two boys

it's been getting colder during the days now, and really chilly at night... but i still have 14 chrysalis waiting to emerge.

i brought the 'castle' inside to keep them warm, and help them along.

this morning i released two beautiful boys.

108 butterflies

i have raised and released 108 butterflies so far this year.

fly away

releasing eight beautiful butterflies...

back to life

i saw the most amazing thing this morning...

i woke up and was cleaning out the castle and getting fresh milkweed for my caterpillars.

i have my milkweed leaf stalks in jars of water to keep them fresh. then i saw that this poor little guy had fallen in the water - and he had drowned... so sad.

i remembered i had just read something about this...

put the caterpillar on a pile of salt.

i did that... and i was amazed when a few minutes later he started moving. then started walking around !

okay ! it worked !!

when a caterpillar falls in water, it's spiracles close over and the caterpillar goes into a state of torpor. the salt draws any water out of the spiracles and trachea.

fascinating.

hungry

thirty one hungry mouths to feed. never had this many.

they are 2nd instars - less than a 1/4" long now. they will grow 3000 times their size before becoming a chrysalis.

hello world...

first born in this batch.

i have 34 eggs right now.

it's going to be crazy once they all start hatching !

more eggs

found more eggs out in garden today.

i have to get a butterfly net... not for butterflies... for wasps. i see them out there all over the milkweed. they are eating the eggs.

i collected these few eggs - but i know there are more out there - i just can't find them. she was out there for quite a while fluttering around laying eggs.

i'm having a bit of a dilemma as far as having to kill the wasps...