Back At It 5/30/16

Two Eggs Marks The Start

       Today was the third day in a row that I saw a Monarch floating around in my yard, and I knew I had to try to find some eggs. Sure enough, I was able to find two! There's plenty more out there, but the heat and excitement kept me from spending much time out looking. I have had everything set up and ready for them for a while now, so all I had to do was get the little eggs home. Can't wait to watch them grow!

Two tiny specks.

       In the coming weeks, I will watch these two and many others hatch and grow. I am learning more and more each day, and I can hardly imagine what this year might hold. If you want instant updates on my little butterflies or behind the scenes pictures, you can follow me on Instagram @monarchmayhem or like my Facebook page simply titled "Monarch Mayhem". Hope to see you there!

Monarch Festival 9/12/15

7th Annual Minneapolis Monarch Festival

        Today I attended the Monarch Festival in Nokomis! It was an awesome event, and I was glad to see all the people, kids and adults alike, learning about Monarchs. 

It was a great turnout!

        There were lots of tents set up all around the park run by lots of different organizations, including the University of Minnesota. There were games and crafts for kids, food vendors, educational fliers and pamphlets, and tons of Monarch merchandise. I picked up as much information as possible, because I still have much to learn. I was able to sign up for updates on conservation and migration, so I can relay the information through my blog. 

Information was everywhere, and I took all that was offered.

Live music kept everyone upbeat.

Not only was it about saving Monarchs, but other pollinators as well.

Even dragonflies.

Lots of gardeners and botanists were educating people about milkweed and butterfly flowers.

And there was even a Monarch stilt walker!

        I spoke to one of the organizers of he event who took my information to help me get involved! Next year I am going to try and become a part of the festival, showing off photography, and explaining what I do. Also after reading through all of the information I collected I discovered how I can start tagging Monarchs and be involved with research. As I begin registering and researching I will be sharing with you the process of it all, and links to websites to do some of it yourself. 

        All in all I loved the festival, it was educational and fun, and everyone was very friendly. I will be using what I learned to teach others at my local park about the importance of Monarchs and other pollinators and why they need to be protected. If you are interested in visiting the festival next year you can go monarchfestival.org or keep an eye on my blog for more information.

Finally Posting 9/3/15

No More Butterflies

        I have really been slacking on blogging, haven't I? In the time between my posts, much has happened. All of my butterflies have been successfully released! 

On August 20, a beautiful male was released.

On August 22, another gorgeous male flew away.

And another on the 23rd!

On the 28th a female emerged.

        After that I knew the season was coming to a close, and the only ones that remained were my best friend caterpillars. As I was observing them as caterpillars I was noticing a very distinct size difference between them. As they grew older, one was seemingly larger than normal and the other was smaller than normal. I didn't know what that meant for their health, but they both ended up being just fine. Yesterday, September 2, they both emerged, ending my summertime Monarch raising. Appropriately they chose the day of my high school open house, a sign that the seasons are changing!

A stunning female.

And an amazing male.

And they are still best friends :)

        So there were officially 29 releases this year, 13 in my first round, and 16 in the second. I'm kind of wishing it was 30, but maybe next year! This does not mean you have to wait until June for more blogs! I will be blogging for sure again on September 12, after going to the Minneapolis Monarch Festival. If you are interested in attending, it runs from 10am to 4pm on September 12th at 49th St at Woodlawn Blvd, Minneapolis, MN. For more information visit monarchfestival.org

        I am sad that I don't have anymore butterflies, but the research doesn't stop. I will be tracking the migration and giving facts and raising tips all winter long on this blog so that it continues to grow. I am sorry about the delay between my posts recently! Hopefully they will remain more regular once again. Until next time :)

Five Releases?! 8/19/15

Release Party

        Yesterday when I woke up there was one healthy female butterfly waiting for me. It was raining all day, so I waited until evening to watch her go. 

        It seemed that things would remain uneventful for a while, but then this morning, I woke up to FOUR chrysalides that were nearly ready to go.

        Sure enough, throughout today I gained Monarch after Monarch! It was very exciting and I was eager to let them all go. But again, it was raining and cold, so I waited until later. 

One...

Two...

Three...

And all four!

All healthy males.

        All in all it was a very exciting day. Tomorrow I should have one or two more butterflies, and maybe even a Hanging J or two. I'm still waiting on my two little friends to get going on that! Today I only brought in one plant for them to share since they will be entering pupae soon.

        That's all for today! Until next time :)

And Then There Were Two 8/16/15

More Releases

        Yesterday I was gone all day and just before I left I had a chrysalis that looked like it was ready to eclose. I watched it all morning in hopes I would see it, but no luck.

        Later, while I was out, my mom texted me to say that I had a butterfly. Another female! And a little later she said she had already been released. At first I was upset that I wasn't there to see her off, but who can be upset about a successful release?

My mom snapped this picture before she was released.

        Then again this morning, there was a brand new butterfly waiting for me when I awoke. What do you know, a female! She was all set to go early this afternoon and flew away happy and healthy.

        My caterpillars had their house cleaned today, as many of the plants were wilted and yellowing and the oldest caterpillar crawled up to make a silk button. This means that only two remain eating. It makes me so sad, but at the same time I am eager to see all sixteen of them fly away safely so I can raise their kin next year! My two little guys/gals that remain are friends I think, they eat together, rest together, even shed to the next instar together. Last night I couldn't resist snapping an adorable photo before I went to bed.

Aren't they the best?!

        My hope is that they are the same age so when the time comes, they can be released together as well. For now they are just hangin' out and sharin' leaves.

        The other isn't quite in their "J" yet, so maybe they'll let me watch him go into his pupa tomorrow.

        Not much else to say, hopefully I'll be able to post more butterfly pictures and this caterpillar's new chrysalis. Until next time :)

One of Each 8/13/15

Nearing the End

        It makes me so sad to think that all that is left of my season of Monarchs is three little caterpillars. I could take in more, but I'd be afraid of having to worry about them once school starts, since I need to focus on my studies. So yes the summer is very quickly coming to a close, but it has been awesome!
        Yesterday I was cleaning out my enclosure late in the afternoon when I finally found the missing caterpillar from a few days ago!

It just goes to show how camouflaged the chrysalides are.

        So yes, that means I am all set to have sixteen butterflies in round two. As of this morning, I have three small caterpillars, ten chrysalides, and THREE successful butterflies. When I woke up this morning there was one male and one female butterfly ready to be released. The male was really ready to go and was difficult to photograph, but yes, I did get a good photo demonstrating the spots on a male's wings that set them apart from females.

They are on the lower wings near his body. They are scent glands to attract females!

        I also had yet another chrysalis on a leaf today that was absolutely beautiful. If only I was brave enough to let them stay there, but I just can't risk it.

        My caterpillars are still very young, and never seem to be in the right place for clear photos. One is not pictured, and I have blurry photos of my other two. I did my best though.

        One thing I wish I could do is tag my butterflies. I have tagged someone else's before with the traditional little sticker, but it wasn't mine. It wasn't the same. I don't know how to get ahold of tags and that's the biggest issue. I've heard of people that use non-toxic markers to uniquely mark their butterflies so they know which ones are theirs, but I am not brave enough! I wouldn't want to rub off scales from it's wings or somehow damage it with the ink. I may try to contact the biology department at the University of Minnesota to see if I can get tags through a program there, but for now I just let them go. It would truly be amazing though to know how far they get or if other people see them. Maybe next year I'll have my very own tags!

        I think that's all for today, hopefully I will have more butterflies soon.

Butterfly! 8/11/15

First Butterfly

        Yesterday the first butterfly of my second round of raising emerged from it's chrysalis. And to think I took a picture of her when I first found her! I was in fact a female Monarch who was released into my mothers brilliant garden.

The first day I found her...

And yesterday when she was released.

        Many people ask me, how do I know the gender? I was taught only two years ago that male Monarchs have a raised bump on their lower wings that acts as a scent gland to attract a mate. When a male hatches, I will try my best to show a close up of the scent gland.

        I always talk like there is two rounds of caterpillars every year, but I honestly don't know if that's entirely true. I like to do it that way, because it gives me a break and a chance to clean my enclosure, but I can find eggs and tiny caterpillars all summer long. There definitely is though a noticeable number of Monarchs in the beginning of spring and in the middle versus any other time in the summer. Therefore I learned to work around this noticeable change and turned it into two rounds.

        On the 9th my older brother really wanted to find a caterpillar to call his own. He wanted to name it Heimlich after the caterpillar from the Pixar movie "Bugs' Life." He always tries to help me find caterpillars and never seems to have the eye for it. But regardless, we went out searching for his caterpillar. What do you know! He found a very large caterpillar and I found two smaller ones. I couldn't resist bringing all three home so I could care for them.

Heimlich, who today is in a Hanging J.

My two babies.

        So as of today there are nine pupae on the top of the enclosure and one very special Hanging J. Not to mention the four caterpillars still munching away on the milkweed. Again, I'm missing one! I don't understand if I can't count correctly or if something is happening to them. It'll probably turn up at some point. If not, fifteen is still a good number! I'm definitely happy with how many I have had this year; thirteen in round one and hopefully fifteen in round two.

        I don't have any other news today. Until next time :)