DAILY PICTURES # 106

The photo's always look nice ,, But it amazing how nice they look after looking at all the snow and ice here ,
thank you !!!

you can say THAT again Juhur!

Beautiful shots! :)

Thanks! I will try to get more for you folks in the colder climates. We are supposed to have another cold blast some time this evening...and a chance of freezing rain for the next two days. Bah!

Russell

-6 here right now. brrr.

Temps were droppin when I left Waco at 1am. Hit 32* at the Okla Side of the Red River. Windchills here in Big Cabin are -8*. Temp 15*. Have fought these winds since about the time I left Waco. Luck Marty with those cats - you'll feel the wind bite when it comes.

Here are photos of 1. circumstance and 2. poop. Poop made the chrysalis first but it looks like circumstance is ahead him in the eclosing race. It's freezing here outside and into the 20's tonight. Hope it warms up for the releasing of these guys.

Well, isn't that a beautiful sight! circumstance must be out by now. poop looks like he is green in places he shouldn't be green in. In my experience, by the time the wing pattern is visible, the chrysalis should be completely black. Still it is a process full of surprises so i will wish poop very well. :). If the temps are down to freezing, maybe you can find a local greenhouse that will allow a few butterflies for awhile.

Here is circumstance. Isn't he beautiful? I dont really know yet if he really is a he because Ive not seen the dorsal side yet. He? eclosed about 6 PM.

This message was edited Jan 24, 2014 10:17 PM

Here's hoping for circumstance allowing that all is well .. Congratulations !!! Hey Ma !!! It's a Butterfly ! and a Monarch .no less..

Pretty yes... very nice indeed ..

Nice to see the chatter. Can't believe the cold stretch we are having, but you know, whaddya gonna do...

"Chatter", that's the sound of my teeth in this cold weather. I hope you folks in the deep South as well as the plants and butterflies survived the latest blast of cold.

Here is Poop. She made it about 2 PM today. I released Circumstance out doors. The sun is shining and it is 68*. I trust that he will know how to take care of himself by flying further South or to find nectar plants, etc.

They are so awesome lookin! Did good!

A nice warm attic , A broadcast dish ,, a sunny window corner (preferably out of the wind )
A hole in some old concrete . A statue in the park (preferably no pigeons , to avoid concerns of being eaten )
All kinds of nighttime warm places ..
glass top deck tea tables , to upside down under , and roadside flower banks aren't bad either'' .. Ah time to explore nature !!!
Good Luck Stance ! lol
The love Bug ...

So, Poop is a girl and Circumstance is boy? Is that right? I hope they meet up. Poop got off to a rocky start as a pupa, but she came out beautiful...what a happiness and congratulations to the care giver! :-D

Thanks guys for your comments. I was worried about those Green parts of that chrysalis, Vit but she looks fine. Tweedle down is next. Her chrysalis is dark today. I took her out of the jar she was in and pinned her to the top of basket and also did same for Manga Rita. Tweedle Dup is still attached to his stick in a jar but he is sitting inside the basket, in case I should miss his warning signs. Oh please let the weather here warm up quickly! How much cold can the monarch stand?

Poop and Circumstance. Love it! Great job and so much fun to see the photos and hear about the successes. Keep up the good work, Marty.

From the videos and such I have watched , a Monarch can only stand a few hours of frost , freeze , level temperatures ..
If their in the dark especially in the forests in Mexico and it heavy frosts ,, it kills many of them ,
There is video of the preservationists cupping them in their hands and blowing on them to warm them ..They save a few that way ,,

I read or was told that Monarchs don't begin migration until temps reach 51, so they should be good with a south bound wind to push them along.

Tweedle Down is out this morning and he's a boy. I'll be releasing Poop today. She's doing her exercises and getting ready. It's still 55 here now so I think I'll wait until it gets to at least 60 before releasing her. TD is on the left in this photo.

I released Poop about 1:30 today and Tweedle-Down said he was ready too so I released him as well. Each of them sat on my hand for several minutes in the sun before flying. I saw Poop several hours later floating around the yard but I never saw TD again. It was 60 when I released them and the temp got to 70 pretty quickly after that and stayed there most of the day. I did see some henbit blooming and my neighbor's rue plants are blooming. I have pansies and allyssum. I really hope they find some food. I saw another weed blooming as well. It looks like clover foliage but has a tiny yellow bloom. Only 3 left. Tweedle-Dup should be next and then Champa-lysee and last Manga-Rita.

Have a safe trip, little Monarchs.

Monarchs aren't going to migrate to Mexico in January. They'll stay in the general vicinity of where they are released. There are small colonies scattered all along the coast.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

Dale, will they know to fly South to zone 10 if it is too cold here and just an hour south of me, I know there are nectar plants in abundance.

This morning at 9 when I got up, I had the last 3 all eclosed at about the same time. Even Manga-rita made it. She's a little smaller than the rest and she is a boy but other than that, she looks perfectly made. So...Manga-Rito? Right? Photos to follow.

Here they are. Left to Right is Tweedle-Dup, then Manga-Rito, and Champa-lysee. I know Champa-lysee is a girl and Im pretty sure that Tweedle Dup is a girl but need to confirm. Also, now that Manga-Rito is all pumped up, I think he is normal size. Can you hear my big sigh of relief? Yay, I didn't kill them.

Bravo steady and congratulations...100% success! The butterflies are programmed for survival and it is not possible to keep them "safe" from their destiny. You have given them a chance for life and the rest is up to them. They are very wild and you know you have to let them go and be happy about it :-) yes? What a wonderful experience you have had! So many people have enjoyed it with you.

And just look at how your photos have improved!

yes, my photos are better, thanks to you guys! I really appreciate the help. It was so frustrating because now and again I would get a photo that was good. I could not see what I was doing wrong.

The next four days are going to be below freezing and I usually release after 24 hours but I dont know about it if the high for the day is 33*F. I made some food for them and hung it in the cage. They dont seem interested at all but it's not 24 hours yet.

One article I read said they can crawl at 41* but need 55* to fly.
Thanks to all you godmothers and godfathers. The Houston sextuplets thank you for all the support and for celebrating with us.

PS Both Manga-Rito and Tweedle-Dup are boys. Champa-lysee is a girl, confirmed.

Where are the wild colonies usually situated? How do they survive the bitter cold temps each winter? Or is it just instinct that pulls them together? Curious.

I am rooting for them, Marty. You have done your best.

Kittriana (and all) -- by small colonies I mean really, really small. And scattered. Sometimes just a couple of individuals. Sometimes more. Sometimes dozens. No "set" spot as in the overwintering sites in Mexico. As to how they survive bitter cold temps in winter -- sometimes they don't. Or at least not all. This winter is being particularly cold, so there'll be casualties. The species is always pushing the boundaries of where it can survive. Natural selection at work. Mother Nature never puts all the eggs in one basket.

Word is that on Wednesday there will be an announcement about the "official" numbers at the overwintering sites in Mexico. You can bet there will be plenty of doom and gloom predictions coming forth with hysteria to follow.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

Dale, will ;you come back and tell us what they said, please?

Ive decided not to release until the weather gets better. My reasoning is that they would not be eating in this weather anyway cause they cant fly so they might as well be warm. I'll keep providing nectar for them whether they utilize it or not.

I wonder if it being cooler slows the food issue down like a dormant cycle.. Thanx Dale. THAT is what I suspected it would be happening... I see the bullhoppers and squash bugs survive buried deep into the roots of thick clumps of liriope that shouldnt be surviving winters.

Here's a link to a pretty fair article about the numbers of monarchs at the overwintering sites in Mexico. As expected, an all time low. But remember -- it's the migration phenomenon that is "endangered", not the species itself. I do quibble with the bit about the migration disappearing. Monarchs are still going to migrate -- it just won't be the remarkable numbers that it was when I was a kid. And if the numbers aren't strikingly large, people don't notice it. Doesn't mean it isn't still happening.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/monarch-butterflies-drop-migration-disappear-22283257

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

Thanks, Dale. My three are still alive today and the weather tomorrow is very favorable for their survival so I will be releasing tomorrow.

Great article Dale thanks for the link.

Marty, good luck on your release of you three final Monarchs! Glad you are getting involved with raising cats. Don't just limit yourself to Monarchs, others are just as interesting and fun to watch.
One you might see there on pansies is the Varigated Frit, and has a georgeous chrysalis. Watch Dale's website section for "What's on the wing" and read about their host plants.

Here's a lot more detailed information directly from MonarchWatch. Newspaper articles are nice, but they invariably get details wrong. Always best to go to the source of the data.

http://monarchwatch.org/blog/

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

I released the last three this morning. It was 55 but I had to go to work and the temps were gradually going up tho the sky is cloudy. Tomorrow is supposed to be even better and te next 5 or so days also. It's kinda windy but I would guess they know what to do about thSat. Im just so glad I did not make their situation worse by bringing in those eggs. I may try again since this went well. I have the spice bush swallowtails when Spring comes so I will try those again.

Sheila, I have this humongous Blue Crown passi but Ive not seen any cats since the first season I had it. It's quite tall so they may be there and I just cant see them but I dont see any adult frits either. The vine is all up into a tree that is tall as my house and the vine is 3/4" diameter. Any thoughts?

Two Polydamas Swallowtails eclosed today after 8 months in the chrysalises. Usually they eclose in 12 to 15 days. There were about 20 Polydamas chrysalises in diapause and gradually they are now starting to eclose. My best guess is that the caterpillar food source plants were exhausted. Nasty weather sure hasn't been the reason, so i suppose they were waiting for the caterpillar food source plants to renew themselves.