Two Queens Emerge!

Well, we have some exciting news today.  First off, our first Queen butterfly emerged from its chrysalis which was hanging in our Mud Room.  Being a female, it's truly a queen.  Additionally, our last of two Monarch chrysalises emerged today- also a female.  So, we'll have the possibility of getting some more eggs soon if all goes well.

(Queen chrysalis - it greatly resembles a Monarch's, but is smaller)

(Our new female Queen butterfly)

We have had so few females this season.  My wife Janae wonders if temperature has anything to do with the male/female ratio?  That's good question.  I'll have to do some research and see what I find.  Irregardless, female Monarchs have been few and far between.  I'm very excited to have one at the moment.

Our Corpus Christi area was put under a hurricane watch today.  I've just got my pavillion set up the way I want it, but I may have to dismantle everything in a few days.  We'll keep you updated.  We may have to evacuate some butterflies with us.  That may be a first eh?

Happy Monarching!


Caleb & Janae Warren
savethemonarch1@gmail.com

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

 

Two More Female Butterflies Emerge Today

Well, yesterday, we decided to release the one female butterfly that had emerged.  Well, this morning we awoke to find two more females have emerged.  You might remember that our first batch of butterflies was mostly male.  So far, this batch is exactly the opposite--all girls so far. 

There is only one caterpillar left to pupate, so this batch is all but done.  My son Joshua found three other chrysalises that are starting so change color.  So, we'll have several butterflies within the next 24 hours if all goes well.,

If you are a teacher or educator in the Corpus Christi Texas area, and are interested in raising Monarchs with your class, feel free to contact me for further information and support.  I'm hoping many will help raise some for release this October for the fall migration.

Happy Monarching!


Caleb, Janae & Joshua Warren

savethemonarch1@gmail.com

(So far, this batch is all females...3 and counting.)

(Two new female Monarchs emerged today.)

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Warren! It's a Girl!

Finally, we have our first emerged butterfly from the second batch, and it's a female Monarch!  So, right off the bat, we've equaled the number of females from the first batch.  Our current number of caterpillars/chrysalises left is 19.  Of those, 1 has emerged, 15 are in chrysalises, 2 are in J Shape, and 1 is still a caterpillar.  We are pleased with the success of this second batch.  However, we started this batch with 50+ caterpillars.  So to lose over half is disheartening.  Still, our average is way over the wild's.  It makes me wonder, with so many predators and dangers out there, how does the wild population produces 100 million butterflies that make it to Mexico each year?  With an average of less than 1 out of every 10 making it to adulthood, the wild must produce literally billions of Monarchs each year to have a successful migration.

(Our first female Monarch from our second batch.)

While inspecting our plants recently, we found three Queen butterflies.  They are from the same family as the Monarchs, and they even feed on Milkweed.  They are slightly smaller than Monarchs, and they don't migrate.  All three are now in J Shapes.  Even though we were running low on Milkweed, we decided to keep them.  We look forward to seeing them emerge.  You can see one of the Queen caterpillars hanging in the J Shape in the picture below.

(Queen caterpillar hanging in the J Shape. Note the extra set of antenae on its back.)

Our mote around the outside pavillion seems to be working well, although we see a fire ant or two every time we inspect it.  Hopefully, it will keep them away until our butterflies can emerge.  We plan to put a capful of bleach in each table leg bowl to further discourage the fire ants and to prevent misquitos from breeding in the water.

Oh, one last note, though it doesn't exactly relate to Monarching.  Yesterday, while at the health food store, I saw some Purple Ribbon Spanish Lavender plants for sale.  Well, I'm a huge fan of lavender, so I couldn't resist, even though Lavender doesn't tend to grow well here in South Texas.  However, I'll give it a try.  I'm not sure if the Monarchs will like the lavender blooms or not.  We will see.  Either way, I'll have a beautiful plant that smells good too for a while.

(My new Purple Ribbon Spanish Lavender Plant. Isn't it beautiful?

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*