Tag Archives: Monarch butterfly

More eggs

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Did you know that a female monarch butterfly can lay anywhere between 300 to 500 eggs over two to five weeks? This butterfly spent a good amount of time choosing many giant milkweed leaves to lay her eggs.

According to Monarch Joint Venture, prior to fertilization, the egg is formed, as well as the hard outer shell – chorion – as this protects the developing larvae. This outer shell has a layer of wax to help prevent the egg from drying out. The monarch egg also has micropyles, which are tiny funnel-shaped openings.

In about three to five days, a tiny monarch caterpillar will appear.

According to “Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and Their Host Plant” (Marc C. Minno, Jerry F. Butler and Donald W. Hall), the milkweed plant has latex within that sticks to the mouthparts of herbivores. The caterpillars will cut the leaves near the base of the milkweed blade to drain out that latex before they begin eating.

Penta

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It’s not often the white penta’s have visitors, but this male monarch butterfly was going to town on sipping tons of nectar. It gathered some pollen through his travels too.

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.

Gold

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An adventurous hike with my family led me to loving this plant and wanting to add it to the garden.

The golden rod is a stunning plant. It’s first growth spurt rose much higher than me. The new growth hasn’t reached such heights yet, but it has flowered something fierce.

There’s just something about adding new plants to the garden and watching them thrive that only deepens the love of butterfly gardening.

This monarch butterfly, I believe, agrees with my additon.

Carry me along

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While standing in the garden watching an orange barred sulphur depositing eggs on my Bahama cassia tree, a monarch pair flew by grabbing my attention. I of course followed the pair while it landed on my neighbor’s tree.

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 them female. The fertilization of the egg does not occur until right before the egg is laid on the host plant.

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

My house seems to be a magnet for caterpillars, as I have found tons of chrysalis everywhere, and not just monarchs. If you look in the background, there is an empty gulf fritillary chrysalis.