Eternal sunshine of my spotless mind

The End...

Well, the time has come to end my caterpillar farming. I released my last butterfly yesterday in between downpours. Little One and I sent them all off. Him with a wish to carry up to heaven and me with a wish that they live a happy life making caterpillar babies. I sent off 53 butterflies in all. May they live long and prosper (sorry, still thinking about how much I loved that Star Trek movie).

This is not my final butterfly, but this is the location from where they came.

I have several pots with cuttings from the crown flower bushes. We'll see if I do it again next year...

My mood: sad, but relieved too

Posted by Cora at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A brief update on all things buggy...

As of tonite:
Released: 19 Butterflies
Chrysalis: 20 more
"J" Form (ready to change): 4
Caterpillars: 7
Deaths: 2

Fortunately, I haven't brought home any babies! Woohoo! I hope to be out of the caterpillar business by Spring Break. If not, then they'll have to come camping with us.

My mood: wanting to kick myself in the butt for doing a REALLY stupid computer thing. What else is new?

Posted by Cora at 01:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More miscellaneous pictures from today's batch of butterflies...

Setting them down on some plants. Hoping they'll take flight soon.

Not quite ready to go yet.

Needs some coaxing.

Needs more coaxing, only made it to blankie.

Checking out the basil plant.

Checking out the bushes in the front.

My mood: better, but a little dizzy

Posted by Cora at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aha! Finally a boy butterfly:

You can tell it's a boy because of the two spots on the bottom wings (scent glands). It is our one and only boy so far.

Butterflies 7 & 8 have come out this morning. We'll let them go later on today. Here's Little One enjoying his new friends:

They really can't fly until their wings are dry. We tried putting him back on the branch and he lost his grip, fell off, and was like a turtle overturned. She couldn't get herself back upright without help. Here she is drying off with butterfly 8 (not sure if its a he or she yet).

My mood: sick and at home.

Posted by Cora at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, Don is officially DAWN. Here she is right before we set her free:

Female butterflies have a rather thick line in the mid-section. Male butterflies have 2 spots on their lower wings. If I get any males, I'll make sure to post a picture.

Here's the count as of today:
Number of butterflies set free: 3 girls
Number of times Little One cried when we set the butterflies free: 2
Number of chrysalis: 7
Number of deaths: 1
Number of caterpillars getting ready to change: 4
Number of caterpillars eating like crazy: ???
Number of caterpillars I brought home today: 2

I don't know if this cycle will ever end...

My mood: sniffly and headachy AGAIN

Posted by Cora at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Arrival of Don (or Dawn)

This morning I went for a walk (trying to prepare for the Great Aloha Run) and when I came home I cleaned out the caterpillar poop. When I glanced at the chrysalis container, I found Don emerging! I missed it, but I managed to get my battery back into my camera just in time to catch a picture of him just after he popped out.

Newly "hatched" Don

Don w/his wings spreading out (he might be a DAWN and not a DON, I don't see the spots on his/her wings)

Now comes the hard part, convincing Little One that we need to let Don/Dawn go after his/her wings dry off. That, and figuring out what to make for Superbowl party today!

My mood: happy!

Posted by Cora at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Caterpillars 9 & 10 decided to chrysalize themselves today. I was able to see it! Hooray! I spent 2 hours peering in on them every few minutes to make sure I didn't miss it again. It was pretty amazing. I couldn't get any good shots of it because 9 decided to adhere to the side of the container and 10 was on a branch, but my camera was being screwy (I messed with the settings) and then I couldn't get a clean shot of it. Crap.

Cat 9 decided to stick himself to the side of the container so I couldn't get a clear shot of him changing.

The next set of images are of Cat 10 and his transformation. I did make a movie recording, but it's super long and probably not worth posting, although it was pretty cool watching it happen.

My mood: tired and going to bed

Posted by Cora at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The only update I have is that I think one of the chrysalis is dead. How do I know? On Tuesday, they took a field trip to school. 2 chrysalis, 2 caterpillars in the "J" formation, and 2 little hungry guys. Little One forgot to bring them home, so when I dropped him off at school on Wednesday, I brought them home so I could clean out the container and give them fresh leaves. As I was done cleaning the container, I glanced inside and noticed a silvery thread hanging from the littlest chrysalis. Dangling from the end, was this whitish blobby thing. When I examined it closer, it looked like it was moving (or pulsating). Then from the top of the chrysalis, there was another pulsing blobby thing coming out of the chrysalis and then I realized that it was alive! GROSS!!! I jumped on the internet and discovered that they were actually maggots from the Tachinid fly (do they even live here?). Apparently, the fly lays eggs on the caterpillar when it is alive and then when it becomes a chrysalis the eggs hatch and they feed on the caterpillar. Then they come out of the chrysalis. UGH! It was not something I ever want to watch again. But look, I took a picture! The chrysalis look pretty cool when they're blue (reflection from the flash?).

Chrysalis count: 7 good chrysalis, 1 dead? chrysalis. Our first chrysalis, Don, is 9 days old now. Hopefully he'll emerge from his chrysalis this weekend and we'll get to see it.

Caterpillar count: ??? who knows, I just inspect each leaf thoroughly before I toss it out. I have 2 more that will probably change into a chrysalis tomorrow.

My mood: needing to do more walking if I don't wanna hurt after the Great Aloha Run

Posted by Cora at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have officially lost count of how many caterpillars I have. I do have 6 chrysalis and 2 more caterpillars in the "J" formation, ready to change when I'm NOT looking. I have missed every single one changing, so sorry, no pictures yet. I even missed one yesterday when I was home watching a recorded episode of the Mentalist. When it started, he was still a caterpillar, when the show was over, he was a chrysalis. Aargh, these caterpillars are camera shy.

Here's one of the cats in pre-"J" formation. He was eating like crazy and then pooped it all out. Here he is between poop cleaning.

Picked some more food for the hungry little guys and guess who was stowed away on the back of a leaf? I have 4 eggs now (that I know of)

My mood: have that headachy feeling right before I get sick (AGAIN)

Posted by Cora at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am slowly losing track of my caterpillars. I think I might have 14 or 15. I'm not sure. I thought I had 15, but I only count 14, but sometimes I lose one, then they show up again for the next head count. Hmmmm.

I missed Buddy chrysalissing on the cover of the lid (he did it when Little One and I went to the mall to go to the pet store to buy another terrarium). And "Eddie" our other cat waiting to chrysalis is now fixed on the under side of the screen I have covering the round container. They're just not helping me out here. I will probably have to relocate them to a more secure location once their shells have hardened.

Head count: 4 chrysalis + 1 almost chrysalis + 9 caterpillars + 1 MIA = 14 +/- 1

Chrysalis log: Don on leaf chrysalis on Wed; Shiny & Tiny on branch, tip of container chrysalis on Thurs; Buddy on lid of dk. blue container chrysalis on Sat.

I probably won't post any more pictures until I can either get one of them changing into the chrysalis OR I get one coming out of the chrysalis.

Posted by Cora at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I managed to miss it again. Shiny and Tiny decided to chrysalis on me when I was at work. I asked Grandpa to keep an eye on them and sure enough, they're shy about changing their outfits. He missed both of them. One while he was downstairs and the other when he went to pick up Little One from school. Oh, well, I have about a dozen more tries, so we'll see if I can catch one on film.

I am still debating whether I should try to relocate Don to a branch. I've checked several Monarch websites and forums and I should either leave him on his side on the bottom of the container with a branch for him to crawl onto after he comes out of his chrysalis OR I can try to relocate him to a branch and attach him with a hot glue gun (cooled of course and then only attached with the tip which is spun silk). Yikes, too many things that can go wrong. I'm tempted to see if he can hold onto the leaf for a while longer while I decide what to do with him. The good thing is that his chrysalis should be nice and hard by now. So if/when I decide to move him, I shouldn't squish him accidentally.

Shiny or Tiny from the branch. I couldn't get a good shot of the other one hanging on the top of the container. Oh, Little One took this picture (what a great shot!).

Don with his golden flecks. They really do look like little jade jewels.

The next set of buggers getting nice and fat. I'm assuming one of them is Buddy, but don't ask me which one.

My mood: TGIF (tomorrow)

Posted by Cora at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, Shiny & Tiny took no time in catching up with Don. They had all but stopped eating and pooping by this afternoon and were crawling around like crazy searching for a place to hang. Unlike lazy Don, they actually found a spot to hang from. As I was watching them, I was wondering how they were able to hang from the side of the container, seeing as they seemed to need to grip onto something in order to climb. Upon closer examination, I discovered that they were bobbing, not because they were dancing, but they were spinning a thin silky trail to grip onto. Very cool.

A view of the silk trail. The flash was necessary to catch the light on the silk. And I have a fairly crappy camera, so the resolution is not that great for close up shots.

Shiny or Tiny doin' it right...

Shiny or Tiny picked the very top of the container. Don't ask me how I'm going to deal with them when they decide to come out of their chrysalis.

I have the feeling that I'm going to miss them transforming into the chrysalis state. By morning they may be encased in their green shell???

Last caterpillar count: 1 chrysalis + 2 caterpillars ready to change, + 9 various sized caterpillars (hopefully) hiding somewhere in the leaves = 12

My mood: anxious and exhausted

Posted by Cora at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OH, happy day... this morning I thought I was going to write about the death of Don. I found him all curled up at the bottom of the container on a leaf. He wasn't clinging to it, just on his side and heaving and looking kind of sick. The internet sites say that the most humane way to kill a sick caterpillar is to freeze it, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. GOOD thing I'm such a wuss, cause when I came home from dropping off Little One at school, I went to check on Don to see if he was dead yet, and guess what I found...

Yeah! I'm not the killer of cute caterpillars, but a butterfly whisperer! Hahaha. Since it's my first time doing this, I was surprised that it took only an hour (or less) for him to transform. And more surprisingly, I thought he was dead because he wasn't hanging from up high (like all the sites said!), he was curled up on a leaf at the bottom of the container.

And if you look closely under Don on the right side, there's a new caterpillar crawling about. I don't even know how many I have now...

My mood: soaring on butterfly wings (in about 2 weeks?)

Posted by Cora at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our 5 caterpillars are now 10 caterpillars. How did this happen??? We apparently had 7 caterpillars the whole weekend and we didn't even know it. I went to the crown flower bush today to get some more grub for the hungry little buggers and I found 2 more! When I got home I found out that I had 3, not 2. I might have even more tomorrow, who knows? I'm not looking for them, but they stow away on the leaves and end up at home. I have the need to protect them from the birds, so I keep them (plus I have no where to dump them in the yard, we have nothing they'll eat).

There are now too many and I can't keep track of who the smaller ones are. Don, Shiny & Tiny are still the biggest, so we have no problem identifying them (except we still can't tell Shiny & Tiny apart). The little ones keep getting in the way of the monsters so we needed to relocate the 3 bigger caterpillars to their own container. I guess it's like older dogs and puppies. The puppies wanna make trouble and the older ones just want to be left alone.

I have made 5 observations over the last few days:

1. I have come to find watching caterpillars eat just fascinating. People might think it's about as exciting as watching paint dry, but I am just mesmerized by it. I find myself stopping by the containers (to make sure no one's escaped) and I end up staring at them for quite a bit of time.

2. Caterpillars poop A LOT! I have to empty out the poop 3-5 times a day. They're worse than panda bears. Fortunately caterpillar poop is much smaller and less smelly (I assume).

3. Caterpillars eat a lot (which would account for the excessive poopage).

4. Caterpillars move around a lot. Tiny Mrs. Pteranodon tried to escape the other day, I found her lurking around the top of the container. I think I need to keep them outside during the day so that I make sure that if someone escapes they won't be inside the house and possibly squished.

5. Being a caterpillar rancher is hard work.

This is the picture of the original Fab 5 (before it doubled to 10)

We bought a terrarium this weekend, but needed to add a separate cottage for the "seniors." I put in a stick just in case anyone felt like crysalissing.

My mood: headachy, I think I might be getting sick again (oh, no!)

Posted by Cora at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New members acquired. We now have Buddy (a.k.a. Shemp) and Mrs. Pteranodon (a.k.a. Teeny-Tiny). I discovered that the caterpillars are named after characters from the PBS show Dinosaur Train. A-ha! I have a few cuttings from the crown flower tree outside so we have a fresh supply of leaves. Don apparently molted during school on Friday. I found a fresh molted skin piece where Don used to be. He's now eating voraciously and Shiny & Tiny are now taking their turn to molt off their old skins.

Buddy is the 4th member of the group.

Introducing Mrs. Pteranodon, she really is teeny-tiny!

Don decided to check out the new leaf that was in the tank. He's a hungry little caterpillar!

My mood: feeling like a caterpillar

Posted by Cora at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They have been officially named:

Shiny: Moe or Curly (can't tell them apart)
Tiny: Moe or Curly (can't tell them apart)
Don: Larry

There was much concern that once Shiny and Tiny changed leaves, we would no longer be able to tell them apart. I was told that a fourth caterpillar needs to be acquired because his name is supposed to be Buddy. I will call him Shemp. ??? I think the names are from a show he watches on PBS Kids?

Well they're all off to Kindergarten today for show and tell. Let's hope they live through the day and make it home or they'll be lots of crying this weekend!

My mood: TGIF! hi-ho-hi-ho it's off to work I go... well, I'm already here, but now I'll start working.

Posted by Cora at 08:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At work, there's a crown flower plant behind the library. I have a friend who goes there to pick caterpillars and then "raises" them into butterflies. Sounds easy enough, so today I went outside and proceeded to locate 3 lovely specimens. Tomorrow Little One will be taking them on a field trip to school for show-n-tell. I thought about having them live at school (if the teacher does a unit on butterflies), but with our luck, they'll emerge as butterflies with no kids around. We'll see how it goes...

The bigger of the 3, he's about an inch long and not very active. I think he might molt soon.

The 2 babies are about 1/2 inch long. They're hungry little buggers.

Don't ask me what he's doing...

My mood: happy I have something to write about...

Posted by Cora at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)