So mad at the cats!!!

So yesterday woke up to check on my caterpillars. I had 15-20 queens and monarch cats in the pavilion with a large milkweed plant. They have been in this same spot for 4 days with no trouble. Today the ants got to 3 of the cats that were trying to crysalid. (Nope not mad at the cats yet..just mad at the ants!) I removed the large plant with cats hagning all over it. Most of them were "j's" The ones not on the plant, crawling around I put in another pavilion and hung this one up with lose leaves. There was one that was tryign to crysalid so i hung it up from its silk (Still not mad) I went outside 3 hours later to see if they were hanging yet. the one that was trying to crysalid was a crysalid But TWO of them were EATING IT!!! There was still leaves in the cage but I guess the little cannibals wanted to eat their sister instead. I was so bummed out. Not my day!! Let me get a picture for you of my Crysalid tree

Here is before

First one changed after about 2 1/2 hours

and withing the next half hour, everyone else had become part of the naked milkweed tree

Maydreams... I'm sorry for your demise! However, I just wanted to say how neat the chrisalid tree looks! It's like Chrysalid (Christmas) in July!

8*)

Karen

Maydreams, that's awful, I would've been so upset too. What did you do, could you pull the cannibals away from the chrysalis, but then you might hurt the chrysalis too, huh. I'm having my first cat raising experience, and I've seen my still wandering cats crawling over their cousins already in their chrysalis, which always makes me so nervous, but I haven't seen them doing any cannibalizing, I wondered if that could happen. Yikes!

The Chysalid was a gonner. Only the top piece left. I pulled it out of there and put the 2 queens in time out...no just kidding, but I did seperate them and gave them each their own big huge leaf to eat.

Flutter

Time out, that's cute Flutter!

This is the first time I have evr heard of them going cannabil like that. Why woudl they do such a thing?

So sad ya had a rotten day, but love seeign your tre e and all the cats on it. : )

No need of segregation of the Monarch and the Queen caterpillars -?-

- Magpye

Great photos!!! Loved that naked milkweed tree with all those chrysalids :o)

Queens seem to be the most cannibalistic caterpillars that I know of. Have raised various species from swallowtails, white, sulphurs, brushfoots, hairstreaks and blues....but those Queens are an odd lot.

~ Cat

Here's an photo from last year of one of them that climbed onto the inverted wire basket I had in the cage for them to pupate on! GRRRR!!!!

This message was edited Jul 25, 2007 9:34 PM

...and the end result...GRRRRRR!!!

~ Cat

Wellll gosh dog, TexasPuddyPrint!
Them's pure bred beasts!! .. heehee

Time-out my eye! .. Ground 'em, Maydreams27! .. lol ..
(yep, I'm jokin' also!)

- Magpye

We need a list of cannibal cats in the Sticky thread. Like,....... plays well together / does not play well together.....so I can remember. : )
~Lucy

This message was edited Jul 26, 2007 12:57 AM

.. LOL ..
Welll, judging from this shocking (to me) activity: I agree!!

- Magpye

Cat, kay, heres a wquestion. On my tree most of the crysalids are a green except for 2 that look like the one on your cage that looks like pale yellow. Was that one viable do you remember? I have never seen one this color in all my rearing years.

Flutter

Flutter,

There was one season where I had a whole gob of pale pink to white Queen chrysalids. All eclosed into healthy butterflies. Tdog had a post a long time ago about that...something about not getting enough chlorophyll or whatever it is that makes them green. No need to worry...they turn out just perfect...and the odd colored chrysalids are lovely.

~ Cat

Pheeew!! That is a relief. i didn;t want to explain to my little girl scouts that these were bad ones.

Flutter

I really haven't seen that much cannibalistic stuff with Queens that I could say they are the worst ones at all. The smaller Queen cats seem like they're okay with two or three in a cage as long as I keep them where each one has its own fresh food stuck in a little water-filled thing to keep it fresh. I think that the GST cats are the worst ones in my experience, tending to attack the other cats, especially the smaller ones.

This is all new to me as I have always raised the cats in one cage. Big cage but still together. Food all together as well. I have even kept monarchs and frits together with no problems but these queens were total "%&($#es" thus the name "Queen" LOL

Flutter

HAppy to say that they were born yesterday!!! All seven within minutes of each other. The kids woke up in the morning to the butterflies all drying on the plant and by the time i came home form work, they were flying all over the screened in patio. One didn't make it though. i was worried about this one. When it became a crysalid it had fallen so it was a little pitted. i was afraid that was going to come into play when it was time to be born and it did. One part was stuck to one wing and i couldn't seperate it in time.

Flutter

Here is the Butterfly tree picture

And some pictures of the butterflies eating after drying

line up on my screen enclosure

Last one for today in this thread :)

That's awesome! Congrats!!

Maydreams27,

Do you do this every year? Are you gathering eggs after they are laid to allow them to hatch safely or is this one of the kits that you can purchases, and they send the eggs/catepillars?

The more that I learn about butterflies, the more amazed I am that they exist - it just seems that the odds are seriously against them. Monarchs are the most amazing because they have such strict diets.

Flutter - I love all your photos! What an amazing photo of the Butterfly Tree! Looks like you have certainly been busy taking care of all of them. Congrats on so many healthy new butterflies. I bet they come back to your yard to lay their eggs to give you another generation of Monarchs! And be on the look-out..... My hand-raised Monarchs used to follow me around the yard like little puppies. My family always gets a kick out of seeing that! They think I am crazy ....and so are the butterflies to be shadowing me! LOL!

Pennefeather, I do this all year every year!! I have a "flutterwatch" in the backyard (It is called My kids) Whenever they are in the backyard and see a butterfly, they yell out. I check to see if they are eating or laying. Either way, I am shutterbugging the whole time. :) If they are laying, I wait a few hours until the eggs are drier and then retrieve them. I started by doing the insectlore program but found out those caterpillars don;t eat anything native to my area so I progresses to raising the ones in our area. This has been an ongoing project for 3 years or so and I do butterfly programs for girls scouts from my whole council (Sebastian down to Boca Raton).

Beckygardener, It was funny the day they were born, i went outside and grabbed one of my huge potted lantanas. As i walked around the pool area where they were. they followed me around. Now when i do it, I have a parade of 15 Queens and 1 Monarch following me. Quite funny!!

Flutter