When is it too late to migrate?

[Superwanda]

I live in Winnipeg and we have had a cooler September than usual. I have a Monarch Waystation and was watching two caterpillars form chrysalis a few weeks ago. The leaves that they formed their chrysalis dropped off so I brought them inside and they are now developing -- one is almost ready to emerge as a butterfly. We are not experiencing freezing temperatures yet but it is going down to 1-3 degrees C at night and warming up to 10-15 degrees C during the day. Is that warm enough for these monarchs to make it -- should I feed them before releasing them outside to give them some energy for their journey? I gues not all of them make it but I was just trying to give them the best chance possible.

[Mona Miller]

That's 34-38 degrees at night, then 50-60 during the day. As long as you don't have a wet, hard freeze for several days, they will be able to get out of town. It is a good idea to feed them. If gatorade is available, that is a good choice. If not, I'm reading a very diluted honey or sugar solution.

[Paul Cherubini]

It's not quite too late yet, but will be a week or two from now. In 1991 I shipped 300 tagged California fall migrants to Miles City, Montana (eastern Montana) for release on about Sept. 17 and one was recaptured at the El Rosario overwintering site in Michoacan (central Mexico).

And in 1972 I shipped many hundreds of tagged California fall migrants to Towner, North Dakota (northern North Dakota) on about Sept. 18 and three were recaptured en route to Mexico; one at Omaha, Nebraska, one at Pratt Kansas and one at Dwight, Kansas.

[Superwanda]

Thanks for the advice!

Yes - we have gatorade here. I also have some purple cone flower and blazingstar still in bloom in my garden so hopefully they would feed on that. I have heard they also would take sliced fruit like cantaloupe?

Paul - How do you transport them by mail? Was that part of a study?

My in-laws travel to Texas for the Winter so I wondered if they could give them a lift if it did get frosty here but don't know if this would be interfering too much in their natural cycle -- although I guess the reason they are having difficulties is because of our interference to begin with.

[Superwanda]

Also -- what is the recommended honey:water ratio? 20%honey:80%water?

[Superwanda]

Gosh -- so I kept him in one night due to freezing temperatures, fed him honey water and released him on a relatively warm day and the next morning I found his wing on the lawn close to where I had released him. I guess someone ate him

I have another male who has just emerged so I will do the same thing. Here I was hoping he'd make it all the way to Mexico and he couldn't even make it out of my yard. It's tough out there in the natural world!

[Mona Miller]

Preying Mantis will do that.

[applestar]

Ohhh... that's too bad.

Well, you did your part. Nature will do theirs. If it was a praying mantis, the female (if it was a female) may now have the necessary reserves to lay a good cluster of eggs. An ooth (I learned this year that that's what praying mantis egg case is called and use the word as often as I can ) of praying mantis is better for the humans since they will eat many pest bugs (Sacrilege, I know ).

Good luck to your other male Monarch!

I thought I was all done finding eggs or caterpillars, but found another 3rd instar Monarch caterpillar outside yesterday. On the other hand, today, I found our first BROWN/TAN colored Black Swallowtail chrysalis among the ones I'm raising inside. In my experience, the brown ones overwinter, but the green ones eclose this season. Maybe they know something....