Category Archives: monarch caterpillar

A male emerged

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We have taken a break from raising monarch caterpillars for the last few months until my husband spotted a caterpillar crawling up our lanai screen looking for a place to make its chrysalis. I put the caterpillar in our butterfly house and it instantly found a branch to make its J and create its green chrysalis. Yesterday a beautiful male monarch successfully emerged and was released in our garden.

He chose a zinnia to rest on and then a red sage before taking a longer flight out of the garden.

This beauty marks No. 429 that we have raised and released.

The monarch butterfly’s scientific name is Danaus Plexippus, which means “sleepy transformation” in Greek. The male has two black spots in the center of its lower wings and are larger in size than the female. According to the National Wildlife Federation, the spots are scent glands, which help the males attract females.

Two fat boys

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With my butterfly house currently occupying another species of caterpillars, I am leaving the monarch caterpillars in the garden. It has been fun finding the fat boys either on or near milkweed throughout the garden. The first monarch caterpillar is resting on a coreopsis, the Florida wildflower, while the other was chomping away on the giant milkweed.

Although we have butterflies year round in Florida, the visitors to the garden sure has multiplied since the temperatures have become a consistent 80 to 90 degrees.

Field trip

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Five monarch caterpillars went on a field trip to my daughter’s elementary school today as part of Read Across America.

I volunteered to read one of my daughter’s favorite caterpillar books, “The Impatient Caterpillar.” I took the caterpillars as a show and tell, if you will, to educate them about their life cycle.

I love the curosity of young minds. The pure excitement of learning something new. For some, they were seeing a monarch caterpillar for the first time. While others have seen them in nature. A highlight for me were the students in her kindergarten class who were eager to share what they had learned the prior year. (I placed milkweed plants in the garden, and after the female butterfly laid eggs, the plant went in an enclosure and brought to her class where they experienced first hand the life cycle.)

Nature is incredible, but educating the young minds is even more beautiful.

So needless to say, I may have promised I would bring in a few caterpillars from the garden that her class would too be able to witness. I have a hard time saying no to the gift of knowledge.

Another chrysalis

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When I took a peak into the butterfly house this morning, one of the monarch caterpillars had already begun its chrysalis. This never gets old! I absolutely love the “dance” at the end. I did not have my camera handy, just the phone this time, but another capture of the magnificent transformation, nonetheless.

Surpassed 300

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I am happy to say, as of today, we have successfully raised and released more than 300 (303) monarch butterflies. It has been an interesting journey learning about this species up close and personal. It’s truly amazing what obstacles they are faced with as soon as an egg is laid.

The female monarch butterflies have been busy laying eggs in the garden, as my giant milkweed, which I have been growing for more than two years, is now all stems. Once taller than me, is now trimmed back encouraging new growth again. It’s truly amazing now much eating a monarch caterpillar can do.

With my milkweed pretty much non existent at the moment, my good friend took some caterpillars to her garden, so they can finish eating.

Every time my daughter and I go out into the gardens we spot a new chrysalis, some in very hidden places, while others in odd places. It’s fun to see how far they travel and what they use to create their silk mat on outdoors.