Glorious Milkweed Community !

Here's a fantastic stand of milkweed...perhaps Purple Milkweed...it is just now blooming, and the "classic" milkweed is way into pod-dom already. This stand is in a meadow in Bluemont, Virginia. The landowner carefully mowed around the milkweed when he bush-hogged his acres in May, at the special request of his wife. This month it has been full of Swallowtails, Monarchs, bees and a variety of insects. Smells great too!

Praying Mantis

And now for something completely not Monarch-related.
This spring-green Praying Mantis really stood out against the pink of the Autumn Joy sedum. And even though she was busy finishing off a Bumblebee meal, she didn't seem to mind my intrusion too much. I've seen lots of Mantids this year, and more Grasshoppers than I've ever seen...all kinds of them. I'm now wishing I'd kept track of all the kinds there are ! I wonder what set of conditions converged to give them such an advantage this year ?

Tiny Guy's 6th day as a caterpillar

While changing out the old milkweed stems for fresh ones , I had an opportunity to get a photo of Tiny Guy. 6 days out of the egg. Seriously cute at this stage.

Another caterpillar went Chrysalis yesterday afternoon. But first I rescued it from the inside of a big milk bottle that was holding the new milkweed stems....and lots of water ! The caterpillar's front antenna were dangling in the water...there it was, adhered to the damp glass sides by most of its feet...a sticky substance gluing the feet to the bottle. I ran outside and found a long twig that I slipped between its legs and applied a little bit of pressure so that it would have to push back on and hopefully cling to the twig. I waited until it had backed up a segment or two and then very gently pulled it up and away from a watery grave ! Whew ! After a brief rest the cat went on "walkabout" and found a better site on the wire of the rearing tower ( the cage ). We'll be moving the 3 chrysalids in the next day or so, and we've got two more to go !
Today it's about 65 degrees and lightly rainy...awful butterfly weather...I'm hoping we have some good, warm sunny days to release ours out into.

Tiny Guy

We thought this little one had died. But here he is, Tiny Guy, on his 4th day of life ! After paper-clipping a piece of the birth leaf ( with him on it ) to a fresher younger milkweed stem, he disappeared for a whole day. Was there something on the new stem that sickened the little guy...a virus or bacteria ? But this afternoon, there he was ...very still ( dead ? ) but sporting a new look...tiny stripes on a less transparent body. Then, a few hours later we noticed a little hole in the leaf, right next to the caterpillar with some telltale latex sap leaking out from the ragged ( nibbled ) edges....proof that he was eating ! This one is in his 2nd instar...he will shed his skin a total of 5 times before transforming to a chrysalis.

The second fully grown caterpillar is on 'walk-about'....cruising the whole cage for a secure spot to carry out its final metamorphosis. This is where I feel the most conflicted about collecting and caging them....there is no way I can provide exactly what it is they are looking for...I can only try and anticipate what a creature so different from me might need.
And this is where the intensive 3 day workshop with Monarch Teacher Network, that I took several weeks ago, really pays off. A total immersion in all that is Monarch for 3 days. They do this through games, books, films, sharing stories, a field trip and probably most importantly...lots of actual eggs, caterpillars and adult Monarchs to gain hands-on experience. Complete respect, even reverence, are practiced in the handling of every stage of the butterfly...from egg to wing. And all carried out with great humor and understanding. I am still in awe of their mission and commitment.

We will release "our" butterflies as soon as they emerge and their wings have stiffened up enough to begin their incredible journey South to Michoacan, Mexico.

Playing In Photoshop

Milkweed plants deserve a better name...the 'weed' designation really reduces it to 'pest', when in reality it is food, home and nursery ( and death bed ! ) to a huge community of organisms ranging from bacteria and viruses to many kinds of insects and spiders. I have even see a groundhog eating them with relish...sitting up on his haunches, clutching the stalk between his two little hands and chomping it down like a banana.
This is a logo I played with in Photoshop while daydreaming about running a nature-themed Bed and Breakfast in some imagined landscape. All guests would slow down and drink in the sights, sounds and smells of a less planned, less managed life. Milkweed would grow all around the edges of the meadow and the air would be alive with butterflies and the hundreds of other winged insects. The milkweed plants themselves are hosts to a teeming community of life from bacteria and viruses to aphids, wasps, beetles and butterflies ! A large weathered brick circle, each morning swept of sand and twigs, would provide a perfect area to practice early morning yoga to start the day. We would dine on simple, seasonal fabulous vegan food and sleep with open windows so as not to miss the crickets,fireflies and cool night breezes. Ahhhh.

Big Guy's New Look

Here's the freshly formed chrysalis of the first caterpillar I collected from our wild milkweed. I'm humbled everytime I even think about the process. Within two weeks a fully-formed butterfly will emerge and point South towards Mexico.

Monarch Caterpillars Pack It In !

This picture was taken on the 19th...the biggest caterpillar formed it's "J" that evening and 24 hours later became a chrysalis. What was , just hours earlier an active eating, pooping wave-legged bug, is suddenly a still, silent gold-spangled trinket hanging from a twig. So interesting ( and slightly scary ! ) to observe these caterpillars make these critical changes in the relentless succession that nature demands.
The teeny tiny hatchling is not in this picture...it had not hatched yet.

Let the Eating Begin !

The egg hatched yesterday and the tiny new life is enjoying milkweed, milkweed and more milkweed. We'll call him Tiny Guy. I transferred a bit of his "birth leaf" and the caterpillar to a new stem of fresh young milkweed and it didnt miss a beat. That's my thumb in the lower left...for scale....!

Monarchs In The Air and In Our Living Room

Monarch Butterflies have followed me most of my life, as it turns out. I was born in Monterey, California when we owned a house in Pacific Grove...the Winter destination for the Monarchs West of the Rocky Mountains. Here on the East coast, the butterflies have a different flight pattern.

This egg I watched being delivered on a milkweed plant by a gorgeous female Monarch Butterfly, out in our Virginia yard on the 18th. I cut the stem and about half the plant and brought it inside to watch the unbelievably swift process from egg to wing. The egg hatched out today, less than 72 hours after it was attached to the underside of the leaf. The newly-hatched caterpillar has already eaten a tiny hole in the leaf, and the the big 1 1/2" caterpillar that I collected off of a milkweed on the 19th, split its caterpillar persona and became a chrysalis over the last 24 hours. Whew...so incredibly fast !