NEXT year...

[mich]

It's been another learning year. I raised 373 healthy butterflies from eggs. In mid-July I had several cats and chrysalis go bad from what looked like a bacterial problem. They were wild caught cats. In late July, I found 90 cats in the 2-5 instar groups and kept them separate so I could monitor them. Of those 90, only 23 eclosed. One was so small I didn't think she'd be able to fly - she did two days after eclosing (Yay!). One eclosed with wings so badly shredded that I euthanized her immediately. And one boy we kept as a pet because his right wings were half the size of his left wings. He died after a week in spite of our efforts. And then, of course, there was Pan, the cat who wouldn't eat and finally died almost a week ago at the ripe old age of 1 month. And - of those those ill-fated 90 - the bulk of them were parasitized, but I believe I actually cooked a few of them. Thinking it would help them to be in the warm sun, I think maybe they didn't eclose due to my ignorance. I still have one 3rd instar cat I found last week and four wild cat chrysalis that should be eclosing by mid-week - I've promised them I won't bake them.

One of the things I take away from almost every post on this forum is how everyone feels so responsible and - many times - guilty when something goes wrong with the life process. It is difficult to watch any critter suffer and struggle; I have to keep reminding myself that we are able to help - just not quite as much as we'd like. So, NEXT year, I'm putting in alot more milkweed. And my plan is to concentrate on egg collection. My husband pointed out that bringing in wild cats is sort of counter productive since their survival rate is so much lower - and emotionally draining. That sounds like a good plan, and I'm willing to agree to it now. We'll see what happens when next year rolls around.

Thank you, Mona, and everyone who has shared their experiences.

[NickiM]

The survival rate of wildborn cats may be lower than that of the eggs you hatch, but it's still much higher than if they're left outside. You gave them the best possible chance of living, and all 90 might have died if you hadn't brought them in.

[dandjtaylor]

I, too, had a couple of bad runs with wild eggs and cats this season. Unlike the "black death" that I had seen in the past, I had at least over a hundred that turned reddish maroon, sometimes as a cat, other times as a chrysalis. Then they would just dissolve into a red puddle. I segregated my last 75 wild cats and eggs in freshly bleached containers, using rubber gloves, being very careful and still about 25 turned out with what I am now calling "red death".

Fortunately, I tagged over 2 dozen wild 'flies last week or I would have had tags remaining.

I have 4 healthy chrysalis dragging up behind and one "keeper" that had tilted wings and cannot fly more than 5 feet. He is inside in my butterfly tent with two vases of zinnias to slurp on all day. He seems very happy.

Total for 2010 was less than expected due to the "red death", but still an improvement on last year:

694 tagged
880 total reared

[mich]

Red death! Oy - that sounds nasty. But you certainly have stamina; where do you find time to raise so many? And you must clear a whole field of milkweed! Hmmm. Maybe if I collect all the eggs AND wildcats AND find another good source of milkweed, I could aim for 800...

The last four wild chrysalis eclosed and were big, beautiful and healthy; I have one scheduled to eclose this Friday and I'm optimistic he/she (probably he - most have been this year) will have good enough weather to get out of Illinois. I'll rather miss the little buggers.

The egg only idea sounds good on the heels of so many deaths, but I suspect there's no way I could pass up a crawler outside. My guess is that I'll ammend my resolution...