Raising Herbert - Part 3: Free to Fly (or be Eaten)
Good news from Turkey Hill Brook Farm! The monarch butterfly chrysalis shed its skin and finally metamorphosed into its adult butterfly form about a week after Herbert the caterpillar turned himself into a cocoon on August 8th:
I missed a few days of checking his progress on the milkweed plant, but on August 14th, you could clearly see the orange and black markings forming on the butterfly's wings inside the chrysalis:
I never saw the adult butterfly emerge, but on the evening of the 16th, I checked the leaf and Herbert was gone, and all I could see of this amazing metamorphosis was his tattered skin, showing that he had emerged and flown away!
I've seen some fresh-looking monarch butterflies flying around our butterfly gardens this week, so I'm hoping that Herbert is one of them and hasn't already been eaten by a hungry bird or other predator. As for whether he is male or female, I'll never know, but a recent garden visitor pointed out a tiny monarch butterfly caterpillar about 1/2" long and perhaps 3mm wide dining on a leaf of the same milkweed plant where Herbert did his changeover. Could Herbert have used the same plant to lay her eggs? If so, she might need a name change...maybe Hebe?
Since then, I haven't seen the second caterpillar again, so it could have been parasitized by a tiny predatorial wasp that uses the bodies of caterpillars as a host to lay their eggs, which then hatch and begin feeding on the caterpillar from the inside out. Kind of gruesome, I know, but nature isn't always pretty, and the predator/prey relationship is what keeps nature in balance. Without parasitic wasps to keep monarch caterpillar populations in check, the cats would probably eat their own milkweed food plant right out of existence. And no milkweeds? No monarchs!
I missed a few days of checking his progress on the milkweed plant, but on August 14th, you could clearly see the orange and black markings forming on the butterfly's wings inside the chrysalis:
I never saw the adult butterfly emerge, but on the evening of the 16th, I checked the leaf and Herbert was gone, and all I could see of this amazing metamorphosis was his tattered skin, showing that he had emerged and flown away!
I've seen some fresh-looking monarch butterflies flying around our butterfly gardens this week, so I'm hoping that Herbert is one of them and hasn't already been eaten by a hungry bird or other predator. As for whether he is male or female, I'll never know, but a recent garden visitor pointed out a tiny monarch butterfly caterpillar about 1/2" long and perhaps 3mm wide dining on a leaf of the same milkweed plant where Herbert did his changeover. Could Herbert have used the same plant to lay her eggs? If so, she might need a name change...maybe Hebe?
Since then, I haven't seen the second caterpillar again, so it could have been parasitized by a tiny predatorial wasp that uses the bodies of caterpillars as a host to lay their eggs, which then hatch and begin feeding on the caterpillar from the inside out. Kind of gruesome, I know, but nature isn't always pretty, and the predator/prey relationship is what keeps nature in balance. Without parasitic wasps to keep monarch caterpillar populations in check, the cats would probably eat their own milkweed food plant right out of existence. And no milkweeds? No monarchs!
Posted by Ellen Sousa at 8/19/2010 9:40 AM 
Categories: Butterfly gardens, Monarch life cycle, New England gardening for butterflies, Monarch Waystation, Butterfly predators, Wildlife gardens, Parasitic wasps
Tags: Asclepias syriaca Parasitic wasps Chrysalis Asclepias Monarch butterflies Amelanchier Predatorial wasps
Categories: Butterfly gardens, Monarch life cycle, New England gardening for butterflies, Monarch Waystation, Butterfly predators, Wildlife gardens, Parasitic wasps
Tags: Asclepias syriaca Parasitic wasps Chrysalis Asclepias Monarch butterflies Amelanchier Predatorial wasps
Ellen, It is so good to see the Monarch had a successful metamorphosis. Hopefully it did manage to fly away ... there are so many predators and you are correct of course there is a balance in nature. Still I find it sad when spiders, birds, wasps and whatever else might be curious decides to nibble on the tiny caters. Great shots of the chrysalis! May you see many more this summer and fall. ;>)
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hi Carol, I know what you mean, it's tough to love to admire and photograph wildlife and at the same time invite their predators into your gardens who use your "flying flowers" as a food source, sometimes in a pretty unpleasant way (see assassin bugs and the way they stab their prey and suck out their juices with a straw!!), but at the end of the day, the beauty of our landscape and wildlife depends on populations of plants and insects remaining in balance...
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I love watching this part of nature's cycle unfold. These are some great pictures as well!
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I am so jealous of people who get to see even a monarch chrysalis. We used to get lots of monarchs in August, but not for the past two years. I don't know why. I even have more milkweed than I used to.
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Ellen, You gave Herbert the best start, shelter, food and admiration! What more could a pupating creature want~I've never been observant enough to see a chrysalis~but you've got me motivated to look even closer~ gail
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Thought you might interested in an interactive version of the 1990 USDA hardiness zone map covering Massachusetts at http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive-massachusetts-usda-plant-zone-hardiness-map.php
that may be a vauluabe resource for your readers.
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