Rearing Monarchs (Pics!)

[Skypainter]

This is my first year living in a house as opposed to an apartment, and one thing I have always wanted to do was butterfly gardening. I planted some native milkweeds (Asclepias oenotheroides and Asclepias viridis) as well as some tropical milkweed (A. curassavica) I bought at the nursery. So far, I have sucessfully raised eleven. I started out with @ 2 dozen eggs I counted on my plants four weeks ago when the first migrating monarchs came through. There is always some mortality between the egg and adult stages so this was quite a successful project. Next year, I plan on having most of the available space in the yard devoted to these beautiful creatures.

Enjoy the pictures!

 

[CT9A]

great pics and thanks for sharing!

 

[starmaiden]

Wow! Those are great bro! Nice pictures too. :worship: Congrats on the successful butterfly rearing! (Finally! :wall: LOL! )

 

[Takumaku]

In the last pic, picture of a nice mature male monarch. The thin veins and the two swollen pouches (the black dots) on the hindwings identify it as so.

 

[Skypainter]

Yes, those are scent scales that the male uses to attract the ladies!

 

[Skypainter]

Monarch hatching sequence

My fourth monarch, a female, hatched out this morning. Enjoy!

You can clearly see her fully developed and ready to come out.

This shot was taken about 1/2 hour later.

Her wings were fully expanded in @ 10 minutes from emergence.

She slightly opens her wings to allow them to dry.

Here she is fueling up on lantana for departure to Mexico

Ready for takeoff!

 

[starmaiden]

Wow! Wow! Wow! Those are great pictures! Very nicely done. She's a beauty! :clap: