This video and photos show one of the caterpillars just out of its egg today. It then turns around and eats the shell of the egg - it's first (and a most important) nourishment.
They are so so tiny and beautiful little miracles.
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Our Monarch season is going very well. We have perfect weather and there don't seem quite as many wasps around as in previous seasons at this time.
This video and photos show one of the caterpillars just out of its egg today. It then turns around and eats the shell of the egg - it's first (and a most important) nourishment. They are so so tiny and beautiful little miracles. I have two Monarch Caterpillars growing well for our closing season in New Zealand.
Now that our weather is cooling and the Asian Paper Wasps have stopped killing/eating caterpillars and eggs in order to feed protein to their young, I'm seeing a few caterpillars growing on my swan plants. Yes, Monarch butterflies are still swooping around the garden and laying eggs, so perhaps there might be even more caterpillars to see soon. We've had them here as late as June in the past. I brought these two inside to the safety of the caterpillar castle, a couple of weeks ago, and they've now grown into their 5th and final instar. Yesterday they finished eating and, overnight, formed into their J's on the roof of the caterpillar castle. Because our weather is rapidly cooling into Autumn, these ones will take a little longer than the average 10 days to pupate and emerge as butterflies. I've had them in a chrysalis for 30 days, in the past at this time of year. Let's see how long these ones take 🐛 I've been doing some extreme macro photography with my tiny Monarch Caterpillars.
They are now in the 3rd instar, so are still quite small (about 15mm long). Unfortunately they're not so good at posing for the camera and keep wriggling, so getting a clear shot can be a challenge. I've set up a tall rig, to ensure I can get the camera up close to the caterpillars, yet keeping the camera steady when I take a shot. I'm using an Olympus Tough TG6 camera which has the capability of microscope photography, while allowing for the lens to be placed to up to 10mm from your subject. The camera also hooks up to an Olympus phone app, using Bluetooth, which allows you to control the camera remotely (it's a magic little camera). So here are just a few of the macro pics I have taken recently. You may have seen some of them in previous posts, but I thought they might be good to see again. Bear in mind these are all pictures of really tiny caterpillars. The details are quite mesmerising, don't you think? Click on each picture, to see a larger view............. Aphids are still flourishing on our swan plants and it's fully mid-winter. Aphids are the scourge of milkweed and many other plants, here in New Zealand, and really make a mess of the plants they infect. Ladybirds eat aphids, so if you have plenty of Ladybirds on your plants, that will help.
If you're a gardener, there are many organic recipes to make up and spray on aphids. Check out the "Rediscover" website for recipes. If you are a Monarch butterfly enthusiast who is raising Monarch caterpillars on milkweed, then it's a whole different story. Do not spray! Do not spray anything around Monarch Caterpillars Here's what I do to reduce aphids. Basically, I wash off the aphids with a strong hosing of water. Only water. Most of my swan plants are grown in pots. I find it's way easier to manage them this way and you can chop and change plants as the caterpillars eat them. I remove any caterpillars from the plant, then gently lay the plant and pot down sideways on the concrete. Then I hose the leaves and stems as hard as is reasonable, to wash off the aphids. I also use my fingers to rub them away, at the same time. I go over and over each plant until I'm sure there are no aphids left. Then I let the leaves dry a little. before putting the caterpillars back onto the plants. I carry this out on concrete, away from the area where the plants will usually grow. This is because, if you just wash off the aphids in the same area where the plants are growing, ants will most surely bring them all back onto your plants. Ants 'farm' aphids for the dewy substance they excrete so, if you take the aphids away, the ants will just bring them back. If you hose off the aphids in a different area, the ants don't find the plants so easily. Yes, the process is time consuming and labour intensive, but its the only 'safe' method I have found that doesn't hurt either the caterpillars or the plants. We have a man down. Largest caterpillar hasn't made it. It was growing so well but during last weekend we noticed it seemed like it was shrinking. As the days went by it did shrink in size and I noticed it had a little red 'pooh-like' button at the end of its body which didn't drop off. Monarch caterpillar pooh is usually quite green and is called frass, by the way. Last night largest caterpillar was writhing on the plant and this morning it was curled up and 'kind of' still attached to the plant by an end foot. Clearly it wasn't going to make it, so I did the kind thing and euthanised it by wrapping it in a paper towel and placing it in the freezer. Monarch Caterpillars and Butterflies need warmth to survive. By wrapping them in a paper towel (gently but firmly) and placing it in the freezer, they can't move around and the cold sends them quickly to sleep before they freeze. It's unfortunate to have to do it, but preferable to allowing a lovely creature to suffer. On a positive note, middle caterpillar is now huge and very close to forming its chrysalis. Smallest caterpillar is a good middle-size and eating well. Our weather has become really cold now. Where we live in New Zealand is referred to as 'the Winterless North', however today the morning temperature was 7 C (45 F), so no wonder our caterpillars are enjoying being inside our house where it's a bit warmer than that. When the sun comes up each day, I place their plant into the sunny part of the window so they can soak up the warmth. Small caterpillar is now 15mm long and shed its skin yesterday. When I checked it in the morning, there was the empty skin behind it on the leaf. How can you tell when a Monarch caterpillar has just slipped out of it's skin? The giveaway, of course, is the empty skin. There are other signs, however. Notice how it's head is very pale and it's feet almost look clear? They will both colour up very quickly, but being so pale is also a sign that the caterpillar has just shed its skin. I have noticed that, just before shedding a skin, a monarch caterpillar will stay very still in the same place on the leaf for about 2 days without eating. Once it has shed it's skin, it continues to remain still for quite a long time and then it turns around and eats the discarded skin. During its growing time as a caterpillar, the monarch caterpillar sheds its skin 5 times. The empty skin is called exuvia. During the shedding process it wriggles the skin slowly down its body, starting from the head. As the moving skin reaches the legs it pulls them out of the unwanted skin, two at a time. Eventually the skin is eased right off the body but, guess what? The 'face' will still be on the caterpillar. Now it rids itself of the old face to reveal a new face. If you happen to see a tiny bit of shiny black circle with holes in it, near to a caterpillar that has just shed its skin, that's the old face. Today, small caterpillar is looking decidedly larger and is munching happily on a swan plant leaf. Oh - and the other good news is that one of the other eggs hatched and so now we have 3 caterpillars on the leaves. Meanwhile, tiny caterpillar who hatched 3 days ago, is coming along nicely and is now 5mm long. Perhaps I should now call it small2? Small caterpillar is eating again.
I've had it on a swan plant inside the caterpillar castle, outside on our deck, however our weather has gone from cold to colder so yesterday I brought it inside the house. Our little house is only heated by a small heater (we don't have central heating) however the change in temperature does seem to have made a difference. Last night while we watched TV we noticed the caterpillar was moving around the plant and, this morning, just look at the photo to see how much it has eaten of the leaf it is on. Oh, almost forgot. Tiny caterpillar, who hatched yesterday, has gone walkabout on the swan plant and I can't find it (it's a very tiny caterpillar). Hopefully, when it has grown a bit, I'll find it. It's quite nice just having just these few caterpillars to watch over, rather than the dozens we had in Summer. So far the other eggs we have are not changing colour, but we're ever hopeful.
This morning I found one tiny Monarch Caterpillar, outside on a swan plant. Yay!
By the size of it, it has been there a couple of days yet I hadn't earlier spotted it. It is now settled on a swan plant, inside the safety of the caterpillar castle, so hopefully it will grow and flourish. Meanwhile none of the eggs I brought inside, 2 days ago, are showing any signs of hatching. When Monarch eggs are laid it can take about 6 days for them to hatch, when its later in the season like this and the weather is cooler. This little caterpillar in the picture here seems fine, although it seems a little sluggish because we have a cooler day today. Hopefully it will grow to be a lovely fat caterpillar. Time will tell. Click here to see us on FaceBook......... |
AUTHOR
Julie Vause
Opua, New Zealand. Keen butterfly photographer and raises Monarch Butterflies for release. " I'm crazy about butterflies and enjoy sharing the beauty and wonder of their transformations." VIDEO
Monarch Caterpillar emerging from egg
Click on video to enlarge
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