A second floor garden...

[harpo787]

In helping my mom with her rock/butterfly garden, I've decided to try and set something up at my own home. The only place to really do it is on my second floor balcolny. I've got plans to set up a cage, but that'll be revealed in time.

For now, this is just an account of what I've done thus far with a few pics and a bit of story.


1. I obtained a tropical milkweed so that I'd have both a source of nectar and a food source for the cats. I also obtained a rather large-leafed plant to provide additional shade for the cats, and hopefully a preferable place to become a pupa. I can't remember the name of the plant, perhaps someone can identify it in the pics.

[harpo787]

2. I then obtained 3 cats from my mom's garden, as her milkweeds were being overwhelmed. I figured 3 cats on one plant would be more than enough. One cat was probably 4th instar, the other two were 5th instars. The younger one disappeared very quickly, I believe it wandered off, as there appeared to be a trail of frass. Of course, it could have just fallen from the others....

I know I've heard that the cats will eat any part of the plant, and I sure have noticed that! In this pic, the cat who's a bit more hidden is eating one of the seed pods...the other has decided not to and is walking away.

[harpo787]

3. This next bit of story actually happened before I got the cats. When I brought the milkweed home, I discovered it had a nasty little aphid problem. I had mixed feelings about that...it's not nice to buy a plant with a pest problem, but then again, it also suggests that the nursery is not hosing the plant down with chemicals. So I obtained more ladybugs, gave most to mom and kept about a hundred or so for my plant. I let them loose, and a few days later that plant was bereft of aphids! A few ladybugs continue to hang around.

[harpo787]

4. So finally the aphids are gone. It appears that one of the cats is looking for a place to hook up J-style and start pupating (a new word?). I watched him for more than 24 hours (not in a row obviously!) and it just sort of sat there.

[harpo787]

5. About this time I noticed we've got a "replacement" of the cat who disappeared. An apparent hitchhiker from the nursery as an egg, we've got a cat who's probably 2nd instar. Look closely, you should be able to see it...kind of light colored.


6. After about 48 hours (I think...) finally my buddy has assumed the J. Oddly enough, 24 hours later and it was still in the same position. How long does the process take to go from wandering to find a place to becoming an actual pupa?!? At one point observing, a stiff wind blew, and the cat curled up even tighter in the J format.

[harpo787]

7. At about this time, a pupa I'd taken in from my mom's a few weeks back has hatched. Unfortunately, like an idiot, I had written it off for dead (it became almost white in color and was VERY cold to the touch). Well, I opened the closet door and there it was...a lovely male monarch looking rather pathetic in a plastic cage with nowhere to hang. Of course, his wings were a wrinkled mess, both of them leaning to the right. Also, his wings were somewhat tucked under her thorax. I brought both plants in to the outdoor closet. I figured I'd leave the door open for indirect sunlight, but more importantly, to give the J cat a break from the blustery wind, and to allow the butterfly a chance to get on a milkweed and drink. I may have screwed up his life, but whatever he has left, I'll pamper him as best I can.

[harpo787]

8. Leaving the plants in the closet, I decided to go buy more nectar plants so again, the butterfly could have more variety. I obtained a few pentas, lantanas, and got two more milkweeds for future generations. Upon my return, I decided to bring the butterfly out to the plants, give her a bit of daylight and a variety of plants to hang on to. I'd hate to wait for the winds to die down, and find out the next day that the butterfly died inside a closet. So I moved her out.

[harpo787]

9. I also checked on the J cat, and finally, it went pupa! Having put all the plants out, I decided to go to a movie. By the time I returned, the other cat, who had not yet gone J, had disappeared. Searched all over the terrace and couldn't find it. Also, the butterfly was gone. I like to think her wings healed and she flew off...

So that's it for now, but I'll update as much as I can.

[harpo787]

10. After yesterday's entry, I was unable to find the younger cat. I thought to myself "oh well, I'm down to the pupa". Did a bit more work on the structure which should be done soon. As I moved some furniture around, I found the runaway mentioned in the previous entry! It ALMOST got completely off the porch, but didn't quite make it.



11. If you look in this next shot, you can see that the attachment the cat's "rear-end" is now translucent! Looking closely, I could see that from the head to the end of the J bend, there was still some movement...the cat almost looked like it was chanting!

[harpo787]

12. I stepped out to get some more things to build the structure, and when I returned...my buddy had become a pupa. I wonder if I should remove it from there and transfer it somewhere more safe. If a VERY strong wind shows up and detaches the pupa, it'll either blow on to the terrace, or it will fall 2 stories!

[harpo787]

13. The structure is complete! When my friend and I first started, it was very rickety and uneven at the end of day one. It looked like some bizarro attempt at creating MC Escher's mobius strip or that cool waterfall one he did.

[harpo787]

14. Not bad for two guys who have never put anything together in their lives (except those somewhat preassembled desks from places like Office Depot) and without any REAL tools. At this point it's only several planks of 2"x2"x8' and 2"x2"x4' wood, nails and hammer.

But as you can see, it wasn't very stable. We went out and obtained screws (SOOO much better than nails) and did some reinforcing in the corners and "joints" of the cage using "L" and "T" shaped metal to give it stability. Then, we stapled down some serious screening, and hauled up to the second floor. And here is the result:

[Pamela Moresby]

I have a plant in my backgarden that looks exactly like the one in the picture. Someone said it was a South African swanplant, but Im not sure. The butterflys and caterpillars love it.

Pamela
from NZ

[harpo787]

How do you mean the caterpillars love it? Simply as a place to pupate, or do they actually use it as a food source too?

I happened across the plant again at the store I originally purchased it at...it's called "philodendron monstera". When I Google some images of it, it seems that the leaf usually has "slashes" in the leaves. On my plant, if there are 10 leaves, 2 of them have these slashes. Perhaps it's just a young plant....

[Teresa]

Looks alot like my flight cage. Good job

[Pamela Moresby]

The caterpillars can eat this plant and the butterflys drink the nectar of this plant.

thanks for the name of the plant.

Pamela
from NZ

[harpo787]

Pam: thanks! My first butterfly has "hatched", and I'll have an update sometime today. I've got two more pupa; one is a day or two behind the hatchling, the other just went into pupa in the last 24 hours or so...and the last cat in there was climbing up the screen, so I'm assuming that it's ready to pupate too. What are the odds that they'll ALL be female (the first is female)?

Oh...the monarchs will eat the philodendron leaves? I was not aware of that...and I ALMOST forgot that it flowers. It's a rather odd looking flower, like a long stem and then one gargantuan type petal (pedal?) that sort of almost wraps around it like a coat. Ah, the hell with descriptions, here's a pic of the flower (not MY pic):

[Jim]

Oh...the monarchs will eat the philodendron leaves? I was not aware of that...

I think there's a little confusion here. Asclepias physocarpa (swan plant, balloon plant, milkweed tree) is indeed a milkweed with narrow leaves similar to the Tropical milkweed in your cage photo above (the plant on the left). Milkweed is the exclusive hostplant for monarch caterpillars; the plant on the right is a philodendron and monarchs will not eat its leaves.

Hope this clears things up a bit!

[harpo787]

Well, it's been a series of ups and downs, unfortunately seeming to end on the downs.

The ups: I had two pupae hatch, first a girl, and two days or so later, a boy. However, this morning the girl was just about dead. On the floor and on her side. I put her on some flowers and she drank a bit, but couldn't hold on for very long on the flowers. If I put her down on the ground or on the screen, she couldn't hold on/stand up.

I ran out to the store and bought Juicy Juice, but by the time I got back she was no longer drinking. I tried all I could, but no luck. I put her in the freezer.

The boy, who only hatched yesterday, is already slow and lethargic. I put him in a small critter container of sorts with a cap full of Juicy Juice, and after a minute or two of flying like mad in there (no room) he settled down and drank the juice. Ever since then though, it's been all downhill. Currently he doesn't seem to want to drink but enjoys grabbing and holding on to whatever. I tried get him to fly off, he doesn't seem to want to.

Any ideas what has gone wrong? I've not given up yet, that's for sure. I've put too much money and effort into this to be put off by a few back steps.

[psi_chemie]

Hey don't worry about it. Keep trying, it's really cool when you get good results and you have things figured out. Thanks for all the pics.

It's worth it. You've obviously put a lot of effort into it. I think you have an impressive setup. Many of us haven't even started to raise monarchs yet this year, so you're ahead of the game. I only raised 8 or 9 last year and it was a lot of effort. This year I'm hoping to raise and tag a lot more. Sometimes lame things happen to the larvae/adults at any stage, not your fault. I feel I've been very lucky with no casualties so far, but I do expect them.

We'll see how things go. It's just about to get started with the season up here.. my pets are coming back! Who needs dogs and cats :)

[harpo787]

my pets are coming back! Who needs dogs and cats

How DARE you! I am offended by your remark! I have TWO cats (felines!) and they are wonderful!

I do wonder though...is it possible that the structure is too big? Or that it might be too hot? Perhaps if I elevate the plants so that they're start at about 4 feet off the ground...as opposed to ground level...since any butterfly currently has about 6 feet of room to fly with no plant in sight.

I'll check in the morning, but I do believe the young man butterfly has passed on. He's no longer holding on to the screen etc., and is falling over all the time (legs have curled in). A bit depressing, but not as bad as the first death...now it's almost expected. I've got one more pupa that will hatch sometime this week (I think).

Perhaps I need to obtain far more cats in there, so that they'll emerge in the same day period and stand a chance to mate. It seems if they stay in the cage for more than two days, they lose the will to feed/fly. They just cling to the screen and wait to die....

[harpo787]

Well, the last of my pupa hatched today. It was another boy...and it would have been a perfect set up if the other two had lived. It would have been two boys to the one girl. I should have been able to have eggs laid easily! I wonder how long it takes from hatching for monarchs to mate and begin laying eggs.

Well, anyways, after he emerged this morning, I let him spend the day in the cage getting warmed up. I came in and tried to feed him some Juicy Juice (Strawberry Banana flavor) but he was having none of it. He just wanted to hang on the structure. I decided then and there (perhaps about 6-7 hours after hatching) to let him go free. I didn't want to see another monarch die. So off he went!

[MILW]

That's a nice looking cage. I've done all my raising indoors, in various size aquaria and plastic bins. In one of your photos, the sun is shining in- is the balcony facing south? Have you thought of putting a thermometer in the cage to see how hot it is getting? Just curious also, do you provide any open source of water within the cage? Could be as simple as a damp paper towel on a plate... Most of my insect losses seem to be from dehydration, even if it is not particularly hot (lightning bugs, various beetles, etc.).

I hope your next batch of Monarchs fares well!
cheers- Scott

[harpo787]

Where the heck were you a week or so ago when I asked "do butterflies need a separate source of water or do they get enough from nectar?!?!

Too funny...no, the only source of water I had present was what I was watering the plants with. Next time I get more cats I'll be sure to be ready with a source of water. Would a damp paper towel be enough or should I have a bowl or something of the nature? I was actually looking around in a petstore at the various things and saw some sort of water dish for reptiles or some such...very shallow but wide...wondered if that would be a good thing.

The cage faces to the east and gets direct sun exposure from sunrise until around noon or 1pm. The thermometer is also a very good idea. The cage is collapsable (the walls are two pieces...two sides hinged attached to each other with hook and eyes). It was made collapsable for the hurricane season so that I could bring it indoors.

[Lita]

I know it's months later, but I just came across this thread. That's a really nice cage you've built there. Are you still using it?