Chrysalis' preparing to hatch after 10 - 14 days of growing
Butterflies waiting to be released on the 26th.
My Dad releasing butterflies on his birthday
One of the final 5 cats. in the house today.Well Hello again friends, I have an update on the caterpillars. But first I want to share with you that I have released 180 monarchs. I am really happy about this fact. It is really a sweet feeling seeing the butterflies fly off my hand everyday. Did you know they have sticky little feet that they tastse plants with? That is how they find the milkweed to lay their eggs.
There are about 107 chrysalis now and they are going start hatching fast this week. And how do you know when they are going to hatch? They are green for most of the time, then about 24 hours before they hatch the chrysalis turns dark and you can see the black and orange wings clearly.
So the update. I have consulted with a few other Monarch Waystation-ers. They have confirmed that they have also been loosing cats. left and right. It seems that things have been going pretty well until the second week of August. So maybe the excessive heat triggered a vectore that caused the cats. to become ill. A virus? A bacteria? It is hard to tell. There is also speculation that the leaves on some plants have something wrong with them. I do think mine were the last batch of cats. that I brought home. So as of tonight the total is 38. I am just shocked at how fast this happened.
I have about 5 cats. left and I am hoping that they will be able to make thier chrysalis.
OMG I just found a 4th instar cat in my garden? How did I miss that one? So far so good today with my reamining cats. I cleaned the house last night and gave them- fresh- well cleaned stems.
ReplyDeleteI hear people are having trouble making comments, I did not know- I will try to help you. It looks like using a gmail(google email) is the preferred way to leave a comment. However if you are having trouble, you can leave an anonymous comment just sign your name inside your comment instead of attaching it to your email. The URL it is asking for is a web address not email (oops). I hope this helps, this is all new to me too. Thanks for the comments on fb and I am happy you all are enjoying this as much as I am.
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