Monarch Butterflies

[CliffandJoann]

We raise Monarch Butterflies...Our old wooden habitat fell apart after many years. So this year
we made a new habitat...We screened over the air holes in this case...It worked out beautifully.

The Monarchs lay their eggs on our milk leaves; we remove the leaves (after a couple of hours)
and place the lease in the habitat in water...The baby caterpillars eat the milkweed, and grow big.

After a while they get into the J position and hang from the top...then they spin into their chrysalis...
after awhile they break out of the chrysalis and a beautiful Monarch Butterfly emerges.

 

[CliffandJoann]

This is a caterpillar in the J position before spinning into the chrysalis.

 

[CliffandJoann]

This is the chrysalis before the butterfly emerges. See how transparent it is.

 

[CliffandJoann]

This is a couple of butterflies, just before the release.. The last pic is a female Monarch posing
for a photo pondside, two days ago...

 

[mrsclem]

I have been raising them last 3 years on a smaller scale. 34 so far this year and we are finding new cat babies! The birds here have figured out that the milkweed is a food bar so bringing as many cats to cage as possible. So cool to release a new butterfly!

 

[CliffandJoann]

Yes, it is cool and very rewarding too.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I've raised a few in recent years. Now I just let nature take its course. Every now and then I find a chrysalis in my native garden. It was fun watching this one last year.

I've hardly seen any caterpillars this year. Last year, I was finding handfuls of them.

 

[mrsclem]

Thought I would revive this thread. Raising monarch butterflies as well as black swallowtails. We released 5 black swallowtails and about 10 monarchs.
Right now I have 26 swallowtails, almost half have formed crysalis. They won't emerge till spring. Monarchs- 40+ crysalis and over 100 caterpillars of all sizes. I have the smaller ones in seed starting trays. Both species are keeping me busy gathering food!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I've had almost zero monarch caterpillars this year. There were a few in spring. Haven't seen a single one since.

 

[mrsclem]

That's crazy with what you have had in the past. We had a couple th Is spring and then a lot this last month. My garden is pretty much done for the year.

 

[mrsclem]

We released the first one today, tomorrow will be 8-12 released. Hoping the swallowtails will emerge this year but guessing it will be spring

 

[Mike in Vermont]

2 years ago, I watched 36 emerge from the cocoon. The next year, I planted extra Milkweed only to have no butterflies show up. I heard that there was a widespread insecticidal spraying that killed many of them during their annual trip south. I saw 1 for a short time this year. No caterpillars.

 

[Annimalcrackers]

Swallow tails every year here..