Your baby cats are lookin' good, steadycam. That is soooo exciting!
DAILY PICTURES # 106
Great photos Marty! Love seeing some action somewhere. It is not much going on here, but we do have a few days of sunshine on the horizon. Best of luck on your munchers!
Thanks Sheila and C'ville. I am ready for them to pupate! I have them inside one of those laundry hampers. Will they mind being crowded? I guess there will be 6 chrysalises hanging from the inside top of the hamper.
Yes, they go to the top of anything they are in. You can move them to a clear plastic or glass container when they start roaming. Then cover the top with a piece of net, or paper towel even; and secure with a rubber band. They will pupate on the paper or material usually.
You can take it off on the second day when they are hard; cut it down and pin or glue it on a Styrofoam board and then put it back in your cage at an ANGLE. That way you can take pics as they emerge easier. Here is an example.
shauna, nice zebra longwing. keep the pics coming for us folks in hibernation.
Thanks Sheila. I think two of them are already working on the attaching part of the operation as of today. I will try to catch the others and have them pupate on something more convenient and portable. I found a tiny chrysalis outdoors today but it was mush. It was near one of my outdoor milkweeds.
It's 11:30 and I have two caterpillars in the J position. guess I will have a couple chrysalises by morning!
Didn't mean to overlook the Zebra longwing. That is a nice shot, shauna. Beautiful butterfly!
Well, the tension mounts, Marty. Such fun!
Me too, Shauna. Got caught up in my own stuff. I wonder if 9a vs 9b is the diff in zebra longwings? Ive never seen one here in 9a.
I have a chrysalis! This is a good bit more interesting than watching paint dry but it proceeds at about the same pace. chuckle. However, I have a J and I went downstairs to vacuum the down stairs and when I finished I checked and he had already done it. Im going to watch the other J now and see if I can see it happen.
I now have another chrysalis and I watched this one transform. wow is about all I can say. Totally amazing.
I LOVE THAT !!! Natures Transformers ,, ^_^ More than meets the eye ..
Here is photo of the first chrysalis and in the background you can see chrysalis #2 not made yet, just hanging in a J. I have to get a shot of #2 chrysalis. Here is a shot of Champa-lysee, still eating.
Here is chrysalis #2. This means that poop and circumstance will not be seen again. Have to think up prettier names once they become beautiful. This caterpillar was very active during the process and flung the molted skin away and it fell to the floor of the basket. As you may have noticed, it is still hanging onto chrysalis #1.
As I was watching the transformation, I wondered if parts of it are painful. Some of the movements remind me of labor for childbirth and that made me wonder also if the hormonal changes make them nauseous or dizzy or sleepy.
lol .. I wouldn't have any idea of that !!!LOL ,, Only I could go for the sleepy part sometimes ^_^
Pretty little critter , thank you steady ,, and for the ha . ha . ha , ha , ha , also ,,
Like ; as in ; Man to Werewolf ... painful yes , that relates ,, owwwww-lll (painful howl )
This message was edited Jan 13, 2014 5:08 PM
RE decreasing Butterfly numbers:
This area is where the high prairie meets the high desert, and we are going into our 14th year of drought. So we are more desert than prairie anymore, and a lot of native vegetation has died. Insects don't do well under these conditions, there isn't enough to eat for caterpillars, and the air itself dehydrates flying adults. This was never an important Monarch area, but all butterfly numbers are down. In my irrigated yard, I plant to attract birds. This means planting for insects, because our migratory birds are insect eaters.
Too many people are planting low water low maintenance non-native landscapes that offer too little habitat for birds and bugs.
Anyway, insecticides may be a problem somewhere, but here it is loss of habitat. Partly due to poor landscaping practices, but mostly due to drought.
I was watching a report about that on the news last evening. I do hope the drought will end soon. I know it has been terrible out West of late.
Thank you for your observations pollen. There is a long list of reasons why butterflies are loosing habit and you have illustrated one of them very well. A sad story but one well worth knowing and being aware of. Not so easy for you to watch it happening, i expect.
I have 3 chrysalids and one J this morning. I also have a dead caterpillar and I think I killed her accidentally. I still have one cat still eating.
Awww. sad. 5 to go!
Rooting on the rest of them, Marty.
This AM I have 4 chrysalids and one J.
Their bringing in more pods ,, and multiplying ,,lol (^_^)
As if there was not enough to worry about with the monarch situation:
http://monarchjointventure.org/images/uploads/documents/Swallow-wort_flyer.pdf
Well, dang, just what we didn't need. :(
Good news!!! Manga-rita didn't die!!. I thought she was dead so I laid her on the soil in the pot of milkweed. This morning I was removing the plant from the basket since everyone had pupated and there she was...a fully formed chrysalis lying on the soil. I am soooo happy but worry that she may have birth defects from the ordeal. I got some sewing thread and made a way to suspend her properly and she is now in the basket with the others. So amazing.
Resurrection !!! ^_^
Well happy day Manga-rita!!! If the chrysalis is fully formed in the way that the others have formed, I think Manga-rita has an excellent chance of butterflyhood. The caterpillars are always full of surprises. It the chrysalis was flattened where it lay on the soil, there could be a problem, but don't write her off!
It was just a little bumpy or rough on the side next to the soil but otherwise looked OK, not flattened at all. Thanks for the encouraging note. I hope, I hope.
Oh yay for Manga-rita!! I find myself following the progress of your Monarchs every day. Love it!
Keep up the good work Steadycam! I am glad someone is having some activity...I have seen almost nothing around the yard with the exception of a couple of hummingbirds who have been hanging around. Many of my plants suffered freeze damage and I decided the other day I was tired of looking at their burnt leaves and went ahead and cut them back. Probably a little early, but oh well. Can't wait for everything to start growing again so I can get some pictures up on the site. I sent in my camera lens and it should be back early next week, so get ready for some new pictures.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year.
Russell
Hummingbirds! Swoon!
Looking forward to the new pictures.
Steady, if you see a early blackening of the chrysalis it may mean problems. If a parasite has gotten to them as a caterpillar late instar, they will make a chrysalis and then it never forms a butterfly. What happens is the larva of the parasite feeds on the part of the cat that forms the bf. Then when it is ready it will emerge.
This is both sides of one chrysalis, the second picture shows the parasite nearby. It is important if this blackening starts to show to fold in a paper towel and crush. At least it will keep the parasites multiplying and killing more Monarchs.
Also happens to chrysalis of other butterflies. BST in the third pic.
Sheila, I brought these into the house as eggs. They hatched in the house. They have never been outside. They ate milkweed I provided. I think I just mistook Manga-rita's resting for her being dead. I should have placed her in a container to finishe her process instead of placing her on the soil in the pot of milkweed.
Here is all but one of the chrysalids.
1 poop, I could not find photo of circumstance but he was the next to pupate
2 Champa-lysee was the 5th to pupate
3 Tweedle-Dup the 3rd to pupate
4 Tweedle-Down the 4th to pupate
5 Manga-rita the 6th and last to pupate.
I think I posted earlier a photo of circumstance chrysalid.
steady, i suppose by now you have been able to watch while a chrysalis is being formed? really, it looks like a lot of hard work, like shedding which is not so easy either...i for one am happy i don't have to do either of those things. :) congrats! when are you expecting the first eclosure? are you figuring 9 days? The ones in my garden eclose between 9 - 9:30 am depending on how warm the weather is. I've heard that inside a house they will eclose at all hours. at any rate, they give you a warning because the chrysalis becomes very dark and then transparent so you can see the wing pattern, also the corona drops down and ridges just about the corona appear. this indicates that the butterfly is dropping down too.
Vit, the first chrysalis formed on Jan 13 so I guess the 22nd is the due date. chuckle. Look up above to see my reaction to watching a chrysalis being formed. I got to watch "circumstance" form his chrysalis. Count up from here 24 posts to see what I wrote. Did you have a look at Manga-rita's chrysalis? Does it look OK to you?
Yes steady, i did take a look at Manga-rita's chrysalis. To be perfectly honest, the chrysalis does not appear fully formed to me...almost, but not quite. Still, don't give up on M-r. Monarchs have a strong life force and they will continue to surprise you with it :-D Okay, now i count up 24....sometimes i miss some days, weeks.
Got my lens back! Only found two visitors yesterday, but it is a start.
Russell
