Deformed Wing, Negative OE

[ilsa]

This male eclosed yesterday. I wasn't exactly surprised that his wing came out deformed; his chrysalis had a "rough" spot in about that area.

I tested him for OE spores. Negative. Clean as a whistle. So, what do I do with him? He hasn't eaten any Gatorade yet.

Ilsa

[Mona Miller]

Sometimes, they will not eat for 2-3 days after they emerge. I think this is nature's way of providing for them until they find nectar sources. Can he fly? I do mist the containers with water after they dry their wings. Not a good idea to spray them while they are still wet. The water on the net containers allow them to get some needed water.

You could try hand feeding, here is a video by Dr. Fink (Lincoln Brower's wife).
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarc ... gFink.html

I wish I was here earlier to answer your questions, but I have a job. It is a job that I love. I job coach/mentor a young man of 22 that has Down's Syndrome. Just like humans, not all butterflies are born perfect.

[ilsa]

Mona,

No, he can't fly. When he tries, he just flops over onto the tops of his wings.

I do understand that they might not eat for a couple of days. I sure wish I had some live, blooming milkweed!

Ilsa

[Mona Miller]

If you can watch the video and unroll the proboscis, then he should eat. They have beautiful blooming tropical and africian at Black Hill Regional Park in their front beds. I was there on 9/5 at the Monarch Fiesta. I go to help my naturalist friend Denise Gibbs.

Some people take a q-tip and soak that in gatorade and then touch it to the proboscis.

[ilsa]

Mona, I really appreciate your advice and teaching, and your love for the butterflies.

I can't just go dig up Black Hill's milkweed. I do have some young tropical milkweed, but it's not blooming yet and probably won't this season. I let my caterpillars eat all of the tropical blooms I had. Those plants got stripped, and they're growing back, but I don't expect them to be making any blooms this season, either.

So, let's say he starts eating (which is my expectation). Do I keep feeding him and let him crawl around in a cage until he dies? Would he live for days? Weeks? Months?

This is the un-fun part of butterfly rearing.

By the way, at my first session with my physical therapist this past Monday (broken finger), when I told him that I had just released over 50 Monarch butterflies, he told me he and his family had seen the Monarchs at Black Hill the day you released them there. Small world, eh?

Do you know Lynn Lee mentioned in this article about a painted lady & monarch release in Gaithersburg last Saturday? => http://www.gazette.net/stories/09162009 ... 2521.shtml

[Mona Miller]

I don't know Lynn Lee, but I have released butterflies at such events for some of the people I know. I raise a lot of butterflies and like sharing them with others.

I hate to see people discouraged by having to deal with butterflies that are sick, but that's what happens when you raise so many. Not all of them will make it--that's a fact of life. I take these problems with the butterflies as a learning experience. I try to share my experiences and knowledge with others.

[ilsa]

Mona,

I'm not discouraged. Rather, I'm feeling irresponsible. If I had not meddled, these deformed and infected butterflies may not have survived the larval stage. Granted, some healthy ones would also not have survived, but aren't we increasing the OE risk by helping infected caterpillars to survive, especially if we don't test each resulting adult before making the release decision?

Do you know if any research is being done on herbs that, if ingested by infected caterpillars, would kill the parasites in their gut? If such herbal remedies could be discovered, the milkweed could be treated with it.

Ilsa

[Mona Miller]

The Project Monarch Health has a section on "Raising Monarchs" that has some suggestions.

[BlizzardNole]

ilsa:

I have a male monarch that hatched about a week and a half ago with his right wings a little crumpled and also smaller than the left side. His C had fallen and was flattened on one side.

He can fly, but it's irregular and he even will do a loop sometimes. We decided to keep him -- my little girl named him "Dib" after her favorite dessert, Dibs LOL. To feed him I just give him a new butterfly bush stalk and a couple cut zinnias each day, and keep gatorade-soaked cottonballs in a little dish. His favorite by far is the butterfly bush.

He's going with us to visit my folks in Calvert County this weekend -- he's gonna love flying all over their big screened-in porch.

[ilsa]

The Project Monarch Health has a section on "Raising Monarchs" that has some suggestions.

I found this page: http://www.uga.edu/monarchparasites/rea ... index.html

But I don't see anything there about herbal solutions that could be applied to milkweed leaves and which, when ingested, would kill the parasites in the caterpillar's gut. Is there some other page that addresses herbs?

[ilsa]

iI have a male monarch that hatched about a week and a half ago with his right wings a little crumpled and also smaller than the left side. His C had fallen and was flattened on one side.

He can fly, but it's irregular and he even will do a loop sometimes. We decided to keep him.

BlizzardNole,

Good for you! I have no choice but to keep my handicapped butterfly, too. I've been putting him in Monarch day-care outside in my patio garden. He's not interested in my zinnias, but he loves the sedum. I bring him indoors at night. How long do you suppose they can live like this?

Ilsa

[BlizzardNole]

ilsa, sorry I didn't get back sooner -- if you keep take good care of them they should live out their approx. four-week lifespan. I had three disabled ones: Dib, another male with a malformed left/upper wing (named "Rocky") and a female with short, floppy antennae and a short proboscis ("Topia"). She had to be put down yesterday because she was not feeding (proboscis non-functional?)

So I have Dib and Rocky now in a 2-foot by 2-foot wide by 3-foot tall butterfly castle with a potted plant and cut flowers, plus some gatorade soaked cotton balls.

[Mona Miller]

I had a teacher friend who kept hers for about three months. She fed him Juicy, Juicy. Called him Monty. Took him back and forth to school. The kids loved him. She even had to get a butterfly sitter for him when she had to go out-of-town.

[ilsa]

I had a teacher friend who kept hers for about three months. She fed him Juicy, Juicy. Called him Monty. Took him back and forth to school. The kids loved him. She even had to get a butterfly sitter for him when she had to go out-of-town.

Oh, this is encouraging, Mona! 3 months! I wonder if it was of the last generation of the season. I'm assuming mine is, so I wonder if he could live longer. What do you think? I've never heard of "Juicy, Juicy", but I could look for it. I was thinking of looking into what it would take to grow blossoming nectar plants indoors. I do have a reliable source of light.

BlizzardNole, I'm so sorry to hear about Topia. I have some of those 2'x2'x3' butterfly "castles", so I can give my boy one. I just need a flowering potted plant. RIght now, I'm still just putting the boy out in my tiny garden, where he can crawl around all day and eat lantana and sedum. If he's going to live for months, though, I'm going to need some plants that will continue to flower indoors.

Have you actually seen the butterflies feeding in the cotton balls?

It's good to know this has been done successfully by others before.

[BlizzardNole]

I have to put him on the cotton balls to get him to feed, but I've seen him get on the flowers by himself. We lost "Dib" but still have Rocky.

I think the juice is called "Juicy Juice" -- they have it a the grocery stores. It's 100% juice.

[Mona Miller]

http://www.juicyjuice.com/Products/Juic ... Juice.aspx
Juicy, Juice

I think gatorade is better for them. The University of Florida uses in their rare butterfly breeding.

[ilsa]

We lost "Dib" but still have Rocky.

Sorry to hear that. My male still seems to be enjoying his days crawling around on my lantana and sedum.

Do they need both nectar and water? I've been watering down the garden every so often, in case he wants to drink from a tiny pool that forms on a leaf.

[Mona Miller]

I think they do need both nectar and water especially if they are caged inside.