Help Please! The Chrysalis fell off the container lid.

[Heather]

Hi, I am hoping someone can help me. I have a chrysalis that formed yesterday afternoon. During the night it fell off of the top of the lid and landed on the milkweed plant in the container. I am not sure if it is alive. It is still green. I don't know what to do. I cannot figure a way to reattach it to something so that it is hanging. Please help me if you know what to do. I don't want to kill it.
Thanks

[Pat]

If it's loose, you don't have to re-attach it to anything (unless you want to tie some dental floss around the cremaster and tie that to any convenient shady stick). Just put it in any kind of container with some netting, bridal veil material, or whatever that the butterfly will be able to crawl up on when it emerges from the chrysalis next week. The Dixie cup-with-screen arrangement Jim posted looks simple to make and effective. See the pictures at the thread "new cocoon just fell - need help".
Good luck ~

[monarchmama]

Heather:

Chrysalis are very fragile, especially if they are newly formed, so when you try to do any rescue/repair work on them make sure you are working above a padded surface and handle the chrysalis as little as possible to prevent further damage.

If there is still a black stem or post on the top of the chrysalis, I double knot a piece of sewing thread around the stem/post and tie the string to a long stick or the screen at top of tank. I have also taped the thread to the top if the tank has a solid cover. Just make sure there is enough clearance below and around where it is hanging so that the newly emerged butterfly will have room to expand it's wings .

If there is not enough stem to tie the string to I have had success with a piece of string that I attatch to the top of chrysalis where the black post would be, using just a tiny bit of super glue.

If the chrysalis is not split or damaged or leaking, it should be ok once you do this.

Good luck!

[Heather]

I just saw that post. It is helpful. Thanks for replying.
Heather

[ohiomonarchmama]

I had the same thing happen to me, and when I tried to knot the thread on the cremaster, it went through the cremaster and was impossible to hang. First of all, if you are going to try this anyway, make sure the chrysalis has had time to fully form and no longer "sticky". Personally, I think it is best to leave it alone on the leaf and use the clear plastic cup lined with screen over it until it hatches (emergence chamber suggested by Jim & used by U of Kansas). I tried it for the first time this year and it worked fine, but I made sure to transfer the butterflies to a larger container or release them after their wings had time to dry.
Just a warning...I had a chrysalis (blackish and showing wings) in an awkward spot and decided to move it to the emergence chamber. I was being VERY careful and had done it successfully before, gently teasing the silk button off the container with the end of a safety pin. This time the cremaster and small amount of clear chrysalis split from the rest of the chrysalis and it fell. I estimate the butterfly was a day or two from being ready to emerge. The chysalis partially split and a leg was moving, so I thought trying to get it out and let it hang so wings could expand and not dry out might be the best thing to do. It didn't work...the legs were too weak to hang on. There was nothing I could do...it would try to grab with its legs with no luck. The next day, the fluid released from its body, but not into the wings. Now I am hesitant to move any more to the emergence chamber, but it may be that it had something wrong with it anyway. In the previous batch I'd had another one that fell and one that never formed the cremaster correctly. Most of them were OK, though.
Does anyone know...do caterpillars and butterflies feel any pain when they are going through these things? They seem to be such complicated creatures, I can imagine it possible that they do, but I hope not. Good luck with your chrysalis...I think it will be fine. Keep us posted!

[Heather]

Thanks for your story and information. So far, we did not touch the chrysalis very much after it fell off the lid. Then we waited until it had been a chrysalis for 24 hours before we put it onto paper towel and I put a medium sized wire strainer over the whole thing. I think the wire of the strainer will work for the butterfly to hold on to-- I hope. It is pretty much like screen, just metal. The color of the chrysalis looks very normal. It is that green color that isn't too bright, and the gold accents still look good. We have our fingers crossed. My eight-year-old son and I have never had this much turmoil when we have done this in the past. I guess we weren't experienced enough to have witnessed anything out of the ordinary until now. I am glad to hear that a monarch can "hatch" without the chrysalis hanging.

I'll keep posting the progress of my situation.

[ohiomonarchmama]

Good morning, Heather!
It sounds like you are doing the right thing...never thought of a strainer! Great idea, I'd just be sure it's tall enough so the wings can hang without touching the bottom, which would make them dry "curved". I measured the height of the cup Jim suggested (10 oz clear plastic), and mine was 4 inches and I had the screen all the way to the top. It worked fine, but I wouldn't want it any shorter. Also, be sure the wire "wall" is close to the chrysalis so it will be easy for your baby to get on right away. I still haven't managed to see one hatch out in the chamber and how soon they get up the side, but I feel like I should be there in case it doesn't crawl up to hang. If they don't hang, the wings will be deformed. Try to get it on the strainer or a piece of netting that you can suspend, or even a window screen so it can hang. Although they seem pretty weak when they first emerge, they are trying to grab on with their feet, so find anything you can that it can grip (that's the trouble with slippery plastic or glass containers if they fail to grip the empty chrysalis). When you do any of your "maneuvers", make sure you're working directly above a soft surface in case it should fall. It can be un-nerving at times, but the miracle of watching the whole metamorphosis has me hooked, and I just love to share it! Best of luck to you and your son! Julie

[Farfalla]

Heather,
I agree with ohiomonarchmomma.....A strainer is an awesome idea!!!! I'll have to pick some up in the dollar store for just such an emergency!
Speaking of the dollar store..Do you guys remember those picnic food covers? They fold like an umbrella and are made of mesh..I bet those would work, too!
Let us know what happens with your butterfly. Monarch watch lets them emerge like that all the time.. so it should be just fine.
Ohio,
I wonder about pain,too. Whenever we have had one that was to malformed to live any kind of a quality life we put it in a paper bag ..then into the fridge...then the freezer. I always feel like the cold will slowly put them to sleep and then they will just shut down .
Best,
Hope

[ohiomonarchmama]

Weird to think about butterfly euthanasia, but your method sounds reasonably "painless" if that is an issue.
Happy news to report...I thought I had another "partial" pupation in progress today, but I was just patient and it finally did get it's skin off. I am keeping it labelled so I remember, just to see if the butterfly is normal. The chrysalis looks OK, so I will keep my fingers crossed.

[Heather]

I said I would follow up. Unfortunately, the chrysalis started turning black. It turned all the way black after a couple of days. I didn't think it would die. We were pretty disappointed.

[ohiomonarchmama]

Did it turn black within a day from falling? What happens when they are injured (or at least from my experience) is a black fluid will eventually build up in the chrysalis or ooze out. If it landed on the leaf, I was hopeful it wouldn' t have harmed it unless initially "laying" caused a part of chrysalis not to fully form.

If it has been green all along and then turning black now, be patient because that is what happens naturally and it's normal. It takes awhile for the transformation and I actually had one today that looked really dark and I didn't think was OK, but it hatched out fine. I would isolate it from any others and still keep an eye on it. If it formed on the 7th, it probably wouldn't emerge until the 18th or 19th anyway, so I'd just keep it until then unless it starts oozing. They look really weird when they are first starting to turn from green to black, so it would be easy to think something is wrong.

Oh, now I reread your post...I guess you said it turned black a couple days after falling. That's another story...you are probably right about it not making it, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to save it and see. I am keeping what I wrote because I got tricked and I've been doing this awhile now...just to show you sometimes it's best not to give up too soon! Good luck! ..."OHmama"