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.