I have about 30 monarch chrysalises that I've raised from eggs on my milkweed plants. Three of the chrysalises have turned very dark, are they dead? The others are starting to enclose. If you look toward the back in this picture taken yesterday, you can see one dark chrysalis.
hey calalily,
Any butterflies yet?? usually when they turn black, they are most likely getting ready to emerge as butterflies.
Hey calalily that is cool, I love butterflies my favorite so, Lisa is right what she said.
Hey you still rasie Burgmanisa??? I have not see you post so long time so how is everything with your different plants?
Lisa, yes two butterflies before I left for work this morning.
Redrose, I have 4 or 5 brugmansias, that is all.
Hey Susie! I just haven't seen you around in awhile...thought I'd say hi!
Just the thread that I need to follow, I'm learning how to raise these cats. Thanks CalaLily for posting.
I have 10 babies that are now sitting on flowers drying their wings! Two are queens, eight are monarchs. Lisa, you were right, they turn dark and if one looks closely, the wings show thru. It is so cool My friend had never seen monarchs turn into a chrysalis, or hatch and he got to see both! When it was time to feed the caterpillars, we said "time to feed the pigs."
One more question, a chrysalis fell from the branch, it's still a pretty green. What do I do with it? Will the butterfly be okay?
I forgot to say "Hi" back to Melody.
This message was edited Oct 10, 2007 11:45 AM
Care to share? What characteristics of that of the Queens vs. the Monarch? Do tell. I'm enthralled by it all.
Lilly, the queens are very similar to the monarchs except the cats have more tentacles and the butterflies have spots. They both eat milkweed, they can stay in the same cat house together.......not much difference. The chrysalises even look very similar.
Calalily;
So this IS the caterpillar, your 1st pic. is that a Queen or a Monarch? Your info. is greatly appreciated.
I found this fella on my milkweed plant. ....He did have two whiskers on each end. :-)
Lily, the one in the picture is a monarch. The monarch cats have "whiskers" at each end, the queens have an extra set in the middle and are slightly different color.
Thanks you for passing such helpful info. Calalily. Please keep those pics. coming.
OK, I will attach 3 pictures from the very first release.
#2
#3
They are still very friendly even after being outside for a day. Bud picks them up on his finger. I guess the little pigs remember the nice fresh leaves we fed them!
Calalily -
First off - Congrats! :-D
Secondly, to your question: "One more question, a chrysalis fell from the branch, it's still a pretty green. What do I do with it? Will the butterfly be okay?"
You can put a dab of hot glue (low-temp) on small square of paper, then carefully attached the cremaster (looks like small black stem) to the paper. Because their silk allows for flex and movement and the hot glue doesn't, I suggest you glue the four corners (leaving a smidge of slack in center) of the paper to the bottom of a lid (like it your first image at top) or something similar. This will leave the center of the paper (where chrysalis is) a little more flexible.
Good luck! :-)
Calily;
Do keep us posted, anxiously awaiting for new developments.
Thanks to your sharing of your knowledge and experience. I now recognize Monarch in the garden, and not just another butterfly. :-)
Lily--Here is a queen cat. You can clearly see the 3rd set of "whiskers". This one and 3 of her siblings are resting in their chrysalis and should be taking first flight soon. Ed
Calylilly; how awesome! Ed, the queen is beautiful! Thus far I've seen numeruous Monarch cats. But haven't seen the queens before. Thank you both, you've brighten my day!
Chudnall, I will try your suggestion. The chrysalis is still green. I have two more this morning that are dark, more butterflies on the way!
I had my first Giant Swallowtail enclose yesterday!! They take longer than the monarchs and are a bit harder to raise, at least for me. The percentage of eggs that hatched wasn't as good either. Here is a picture
King thanks for sharing, Callalily, that g.s.b. is beautiful!!!
The very dark ones ,almost black? Most likely have contacted a diease and will not develope past this point . If you are raising them in a confined enclosure,wait until this generation are fully released and then clean the entire thing and spray with Bleach/water solution.I use about a 1to 5 mix. If you can let it dry in the direct sun for a few days,before reusing. It's a good idea to sterilize after ever batch has been released. Don
Don, they were changing to butterflies and getting ready to enclose. They're fine. I now know when they turn from green to dark to watch them because I'll have butterflies within a few hours.
Callalily;
I appreciate you're passing along the helpful info. :)
