Click on the video above to watch a butterfly grow from an egg to an adult.
So what's going on inside this chrysalis? (sometimes called a pupa) This is where metamorphosis takes place. Click HERE for more details from National Geographic. Monarch Butterflies go through the same metamorphosis as the painted lady butterfly shown without the external shell of the chrysalis below.
September 4, 2025
Each of a monarch butterflies 6 legs ends in a tarsus which grips plants and has sense organs able to taste sweet liquids (see photo below). The tarsal claws make it possible for thousands of monarchs to hang in large clusters to keep warm seen in the video above.
September 3, 2025 Wednesday 2:40 pm. Monarch #14 eclosed (emerged) this morning and appears strong and healthy. For optimal flight, wait 24 hours before releasing your monarchs to allow for the complete physiological development of their senses and internal organs. Mid-morning when the temperature rises above 65°F is ideal giving your butterflies time to locate nectar sources and a safe spot to roost before nightfall.
August 28, 2025 Thursday 2:04 pm Tachinid flies are becoming an increasing danger. Found 6 tachinid pupa emerged from a single expired caterpillar. Screened butterfly habitat arrived this week to protect future caterpillars from this predation.
3:28 pm 78°F Sunny
61% Humidity
Planted 40 Showy Milkweed seeds (Asclepius Speciosa) as an experiment in propagating native milkweed plants. Expect sprouting by Sept..4 (10-15 days to germinate) if the seeds have been cold stratified. I chose this species because it has thicker and larger leaves which translates into more leaf biomass for caterpillars to eat.
[[[TIME TO GERMINATE: 8 days. Only 7 of 40 seeds germinated 17.5%]]]
August 22, 2025 Friday, 5:11pm 2 male monarch butterflies sighted today. The last sighting was a female laying eggs about 16 days ago.
Photo credit: National Geographic
August 19, 2025 Tuesday. I set the caterpillar vivarium outside last night realizing that in the wild they spend their nights out in the cold. This morning I went out to see if the caterpillars are active or not…
5:40 AM I carried the vivarium into the kitchen. All of the caterpillars are very still and resting in a cluster on only one side of the vivarium. I wonder why?
5:44 AM. They’ve been inside for four minutes and now they’re beginning to move.
5:50 AM… They are back to eating but they are all clustered on into 1/2 or 1/3 of the vivarium… I wonder why it was so one-sided.
And what woke them up if indeed they were asleep? Was it when I brought them to the light inside the house or was it that it was 69° inside and 64° outside?
Carried vivarium back outside to see if their activity level changes.
6:17 am Catepillars are inactive except for one (largest). Maybe activity stops at 65 degrees F?
Photo credit: National Geographic
Monarch butterfly clusters in Michoacán can be so heavy as to break a tree branch.
August 5, 2025 Tuesday 6:41am
Field has received his milkweed seeds in Hebron, Maine!
One butterfly just unfolded from its chrysalis today. I've released 11 monarch butterflies into the wild: and Paul has released 40 so far this season.
1 caterpillar fatality caused by tachinid fly parasite.
Starting to plan for next year: When should we plant milkweed seeds to have enough food for caterpillars when they hatch?
Field, let me know when your milkweed seeds sprout. We will track them this year to see how much they grow so we know when to sow seeds next year.
July 24, 2025. Thursday, with `10 chrysalids (the most I've had at one time in 5 years, I asked Paul how many he'd released, 37 so far this year and over 50 last year. No tachinid flies at my location but Paul tells me they have started to slip inside his netted caterpillar nursery.
We are having trouble growing enough milkweed for our caterpillars. keeping
Good news: Last years predatory tachinid flies are missing this season which may explain the increase in the number of monarch chrysalids reaching the adult stage. The tachinids flies were so abundant last year that 50% of our chrysalids died before reaching adulthood. Which begs the question: what has caused the disappearance of these predators?
JULY 22, 2025 This female monarch butterfly will lay 300 to 500 eggs in just a few weeks, or maybe she will break the most laid eggs record of 1,000 in a single season!
3:26 pm... Patricia takes Beta out to the observation deck.
From there it will take flight into the wild blue yonder.
This map shows that it takes 4 generations of Monarch Butterflies to make a round trip between Maine and Michoacán Mexico and back to Maine again. If we walked from Portland Maine, to Michoacán, we'd walk 3,179 miles, it would take 1,159 hours without stopping! Let's see... if we walk 10 hours a day, how many days would it take you to get from Maine to Michoacán?
JULY Hi Field, I am your third cousin Toby. This is an invitation for you to join our team called the DFKTC, that stands for Diana Field, Katie, Toby and Corina (Aunt Corina). We are going to work together to save beautiful monarch butterflies like this one from extinction… Stay tuned for more DFKTC news!
JULY 15, 2025 Tuesday morning. The milkweed plant outside the kitchen window is topped with the usual red-orange blossom clusters. Today, I notice 1mm crystal clear spheres at the bottom of many single blossoms. Is those droplets of nectar or water? I go outside, touch a fingertip to one of the droplets and give it a taste test. It's sweet. I theorize: there is a robust dark reaction photosynthesis phase that produces sugar molecules in so much abundance in tropical milkweed that it is excreted at the base of the blossoms and visible in the morning. I plan to take photos of this tomorrow.
Zeta enters J stage attached under the vivarium deck side panel), Due July 29.
JULY 14 Monday, Chrysalids #4 metamorphosis begins, Delta, and 5 Epsilon, Due July 28 In five seasons, this is the first time there have been this many chrysalids sharing the vivarium.
JULY 13 Sunday, #3 metamorphosis begins, Gamma Due July 27
JULY 11 Friday, Chrysalid #2 metamorphosis begins, Beta, Due July 25
JULY 8, 2025 Tuesday 12:10 pm First larva Alpha, enters "J" stage (Pupa tomorrow?) Diana can take this one back to Denver where it will emerge around July 22nd.
Egg 5 days at 72°F
Larva 18 day
Chrysalis 14 days
37 days total at 72°F (Emergence in 22 days at 82°
There are no tachinid parasitic flies to kill monarch caterpillars this year. Since tachinid flies are used to suppress agricultural pests, I wonder if there has been an overuse of this biocontrol method that explains the previous years near extinction collapse of the monarch butterfly population?
Click HERE to view a tachinid parasite larva
emerging from a monarch caterpillar.
https://www.johnnybutterflyseed.com/2023/07/27/monarch-butterfly-lifecycle-timeline/
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