A Monarch Way Station

Introduction

    Every year a new generation of monarch butterflies begin its journey from birthplaces in the northeastern United States and Canada. But where are they heading? Every single monarch has a natural GPS which will lead many of them exactly to the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico. Quite a long journey for such a small insect--nearly 2000 miles.  Some of the east coast monarchs make their way to Florida.  To help them travel such great distances, these butterflies have learned to fly very high and float on the air currents.  This may explain why they end up at several different wintering areas.

Scientists are still attempting to find out how monarchs pass along information about their birthplace to subsequent generations as the monarch that leaves Ohio in October is the great-great grandparent of the one that returns to the same field the following June.

What is a Way Station?

    The definition of a way station is a stopping point on a journey. These way stations serve as refueling stops for the monarchs. These stations may have a lack of predators, or a good source of food and shelter.

How can I Make my Home a Way Station?

    Monarch butterflies return to the place they were born to produce more offspring. This is an evolutionary process which allows the monarchs a better chance to reproduce. But they can only do this with a very special and poisonous plant. Milkweed.  Don't destroy the wild milkweed growing along the roadsides and in fields nearby.  Keep pesticides and fertilizers away from nectar-producing flowers and milkweed.  If you want to buy milkweed to plant in your yard, there are many websites to choose from.  My favorite is www.butterflybushes.com.  Rose Franklin, the owner, produces healthy plants that flourish in Ohio's weather.  You also need to plant nectar-producing flowers for the adult monarchs. Rose's site lists many of the best ones for butterflies and you can order from her or find them at your local nursery.  Food, shelter and water are basics for making your home a Monarch Way Station.

NOTE:  Rose also ships monarch eggs, caterpillars and even pupas.  Her site also provides butterfly cages if you want to raise monarchs.

    Milkweed is what monarchs need to lay their eggs. Because milkweed is poisonous, predators of the monarch typically cannot eat the plant. Also, due to how much milkweed a monarch eats throughout its life, the monarch is poisonous to most animals. Monarch butterflies will lay their eggs on the underside of these plants, so that when their caterpillar is born, it will have the best chance of staying dry and out of sight of many predators.

This is a newly emerged caterpillar.  It is about the size of a comma on a page -- the black dot is its head.  The first thing it does is eat its eggshell.  Over the next two weeks, it will increase its size to 2000 times larger.  Before it forms its crystalis, it will be about 2 inches long.  To compare, it would be like a human child growing to the size of a school bus in two weeks!

Ohio Butterflies Seen So Far

Here are some Ohio butterflies I have seen in the garden.  Sadly, I have only observed one of each of these types--no "flutters" of butterflies.  Very few of these gorgeous flying flowers seen this year, but at least some to make the summer special:

  

A Great Spangled Frittilary on Butterfly Weed

The ever abundant cabbage butterfly on butterfly bush

A silver spotted skipper on clover

a tiny Delaware skipper (only about 1/2" wide) on astilbe

newly emerged black swallowtail on marigolds

Tiger Swallowtail

Not a pretty butterfly, but according to my Butterflies of Ohio book, a rare sighting because these butteflies are disappearing.  Apparently sightings in the field are unreliable because it closely resembles another butterfly.  So it could be a Columbine Duskywing or a Wild Indigo Duskywing.  Neither of which I have ever seen before and both are rare.  This one was in my front yard.  My yard is the right habitat (wooded ravines and moist woodlands) so it has probably been here all along.  Easy to miss!  So glad to document it!

The orange sulphur butterfly

What Does Milkweed Look Like?

I have been asked by several people to verify milkweed.  There is at least one local plant that mimics a milkweed plant.  It's known as "false" milkweed and has single white flowers instead of the clusters found on milkweed.  There is a white flowering swamp milkweed so be careful!  Both of these plants do spill a milky sap when broken.  When in doubt, look for the purple flowers in a cluster at the top. The plant below is NOT a milkweed that will nourish a monarch caterpillar.  It is actually toxic to them.

 This is what its flowers look like.  DO NOT feed this plant to your monarch caterpillars!

What Does Milkweed Look Like?

I have been asked by several people to verify milkweed.  There is at least one local plant that mimics a milkweed plant.  It's known as "false" milkweed and has single white flowers instead of the clusters found on milkweed.  There is a white flowering swamp milkweed so be careful!  Both of these plants do spill a milky sap when broken.  When in doubt, look for the purple flowers in a cluster at the top. The plant below is NOT a milkweed that will nourish a monarch caterpillar.  It is actually toxic to them.

 This is what its flowers look like.  DO NOT feed this plant to your monarch caterpillars!

Magical Butterly Camp

July 24  Held our fifth annual Magical Butterfly Camp.  It was difficult this year because they were no caterpillars and I had to order them from Rose Franklin.  They arrived on July 22--very tiny. Probably hatched on July 19 or 20.  I received 11 caterpillars plus a milkweed plant with 8 eggs on it which were laid on July 19.  I also received 5 pupas which appear to have another week until they eclose or emerge.

 egg laid on top of the leaf

 caterpillar in second instar--about 1/2 " long

 newly emerged male on top of cage

 and released!  Note the two "dots" that mark him as a male.

July 24  Caterpillar molting.  The caterpillar will eat the shed skin and will molt several more times!

July 25  Caterpillars have grown overnight--nearly doubled their size again.  They are now about one inch long and are one week old.

Eggs hatched overnight as well.  This hot weather encourages them to develop rapidly.

These are approximately 1/8 " long ( the leaf is only 1 inch wide)  When they are first born, they are about the size of a comma on a page.

Monarchs Sighted in Ohio!

Welcome to Flutter of Monarchs blog.  It appears that the first monarchs arrived at the end of June as expected.  I was on vacation and returned to find only one caterpillar had survived.  I saw signs of caterpillars--tiny holes in the leaves of milkweed.  But the ants, wasps, yellow jackets, spiders and armored beetles had eaten them.  I was thrilled to find one caterpillar, hidden on a lower leaf. He was in the fourth instar and nearly 2 inches long.  I cut the leaf and put him in a butterfly cage where he has continued to grow.

July 10   The caterpillar has eaten through three large leaves and is now "resting" at the top of his cage.  I expect him to form his pupa soon!

 a male

July 11  As expected, the caterpillar formed his "J" and soon formed his beautiful crystalis.  Monarch crystalises are lovely with tiny gold spots that form on the pupa.  It's difficult to see through the netting.

July 23   Hot and humid!  90s and sunny and a male monarch emerges in the morning.

Because of the heat, he is very active and ready to fly away!  We released him at the butterfly camp and he immediate flew to a Queen Anne's lace flower where he feasted for several minutes.