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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 16, 2019 19:57:26 GMT
Very interesting and a most complete description, thank you. Sorry to say, though, that I have to question the necessity of so much effort in Florida, although of course your friend may derive much pleasure from watching the process. I'm pretty sure that all the milkweeds will grow like weeds in Florida. My experience is if you plant milkweed, you will get monarchs and monarchs definitely occur in Florida. When I lived high on an arid hill in Xoxocotlán, I had quite a few Asclepias curassavica plants and lots and lots of monarchs. I would find the chrysallises hanging all over the place, not at all necessarily on plants. Since the area was rural, I was surrounded by flowering wild plants beyond whatever flowering things I had in my own yard. And yes, the chrysallises are a thrill to see. When it's almost time for the butterfly to emerge, the cases turn the color of old gold and gleam in the sun. Magical! Here are some links about monarchs in Florida, including the admonition to not allow A. Curassavica to flourish all year. Although it's a lovely plant, there are plenty of more northerly Asclepias to keep around. www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/fl/newsroom/releases/?cid=NRCSEPRD363613adver-net.com/aboutFLM.htmlwww.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/central-floridas-love-for-monarch-butterflies-is-in-full-bloom-but-are-we-loving-them-to-death/Content?oid=19752516
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Post by Kimby on Feb 16, 2019 20:12:10 GMT
I didn’t think to ask who supplies my friend with the larvae, but I assume it’s some kind of a monarch rescue non-profit. I would think the goal would be to have mini colonies starting up in as many locations as possible to stave off extinction if one or more of the remaining natural colonies/wintering places experiences a devastating loss, due to climate change, weather event, habitat loss or disease. A little redundancy - and perhaps introduced genetic variability - is a GOOD thing, to my mind. Even if Florida is abundantly blessed with flowering plants to attract butterflies.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 16, 2019 21:25:14 GMT
Of course I left the area so long ago that I have no idea about the butterfly situation in the 21st century (for me, it's been 50 years). In my childhood, there were countless monarch butterflies in Mississippi (and plenty of other beautiful ones). I would never have imagined that anything needed to be done to nurture them. Nevertheless, if I had stayed there all of these years and noticed the decline, I am quite sure that I would have wanted to do something.
One thing I do know is that in France, there seem to be far fewer butterflies than in my Mississippi childhood. Normal? Abnormal? I have no idea. Most of the butterflies that I see here are cabbage butterflies, which have never been the most popular ones, especially for people who grow cabbage.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2019 15:04:35 GMT
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Post by mossie on Jun 16, 2019 18:53:04 GMT
That is the most incredible sight, I never imagined there could be so many butterflies, let alone all in one place.
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Post by lugg on Jun 16, 2019 20:22:48 GMT
Monochrome to colour .. gorgeous
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Post by Kimby on Dec 16, 2019 17:25:16 GMT
I was honored to be asked to babysit my Sanibel friend's butterfly hatchery while they left town for 5 days. I will try to post some photos here. The original hamper-like fabric hatchery unit fell prey to palm rats or something, so David built this sturdier version himself. You can see all the various stages and the milkweed plants the larvae feed on in these shots.
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Post by Kimby on Dec 16, 2019 17:33:17 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Dec 16, 2019 17:59:58 GMT
The previous photo was a female. The one in this series is a male. You can tell by the black dot on the fretwork of the rear wings. My friends' garden is overflowing with butterfly-friendly plants, and butterflies. Many monarchs lay eggs on the milkweed plants in the garden. Milkweed is the only food the larvae will eat, though adults will sip nectar from many different flowering plants. Only one egg is laid on the underside of a milkweed leaf so the larva don't run out of food. My friend collects wild-hatched larvae from the garden and puts them in the safety of the cage because, who doesn't like to eat a worm?!
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Post by Kimby on Dec 16, 2019 18:02:54 GMT
The adult butterflies normally don't live real long lives, 2-6 weeks, though migratory generations live somewhat longer. The individuals that arrive on the wintering grounds are not necessarily the ones that set out from their natal milkweed patch, and same with the return. Instinct is amazing! (You can see how worn out the one above is.) Here's a link to lots of factoids about monarch butterflies: journeynorth.org/monarchs/resources/article/facts-monarch-butterfly-life-cycleThe plants that have been fed to the larvae in the hatching structure get eaten down to sticks and have to be given time to recover their foliage. My friends have something like 70 potted milkweeds in rotation for this process. I sure enjoyed babysitting the monarchs and am in awe of the process, and of my friends dedication.
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Post by mossie on Dec 16, 2019 19:11:26 GMT
Well done, a Monarch nursemaid. Sorry
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Post by lugg on Dec 16, 2019 19:19:36 GMT
Fascinating Kimby . I too am in awe at your friends dedication, just wonderful.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 17, 2019 14:11:58 GMT
Fantastic photos, too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 27, 2019 2:27:03 GMT
Ohhhh ~ fascinating & beautiful! I love the picture where the wings show through the soon-to-be-discarded chrysalis. Did you find any chrysalises outside? Sometimes they turn an incredible rich gold color -- really look like metal.
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Post by casimira on Aug 4, 2022 15:17:27 GMT
"Who doesn't like to eat a worm?" those worms aka caterpillars are poisonous to any prey who would dare to dine on them. It's the milkweed that they have dined upon that is toxic. It's their defense mechanism.
On another note. I found out that the Monarch is now on the endangered species list. It's due to the shortage of milkweed where they migrate from in Mexico. The extreme heat and drought have decimated the butterfly population dramatically.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 4, 2022 16:37:41 GMT
That would be alarming except for the fact that insect populations fluctuate enormously depending on conditions. If next year is better, they can be back tenfold. Insects are much more forgiving (and reproductive) than us poor mammals and fish.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 10, 2022 16:31:28 GMT
If a honey bee is classified as an insect I had two days of "buzzing" while a loan bee came to suck up sugar syrup I had spilled onto a side table on the patio. I was very surprised to see the same bee back the very next day. How do I know it was the same bee? Well of course I don't , but why would only one bee arrive on the very same same spot? It's not like he only told one best buddy is it? Today he failed to arrive. I know they only live about three days so I guess his mission is over.
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