It's That Time of Year Again!

I came home from class today and saw a Monarch butterfly meandering about. Guess what I found?

Yep! Caterpillars! But have no fear. I won't be writing another series about them this year. I might share a few pictures I take though! Pictures are always fun. 

That also means that my Mom has a new batch of Biology students this year who might be reading this, so, HI EVERYONE. I am the unofficial photographer for this class, so any pictures that you aren't required to look at will most likely appear on this blog. Not that she ever requires you to look at pictures... this is just if you have the desire to see a little more than what she shows in class because I usually take more pictures and video than she has time for. Plus, who doesn't like looking at pictures?

With that said, have a wonderful year taking Biology with Dr. Owens. She's the best science teacher EVER. Psh, me? Biased? Hahaha... you're funny...

abby

P.S. Hey Marine Biology students! I didn't forget you. I'll probably share interesting items for that class too! Including the dissection of a horseshoe crab! Except I didn't really dissect it because they're not easy to dissect. I found it on the beach (it was dead!) and brought it home to take pictures because I'm weird awesome like that. 

The Life of a Monarch, Part 10

{continued from part nine}

*UPDATED*

It seems fitting that Part 10 be the last of the series. :)

In Part 9, I left off saying that we had three caterpillars in their chrysalises, and still lots of caterpillars outside. Since then, the weather here got cold, and it started dropping below freezing at night. My Mom and I brought the caterpillars into the garage, where it's warmer, and they stayed there for a few weeks. Tuesday of this week, we took them all up to a park that has a butterfly house because we knew we couldn't keep them in our garage forever. The butterfly house was warm and humid, with lots of milkweed for them to eat. The butterfly keeper was very kind to let us bring them there, and we're hoping to go visit them soon. ;)  

As for our three chrysalises, one of them started to get some black splotches on it. I don't think that one will ever open up. We're not sure what happened- but we are sad to see it. 


*UPDATE* That chrysalis surprised us all and did become a butterfly! We were all very excited about it. :) We took him to the same place we took his buddies, and they seem to be enjoying life at the butterfly house. :)


As for the other two, (turned "green" Nov. 18) they both emerged yesterday! I was very excited. :) We had started to wonder if they would ever emerge, because the usual amount of time for them is two weeks. Obviously, it was more like five weeks, so they must have something that tells them it's too cold out to emerge. :) 



We decided that instead of releasing them into the wild (knowing that there will be lots of cool weather and not many flowers), we will take them up to the same park where we took the caterpillars. I'm sure they will live a happy life there, and they will be great for little kids to see when they walk in there. :)


Enough talk- now for some pictures. 

The chrysalis starts to thin out, and you can see the butterfly's wings

This is my favorite picture of a chrysalis. :)

Now it's very thin, the butterfly is almost ready to emerge.

He's out!

When they first emerge, their wings are all crinkled up from being packed in there so long.

They start to pump fluid into the wings.

And now they're a perfect set of wings! ;)

 I'd love to hear what you all have to think about the Monarch life cycle! I hope you've enjoyed reading about it!

abby

The Life of a Monarch, Part 9

{continued from part eight}

I honestly never thought my series would still be going now, but I was wrong! :)

isn't it amazing how tiny they are? :)

The Life of a Monarch, Part 8

{continued from part seven}
{To catch up on the rest of the series, here is part one}

Yesterday I posted about how two of the caterpillars had already hung themselves in a "J" shape (in preparation for their chrysalis). Later yesterday, after I posted, the first caterpillar molted, and formed his/her chrysalis. Sadly, I wasn't there to get pictures or video since I was in a class. :) But here are some of the pictures I did get.

The Life of a Monarch, Part 7

{continued from part six}

If you look back to Part 6 of my little series, you will see all the caterpillars that used to live on our plant. Since then, the caterpillars disappeared, and hopefully walked away to form their chrysalises. The milkweed plant we had, was eaten right down to the stem, because we had so many caterpillars. But the foliage has grown back, and despite the cooler weather, more eggs have been laid.

At the moment, we have three caterpillars who are alive and well. I'm sorry to say that the cold weather might have frozen the other eggs, because none of them have hatched yet. But we do have three, who have had the plant all to themselves, and have grown very quickly. :)

We put the caterpillars in a little "house" with some milkweed so we could bring them indoors on the cold nights. Two of our caterpillars have already climbed up to the ceiling of their container, where they hang in a "J" shape. After they stay in a "J" position for a while, they molt their skin for the last time, then they start forming a chrysalis around them. It's a very neat thing to watch, so I will try to get pictures and video. :)

So things seemed to work out just right; I can continue my telling of the monarch life cycle, even if it is with a new set of caterpillars. ;) The two of ours are still hanging "J", and the third is happily eating his way to being a butterfly. Lord-willing, I will post some more pictures soon!

abby

{continue to part eight}