My Rearing Setup

[applestar]

Mona asked me to describe the way I raise the Monarchs. I don't know if this is a good way. I just know it works for me.

Like many of us here, I grow a Monarch Waystation garden.
I collect the eggs by cutting them out in a triangle. I tried collecting just the eggs last year, but over all, I found it easier and perhaps less tedious to collect the eggs attached to the leaves. When I have older cats to feed, I'll clip the entire leaves and trim out the eggs later -- in this case, I cut a piece of the main leaf vein with the triangle. In the process, I also collect any caterpillars I find.

I give the milk weed leaves a brief rinse at the outside faucet, then bring them inside for a thorough rinse in the sink with a pan in it, in case I accidentally knock off a cat. The cats and eggs are unceremoniously dunked and swished in the pan of water. I just use plain tap water. Hoping the chlorinated water will serve some purpose.

The leaves with eggs are cut out in triangles at this point. All the leaves are laid out on paper towels to blot, though typically not dry all the way. I find the leaves last longer without drying out this way. Extra leaves and stems are kept in a container of filtered water. I usually collect enough for a feeding plus a little extra.

I re=purpose containers for the eggs and cats. They have clear lids at the very least. Holes punched on the lid and sometimes on the bottom. The bottoms are lined with at least 2 layers sometimes more of Bounty paper towels. After daily cleaning and re-lining with clean paper, cats clinging to old stems and leaf veins go in, then Fresh leaves and stems are leaned against the sides or elevating with the stems and veins. Frass and old leaves go in a brown paper bag to be put in the compost pile later.

I have 5 different containers/cages. Containers for Eggs/1sts, 2nds/3rds, and 3rd/4th, and cages for 4th/5th and day old butterflies. They are moved up as they grow, and butterflies that eclosed are gently transferred to the Butterfly cage the same night so as not to get mixed up with newly eclosed butterflies in the morning. Last year, we had a two-person screen tent out in the garden for the Butterflies. But we didn't do that this year.

The containers are kept inside the house by a SE facing window, with the A/C vent blocked. I adjust the blinds during the morning hours so direct sun is not too strong, and use a yellow sheer gauze curtain to filter the sun/light.

If there is a premature death, I remove everything, wash with plain hot water, then spray with Hydrogen Peroxide, which is simply wiped dry. The cages (both pop up laundry baskets) are sprayed then scrubbed on both sides with a paper towel.

As of this evening, the total chrysalis count is 72 - 3 chrysalis deaths = 69 for adjusted total . And total eclosed butterfy count is 39, with 32 already tagged and released. A modest number, to be sure, compared to many, but at this point, we're sure to exceed our total from last year.

I'll post some photos later on.

[applestar]

Eggs/1st instars:

2nd/3rd instars (there was a cat clinging to the paper towel. I had to cut the PT out with the cat on it to move it. ):

3rd/4th instars (I used to keep them in a large clear pretzel container, but things are slowing down now. Tonight, there is only one occupant. )

4th/5th instars/Chrysalis:


I put a round sticker on top when the cat forms a J, and color code so I have some idea of when they went into J. When successful chrysalis is formed, I mark the number and date and maintain a "map" of the sticker/data on a sheet of paper on a clipboard.

Day old butterflies, tagged and ready to be released :

Here's the entire Monarch Project station.

Right now there are a lot of isolation cups because I'm finding 4th and 5th instars:

Iffy chrysalises are isolated:

Iffy cats are also isolated. This one had black blotches... and sure 'nuff it was NPV.


We're also raising Black Swallowtails:

And here's a Tobacco Hornworm caterpillar, apparently pupating:

Silver Spotted Skippers from the Edamame/Soybean:

Pupated, silking between two leaves:

-- after taking these photos, I cut out the pupae with plenty of leaves around, and taped them to the top of the Black Swallowtail cage

[Summerinx]

Can cats hold their breaths? I was wondering what happens when you're rinsing them.

[David Calhoun]

I am so glad to see your setup. I thought that maybe I was the only person in the country with a house decorated with all variety of starbucks cups, soft drink cups, and anything else I could scrounge up that has a lid. And Summerinx, their metabolic rate is so low that couldn't possibly drown in just a couple minutes.

[Mona Miller]

Applestar,

Great setup. You are basically doing what the rest of us are doing.

[applestar]

Thanks, Mona. I think you're right. Because of the almost mass production/cost and time efficient system needed to care for larger numbers, we probably all settle down -- after the initial flurry of experimentation and trying to do everything "RIGHT" -- to a pretty basic common formula.

I said in another post that
" Purpose of rinsing is to remove more macro organisms like aphids and spores, as well as a thorough visual inspection of both sides of the leaves for eggs (both Monarch and others), silked on spiders and other bugs "

Today, as I was rinsing the milkweed, I was composing in my mind what to write: "I guess the migration is REALLY underway. I didn't find a single egg or cat on the milkweed I gethered today. I wonder if this means we're going to get an early frost because I'm pretty sure we were still collecting eggs until at least 2nd week of Sept.... "
...then I looked down at the stack of leaves I was about to blot dry, and on the top-most leaf, there it was! an egg! I think this was the leaf that was covered in aphids and I swiped them off as I was rinsing/washing the leaves both outside and inside. I triangle trimmed the leaf with the egg on it, then I flipped through the handful of leaves I was about to go feed the big cats with, not expecting to find anything, but just out of habit after finding an egg... And found a just hatching black egg.

[Mona Miller]

Some times the female Monarch does a great job of hiding them on the leaves so they are harder to find. I'm still getting eggs here--I'm zone 7A. My female monarch with the wing fix is still laying. Another who's wings are about half gone, still laying.

[NickiM]

I'm in Zone 5 and had an egg hatch just yesterday.

[Mona Miller]

Still laying as of yesterday. They'll keep doing this until the frost kills them and the plants that they use.

[applestar]

...and I spoke way too soon also, because today, we had two females ovipositing away!
I probably collected a dozen or more. I also found several newly hatched babies.

Today, because we held off releasing yesterday, we had 7 butterflies to release (2 needed wing repairs, one due to a 1/4" hole in her wing --probably encounter with a 5th instar nibbler ), 4 from yesterday to tag and 7 more eclosed today... Plus one Black Swallowtail eclosed. -- 19 butterflies in the house at one time!