Unexpected visitor

[Judy Seeley]

I need help with an old mystery. About 30 years ago, when we were living near Chicago, Il. a Monarch butterfly showed up in our 6-year old daughter's bedroom. It was December or January, clearly too cold and snowy a time of year for a Monarch to be out. Our daughter had apparently brought in a pupa from the yard, and then forgotten about it. It was far to cold to release the butterfly, so we fed and kept it as best we could for about a month, before it died. We were enchanted by this beautiful unexpected visitor, but distressed that its life cycle was disrupted.

I am a storyteller and would like to include this event in a story I am writing for a program to use at libraries this summer during their reading program titled Catch the Reading Bug. My question is, how could the pupa have lasted long enough to have the adult emerge in December or January? After 30 years, my memory of the actual month the butterfly showed up may be fuzzy. However, we all remember that it was below freezing and it was way too cold for a butterfly.

Does temperature affect the development of the egg, caterpillar, and pupa? Can a pupa overwinter? I would appreciate any information or suggestions you can give that would explain our mystery.

Thanks,
Judy, Storyteller

[Mona Miller]

The time of year she brought it in it was cold outside too? It would have slowed down the development of the Monarch. Temperature does affect the cycle. Normally, it takes about 3-5 days for the egg to hatch, 7-14 days for the caterpillar stage, 7-14 for the pupa to eclose. It can take as long as 8 weeks or more to go through their cycle if they are subjected to cold temperatures. It would have to be above freezing, because at freezing there is more chance that a caterpillar or adult will die without protection. I think I've read that an adult can withstand about 25 degree weather if it is not wet.

How cold was her room or the place in her room where she kept it? Was it dark where she kept it, light is another factor to slow eclosing.

[Judy Seeley]

Dear Ms. Miller,
Thanks for your reply. Unfortuantely, after 30 years, I can answer very few of your questions. We did not know my daughter had brought a chrysalis into the house or where she kept it, although it was probably out on a shelf in room light. We kept the house temperature at 68 degrees, so the pupa would probably have developed pretty quickly once it was indoors.

I suppose it could have been an unusually warm autumn and the egg was not laid until November. That could push the development and emergence into December, if everything was slowed down by cold weather.

Thanks for your questions and ideas.
Judy

[Mona Miller]

68 degrees is cold for Monarchs. They normally thrive, the cycle is pretty normal at 80.

If laid in November what is your outside temperatures, if lower than 70/80 degrees it would slow down the cycle and double or triple the time it takes to metamorphize.

The pupae can also be brought in on flowers. Did your daughter or you ever bring in flowers? They can attach themselves to several plants.

http://www.monarchwatch.org/rear/index.htm
This website details the cycle.

[Judy Seeley]

From what you are telling me, it sounds as if our butterfly may have been very slow to develop.

Our daughter was a little collector of nature! She brought in all sorts of things, so I am pretty sure she carried the pupa in from the yard either because she actually spotted it or by accident on something else. She was five or six at the time.

The weather in November in Chicago is chilly, certainly below 60 degrees most of the time. Usually there would have been frost in October. If the pupa was in our neighborhood, it was definitely experiencing chilly to cold weather, expecially at night.

I did look at the life cycle on the website and found a lot of information I can include in my story.

[Mona Miller]

I'll have to show my naturalist friend your story. She had taken notes on temperatures and how it slows down their cycle. 60 degrees will certainly slow it down a lot and a heavy frost can kill a caterpillar or pupa.

[Paul Cherubini]

a Monarch butterfly showed up in our 6-year old daughter's bedroom. It was December or January. Our daughter had apparently brought in a pupa from the yard, and then forgotten about it. how could the pupa have lasted long enough to have the adult emerge in December or January?

Adult monarchs have occassionally been seen in the Chicago area in November. So this means some chrysalids in the wild around Chicago are still emerging in November, at least in autumns free of severe freezes. So if your daughter found a chrysalid in mid-November and brought it indoors, the butterfly would probably not emerge until early December. However, there is no way chrysalid emergence could be delayed until late December or January unless the temperature in your daughters room was cold (in the 50's and low 60's most of the time).

Another possibility is that a wild monarch caterpillar from your yard somehow crawled into your daughters bedroom in November and formed it's chrysalis and then the butterfly emerged in December.

[Mona Miller]

Did you read the discussion? I think you'll find the answers in the above posts.

[Judy Seeley]

It is becoming clear that our butterfly must have emerged in December, since November is the latest an adult could have survived the weather, if it was a mild autumn. As I mentioned before, after 30 years, our collective memory of the month is shakey.

It did not occur to me that a catepillar might have crawled insied. Also, my daughter might have brought a caterpillar inside. It is a possibility, as she was always collecting things and would have be fascinated by such a colorful caterpillar. That could push the emergence into December.

Thanks to both of you for helping me with my little mystery. The story is turning out well, I think, and should help the children learn something about the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly.