Tag Archives: milkweed

A mating pair

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This morning the butterfly garden was busy with lots of fluttering wings of many different species. There were two butterflies that caught my attention on top of a giant milkweed. Before I knew it they landed on my Bahama cassia plant located very close by.

It was absolutely fascinating to watch the mating process right in front of my eyes of two monarch butterflies.

I have read that mating monarchs can remain together for 16 hours or longer. It’s not until the very end of their attachment that the sperm is transferred to the female. The fertilization of the egg does not occur until right before the egg is laid on the host plant, milkweed.

During mating, the male will use its claspers located on the end of its abdomen, to attach to the female’s ostium bursa.

Be sure to check out the many videos I was able to capture.

The queen

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It has been a long time since the Queen Butterfly has visited the garden.

This beauty also uses milkweed to lay its eggs. It moved between my milkweed and the blooms on the wild lime tree.

It is a little smaller than the monarch with a wingspan between 6.7-9.8 cm. The wings are a mahogany coloring with black borders and small white spots.

So many visits

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Sometimes I have great ideas . . . such as planting my new milkweed right outside our front window. The monarch’s have been busy. This female came back numerous times to lay eggs.

Munch away

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I planted three new native milkweed plants in the garden late last month for Joyful Butterfly. I planted it right underneath my front window, so we spot the female monarch laying eggs on the plants all the time.

The monarch caterpillars are munching away at an incredibly speed!

As the yellow, black and white stripped caterpillar eats the milkweed leaf it continues to grow and molts its old skin, splitting it in half. The caterpillar often consumes the skin before continuing eating the milkweed leaf. It can grow in length to 2″.

The caterpillar will molt four times, going through “instars” before its last molt.

Once they reach two inches they are ready for their pupa stage. The caterpillar finds the perfect destination to form its chrysalis and weaves a silk mat. The caterpillar grabs the silk with its legs to hang upside down in the “J” form, according to Arizona State University School of Life Sciences.

Favorites

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When you begin a butterfly garden the list of “favorites” seems to grow as the hours go by. Among my favorites lists is taking a stroll in the garden and seeing brand new life. You can see the empty chrysalis in the background of this newly emerged monarch butterfly.

A second stroll through the garden awarded me with this females first flight to a nearby nectar plant.

Plant them and they will come! Nothing is truer than that statement. Find native milkweed, plant nectar plants and the butterflies will flutter to your oasis.