HELP! Butterfly has weird wings and won't leave us!

[thegartermaker]

My son found a chrysalis about 3 weeks ago at school and brought it home. We carefully tied a piece of thread around the stick that it was attached to and hung it up to a tree outside. It hatched yesterday. After the butterfly emerged and fell to the ground, we ever so gently picked it up with a garden shovel and placed her (I think it's a girl - I'm not sure), on a rose bush near our front door. She hasn't left and her wings still look "folded" like they did when she first popped out. I don't know what to do - I haven't seen her eat - I don't have any milkweed in my garden, I don't know what else to do for her. My son is devastated and we're all pulling for "Mary" ... any advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated!

[Jim]

It looks as if the monarch wasn't able to hang upside down immediately after emergence - the first ten minutes or so after emergence are critical.

You do not need milkweed to feed monarch adults - they will feed on any number of nectar sources, including artificial ones. We have a Butterfly Nectar Kit available, but in a pinch we have found that Juicy-Juice or Gatorade will work quite well (place it in a shallow dish with a sponge). Also, monarchs do not need to feed for the first 24-48 hours after emergence. If you place the butterfly on a nectar source and it does not extend its proboscis it is just not hungry.

Finally, it appears that "Mary" might be "Martin" instead...males have a black "pouch" on each hindwing that seems to be visible in your photo above.

Male:


Female:


More info is available at http://www.monarchwatch.org/biology/sexing.htm

Hope this helps!

[thegartermaker]

She's a HE? I guess Martin it is then. LOL! Won't my son be surprised when he gets home ...

Thank you for the wonderful information. I have just purchased the nectar kit, and I also tried giving "Martin" some honey mixed with water that was soaked into a Q-tip, and he ate it. I feel horrible for the little guy, and I wish that there was something that I could do for him. He doesn't walk very well, he only will hang upside down on the string (like in the picture). Is there anything else that I can do for him to make his life with us a little more comfortable?

[Jim]

I'd recommend you keep doing what you are doing and use this as an opportunity to learn more about monarchs. Another possible explanation of the deformed wings is disease/parasitism. Ophryocystis elektroscirrha is a protozoan parasite that is quite common in Florida - I believe it was first described in monarchs and queens there sometime before I was born Heavily infected adults are typically too weak to cling to their pupal case and properly inflate their wings.

If you have a 30-40x microscope handy you can test "Martin" for these spores pretty easily (note: O.e. is not harmful to humans):

How to test for parasites in your monarchs

Alternatively, you can participate in "Project MonarchHealth" and send in a sample to be analyzed for you.

That site has lots of great information and photos - be sure to check it out!

Whether or not you determine that your monarch is infected, it is always a good idea to sterilize all equipment before reuse. Good Luck!

[thegartermaker]

Thank you for the wealth of information. I did not realize that butterflies could get sick too! I have emailed group and asked for a kit so that we can send a sample swab of our buddy to them. Since he is the only butterfly here, I don't intend to destroy him - like they suggested. We will try to keep him as happy as we can until he dies his natural butterfly death and then we'll do the whole "funeral" thing.

Thanks again for all of your help!! I have learned so much from this website already, and I hope to learn even more!