How to raise monarch butterflies: this is such a feel-good, anyone-can-urban-homestead, EASY activity! And the beautiful 'nature' footage of the developing butterfly is so lovely and fascinating, I hope you enjoy it! All camera work and editing was done by my extremely talented husband.
#monarchbutterfly #gardening #butterfly #milkweed
Summary of steps:
1. Find/plant milkweed. There are many different varieties, some well suited to containers and some that will spread easily around your garden. Some may be more native to your area as well! Popular varieties in Ontario are Butterfly Weed, Swamp Milkweed, or Common Milkweed (all will have Asclepias in the proper name). Flowers range from subtle small whites and blues to showy pinks, oranges and purples.
2. Find a monarch caterpillar egg. These will appear in the late spring through mid/late summer, and they can be found on the underside of the milkweed leaves. Once I saw a butterfly lay an egg - too bad my husband didn't catch it on camera! Eggs are tiny, only about 1mm round, with clear vertical stripes.
3. Shelter the leaf and egg. I often start with a shallow container, trying to balance the leaf not rotting against the leaf drying out too quickly. Leaves will need to be replaced every so often either way - make sure you don't add any kind of leaf other than milkweed to your caterpillar habitat. After a few days, the egg will hatch and you will start seeing holes in the leaf where the caterpillar is feasting (and little brown poops!).
4. Give the grown caterpillar a place to hang. When the caterpillar is close to two weeks old or almost two inches long (or sooner, if you want), transfer the leaf to a jar and add something that the caterpillar can climb, like a small stick. It's not a problem to transfer the caterpillar over to a jar 'early', it is just a little more awkward to exchange leaves. When the caterpillar is ready, it will climb up and hang from either the stick or the lid of the jar in a 'J' shape, and 12-24 hours later will change itself into a pupa. At this stage, every day or two I gently lift the lid of the jar (which isn't screwed on), just to promote a bit of air exchange. The pupa is fastened tight to the stick or jar lid, if you're careful it won't fall off.
5. Release the grown butterfly. When the butterfly hatches, give it space to dry out and prepare to venture off. Some people have covered porches that work really well for this. I usually bring the whole jar to a sheltered spot with a little shade, and they gradually start to explore. Even when they fly off, the butterflies usually hang out in my garden for several hours.
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And my website, for how-to guides, recipes and blog posts: [ Ссылка ]
Music: www.bensound.com
