our one and only female ecaped.  Boy was I disappointed.  However, since we have other caterpillars up and coming, it's not a total loss.  I went ahead and released all the other males except one.  I'm saving him for two reasons.  First, he was the only butterfly that was getting nectar from the plants in the pavillion.  All the others were only trying to figure out how to escape.  Second, I'm waiting until my 2 year old daughter gets home, and then we'll release him together.

There is only one chrysalis remaining.  It should emerge in a couple of days.

Well, that's all from here.  Have a great day!


Caleb

P.S.  Oh, one last note.  We recently got a new dog.  She is an Austrailian Shepherd, and she is about 7 months old.  She's a good dog, and faster than you think.  While releasing our Monarchs, one flew in her vacinity, and in a flash, she had clamped down on it.  I could barely see the tips of the wings in her mouth.  I was mortified.  I verbally chastized her, and she finally dropped the butterfly out of her mouth and slinked away.  To my great relief, the butterfly immediately took off and seemed unharmed.  They are pretty tough creatures.  Hopefully, our dog's butterfly hunting days are over.  *smile*