Monarchs - The Last Chapter

I'm tardy in posting this final update. It has been almost a week since the last of our monarchs flew the coop.

Friday, Aug. 1
Came home from work to find that our two "lost" caterpillars were now a pair of monarch butterflies. They stuck to their place by the window, perhaps looking forlornly at the flowers on the other side of the glass. I coaxed them out by getting them to perch on my finger. The kids watched, but weren't interested in touching them.


Saturday, Aug. 2
I knew the reappearance of those two lost ones meant the other two from that first batch would soon be stage their own coming out ceremony. And sure enough, the next morning, both chrysalises had become clear -- the telltale sign that the butterflies are soon to emerge. When I snapped this first photo, it was 8:15. When I checked again at 9:35, the butterflies had already hatched and were mostly dry. Here I discovered something else I didn't know. I knew that the butterflies have to dry for a bit before they can fly, but I didn't realize how wet they actually are when they come out of the chrysalis. They literally drip-dried and left a pool of orange-tinged liquid beneath their perches.


Monday, Aug. 4
That evening, I noticed I could see the beginnings of the monarchs' wing markings through the chrysalises, and knew that the second batch was going to hatch soon. I made a final attempt to reattach the two chrysalises that had accidentally gotten knocked down from their spot on the lid, but the glue just wasn't drying fast enough to hold them in place, so I left them on the floor of the container, put in a couple sticks for the butterflies to crawl onto and hoped for the best.


Tuesday, Aug. 5
Admittedly, we slept in the next morning, so it was 8:30 before I got out to the porch to check the butterflies but I was surprised to find not chrysalises but butterflies in the container. I'd really hoped to be able to see one emerge, but they were too quick for me!
Since we were heading for the beach, I decided to wait until we got home to let them out -- that way I knew they'd be dry. I noticed that one of the butterflies that hatched on the ground was fine, but the other one was having trouble getting onto a perch to dry. This was due in no small part of one of the other monarchs that kept flying at it and knocking it down. Two males perhaps and a territory issue? I'll have to consult the butterfly expert at work about it sometime.

When we got back and were set to release them, I took the kids out onto the porch to help. The first two butterflies took off almost as soon as I opened the container. But the last two were sticking around. And Owen even agreed to hold one. He has been a little shy about it ever since one of the swallowtails from last month kinda flew at his face unexpectedly.


First was little Bent Wing, which seemed to be having some trouble flying, but I hoped some air and nectar would do it good.


And then there was this guy, which stuck around for quite awhile. I placed it on a globe thistle in our front yard and snapped a few photos. Then Owen wanted to move it to "his" zinnias in the back yard, and the butterfly surprisingly obliged. It definitely preferred the zinnia and its proboscis came out to feed as soon as I placed it on the flower. I had to snap a lot of photos to get a few with its wings open, because it would only pulse them open for a second at a time. And if my memory serves me, this one is a male monarch, recognizable by the two black dots on the lower wings, which the females don't have.




So that brings the summer of the butterflies to a close. All told, we released eight monarchs and four black swallowtails, which is not that many compared to the "Butterfly Lady" down the street who gave me those first swallowtail eggs, but it was plenty for this working mom. The whole life cycle took place in just under 4 weeks, from July 10 when we saw the monarch laying the eggs, to Aug. 5 when the adult butterflies emerged. Twelve of those days were spent as caterpillars and 8 in the chrysalis.

It definitely was a fun learning experience, for the kids AND me.