LOOK! I'M a SURROGATE NEW DAD!
In recent years, the absence of BUTTERFLIES in places one expects to see them … has been alarming, consequently, I have taken it upon myself, to, where and when I find a caterpillar, take it home, place in a large bottle, include appropriate food (dill, milkweed, etc. depending on the species need).
Once a caterpillar forms its chrysalis, I wait hopefully for the emerging adult butterfly, allow its wings to harden … and set it free in my garden (of multiple flower species), hoping that it (or a mate) will lay eggs on leaves or stems therein.
Recently, I have released a Black Swallowtail Butterfly, a Tiger Swallowtail and an Monarch. While I cannot swear to it being one of "mine" … a Monarch Butterfly has just deposited hundreds of eggs on my milkweed plants …
I AM A HAPPY CAMPER … and now have, in one of the jars, several of the egg-laden milkweed leaves … each one holding a caterpillar-to-be!
When I release a butterfly, I place it on one of my garden flowers … and, you know me … take a picture.
Like any proud DAD (even a surrogate one), I will start forcing my kid-pictures on you.
TODAY'S RELEASED MONARCH BUTTERFLY!
Look closely at the right of the photo to see the CHRYSALIS (in the oval) from which my new "baby" emerged just minutes ago!
© A. Mac/A.G.
This is a MALE (his wings have the TWO BLACK SPOTS found on the wings of males; he looked ready to fly so I removed the mesh from the jar and out he crawled.
© A. Mac/A.G.
I moved the butterfly while still on the bottle, over to the many milkweed plants in my back yard, helped him on to one of them and wished him well!
© A. Mac/A.G.
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I am not a religious person, but, I do believe in a CREATOR … my way of playing tribute yo this Great Spirit is to record and preserve the beauty HE/SHE/IT creates.
"NATURE IS THE ART OF GOD." (Sir Thomas Browne)
NOTE: DO NOT SEND "BABY" GIFTS … instead … make a donation to any conservation organization.
Ain't he elegant!!!
I hadn't seen a butterfly in the longest time and then a couple of days ago I saw one that looked a lot like this one. It was the only one I saw. Don't get out in the country like I use to do. Maybe soon.
Nice !
What timing. Recently, my neighbor and I were talking about the loss of butterflies.
Are there any theories about it?
Just last evening on my way into the house I saw a caterpillar that had dropped into a spider web and had become a victim.
I didn't now they could be raised as you described.
Nice photos BTW.
One theory is that fires in Mexico have destroyed certain butterfly habitat and consequently, populations.
Interesting theory Mac.
I wonder where they, these that have been saved, would inherently go for migration?
Monarch butterflies are not able to survive the cold winters of most of the United States so they migrate south and west each autumn to escape the cold weather. The monarch migration usually starts in about October of each year, but can start earlier if the weather turns cold sooner than that.
Monarchs like to hibernate
in the same trees every year.
The monarch butterflies will spend their winter hibernation in Mexico and some parts of Southern California where it is warm all year long. If the monarch lives in the Eastern states, usually east of the Rocky Mountains, it will migrate to Mexico and hibernate in oyamel fir trees. If the monarch butterfly lives west of the Rocky Mountains, then it will hibernate in and around Pacific Grove, California in eucalyptus trees. Monarch butterflies use the very same trees each and every year when they migrate, which seems odd because they aren’t the same butterflies that were there last year. These are the new fourth generation of monarch butterflies, so how do they know which trees are the right ones to hibernate in? Monarch butterflies are the only insect that migrates to a warmer climate that is 2,500 miles away each year.
Great info. It's amazing.
Thanks Mac.
I had thought it was due to the ever-increasing use of toxic chemicals in agriculture in the U.S. As well as other forms of increasing toxic polution.
I googled it-- it seems there are actually 3 contributing factors:
So why are the monarchs vanishing? Last month, I interviewed Lincoln Brower, a professor of biology at Sweet Briar College who has studied the monarch migrations for decades. In a 2012 paper, he cited three big reasons the populations are dwindling: Deforestation in Mexico, recent bouts of severe weather, and the growth of herbicide-based agriculture destroying crucial milkweed flora in the Midwest.
The most catastrophic thing from the point of view of the monarch butterfly has been the expansion of crops that are planted on an unbelievably wide scale throughout the Midwest and have been genetically manipulated to be resistant to the powerful herbicide Roundup. (Cont'd)
And not surprisingly, Trump is taking action!!!!
How Trump Could Doom the Monarch
This was my first thought too.
Looks like, just as the mega fauna die off may have had multiple contributors, so may the impact on the worlds butterfly populations.
How cool is this....I love it, great job Mac and a beautiful butterfly.
Congratulations on your new arrival.
Any idea what type of butterfly this is?
It's a Black Swallowtail
Papilio polyxenes, the black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma and New Jersey.
I also raise those when I can find the caterpillars or the eggs.
Thank you for the information.
how can you grow milkweed? I have a place I could grow some
Send me a mailing address in private notes and when the seed pods open in late autumn, I'll mail you seeds you can plant in the spring.
Mac, I made a small donation to ''Defenders of Wildlife'' which has a section for helping butterflies.
How cool is that.
I also found this site which you might be interested in.
Those of us with and without wings and antennae thank you!
As a horticulturalist, I have been hired enumerable times to 'clean up' properties that border the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. There is a lot of milkweed in our area and every time I see it on a client's property, I make it a point to explain why it's so important to let it grown. I at about a 50/50 success rate on convincing people to give milkweed a place in their garden.
There is a restaurant we go to that's by the RR tracks and milkweed is prolific there. Every fall I go with a bag and prune off seed pods and then do a walk about on the back part of my property and let the seeds fly...
BTW, deer love milkweed too but it isn't all that good for them.
It's the toxins in Milkweed on which they feed, that make the Monarch caterpillars and butterflies unpalatable even to insectivorous predators.
When I was a little kid, the Monarch butterflies were plentiful in Ontario, and I saw so many of them, and because of that whenever I think of butterflies, I think of Monarchs - they are my standard image of a butterfly.
So beautiful!
Going to Walt Disney World with my grandkids in the morning … any photo requests … I'll try my best to accommodate.
Lake side dinner and English beer at the English pub open air tables.
Very good chance for that request!
On my way to EPCOT; any other photo requests?
The light is poor at this moment, but, hopefully it will improve over the next few hours.
Maybe some animal kingdom shots?
That will be tomorrow or Saturday.
have a safe and fun trip
Thank you.
You are doing a good deed for nature! I think I might start to grow milkweed in my garden. Right now I am awaiting 4 broods of box turtles.
Ok, I have another one. Do you know what type this is?
Ncely videoed, JaneDoe!
It's a Diana fritillary female ( Speyeria diana ), a fritillary butterfly found in several wooded areas in southern and eastern North America (primarily in the Arkansas River valley, several counties in South Carolina , and spots along the Appalachian mountain range). The species exhibits marked sexual dimorphism , with males of the species exhibiting an orange color on the edges of their wings, with a burnt orange underwing.
Females are dark blue, with dark, almost dusty underwings, and are also larger than males. [2]
They are very pretty. I had 3 of them keep landing on and around me. They were very friendly
UPDATE:
Currently "raising" three Monarch Caterpillars on fresh Milkweed leaves!
Some of the best things in life are free!