The last two of my 12 Monarch BF's eclosed and flew away this morning. (I did not witness it). This afternoon I found one of them on her side in a nearby container. I looked at her and she had one of her bottom wings on the outside of her top wing and was trying to right herself unsuccessfully. I gently took her and moved the wing into its proper position and put her back in the butterfly house. Since then, she has been mostly resting but has crawled up the mesh side of the house to the top, where she is still sitting, hours later.
Any ideas?
Butterfly first aid?
She will be fine for the first 24 hours without food. Tomorrow try to release her. If she can not fly, then you have 2 choices. ....Let her die in the wild or keep her in a cage for the rest of her short life. I have one in a cage that has been there for 2 weeks. I just feed her Gatorade. On occasion, I will let her out on my Porterweed plant to enjoy the nectar, which she seems to enjoy! I haven't the heart to leave her to her own survival in the wild because I know that she would probably starve to death. I've raised quite a few this way. So .... you decide what you are willing to do. Good luck!
This message was edited Feb 9, 2007 8:49 PM
Right now she is back in the cage and has lemon-lime gatoraid but I am not sure she is drinking it. I feel so guilty because by putting her lower wing where it belongs, it separated from the upper wing and she cannot fly. I wonder if it is possible to glue her wings together. I do know someone who tagged Monarchs and will ask her in the morning if it is possible. Thanks for sharing your experience Becky. There is no way I could leave her to die.
Maybe these sites will help
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterflies/anatomy/Wings.shtml
http://www.amazingbutterflystore.com/pages/mend_a_wing.html
Maggie
Thanks so much Maggie!!! I am going to give it a try. Wish me luck!
So glad I could help! Good luck!
Maggie
good luck karen
A Happy Ending!!'
My husband went out to get the contact adhesive that we would need to glue her top and bottom wing together. While he was out I went to check on her. I picked her up and tried gently to flip her bottom wing into place and IT WENT!! I took her outside and put her on a nectar plant where she sat for a bit and then flew off to a nearby bush. She looked like her wings were weak but she was able to fly short distances. Since I have both nectar and milkweed plants here, I think she will be OK. I feel so happy....such a little thing but it was so wonderful to see her fly.
YAY!!!!!!
Oh good news! Glad to hear your little butterfly was able to be released. I do hate caging them. I feel so sorry for them. But I also hate seeing them struggle to survive when they are hurt and can't fly. So I do take in the injured butterflies! I'm such a sucker! :-D
That's super TK! It breaks my heart when they can't be released and lead a normal bf life.
Me too, I was just so happy to see her fly!
The most wonderful thing! I went outside around the side of my house and a female Monarch butterfly came right over to me and flew around me.
I wonder if it was the one you released? It would not surprise me. Mine come right over to me all the time. I'm telling y'all .... they are smart and very friendly if hand-raised!!! Not like so many of the other species of butterflies. Monarchs are really unique in many ways, but their friendly personalities are what I like the most! It's neat, because when I first go out into my yard, there is often only GFs around but within 5-10 minutes a Monarch or two will appear out of the blue and literally follow me all around the yard as I am working. I really get attached to them and feel sad if I don't see them. It's too bad that their life-cycle is so short. They are almost like having a pet! No kidding!!!! :-D
I agree.