Saturday, March 29, 2008
Jem is Truly Outrageous!
At age 18 days, Jem suddenly decided to stop in the middle of eating a milkweed leaf and did this: Jem decided to spin a silk anchor like many times before, but this time turned around and "sat" on the sticky pad instead. Changes are afoot...Note that even by the afternoon, Jem was still hanging in a J position. It's like Jem knows what the coolest letter of the alphabet really is. Sorry, all you other contenders. :)Jem must be terribly itchy at this point (like me, although certainly not because of an outbreak of shingles), because the 'pillar will start dancing frantically to get rid of the final skin before becoming a pupa.
At this point the adult butterfly parts are already visible, and the outer skin showing is now exactly the color of the plants Jem has been eating. Good luck, l'il dancing queen, young and sweet only, uh, EIGHTEEN! (Pardon my weakness for ABBA.)
Labels: butterfly, Jem, milkweed, monarch, pupa
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Jem is 18!
Check out the update here...Jem is now also a dancing pupa. I think this is the most incredible stage. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's not like caterpillars just slim down, change leg shape and sprout wings--no, they actually morph into a cellular soup and rebuild themselves to be something entirely different.
Also, if you have any interest in helping these incredible creatures, free milkweed seeds or live plants (with a donation) are provided through LiveMonarch.org, which is a not-for-profit foundation.
Labels: butterfly, Jem, milkwee, monarch, pupa
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Monarch 'Pillar Growing
These two images compare the Monarch 'Pillar to a Lincoln penny. Isn't the change amazing? The first picture here shows Jem at 3 days old. Compare the second picture here (day 15) to the last Monarch butterfly post showing Jem's size at day 12. It's amazing how quickly our adoptee has grown. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Labels: butterfly, Jem, monarch
Monday, March 03, 2008
More on Jem
Here's Jem at 9 days old. Jem recovered from the wasp scare very well. Look at those colors! What a lovely caterpillar.
Size at 12 days. Caterpillars grow by eating milkweed. I'm not saying it would be my personal choice of favorite foods, but Monarchs prefer milkweed almost exclusively. The exception is that caterpillars also eat their shed exoskeletons. They really need the nutrients.
Labels: butterfly, Jem, monarch
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
We've Adopted!
Brian has been researching Monarch butterflies, and we've adopted little Jem, who is growing up so fast!
Eggs! You can also see pictures of Jem's mama and read a little bit about how the eggs are laid. Monarch butterflies always lay their eggs on milkweed.
Second photos: three days old. The egg has darkened, and little Jem decides it's time to breathe free.
Third photos: at six days, little Jem is growing up. A wasp recently menaced the little 'uns, but luckily the folks at livemonarch.com are looking after their charges well. :)
Monarch butterflies are amazing. When they migrate, it's not like birds--the butterflies who make it to the warmer destinations have never been there before; they do it as a species to survive, but nobody really knows how (and the destinations weren't even discovered until the 70's). When they go into their cocoons, it's not as if they retain their shape just slimming down and growing wings. No, they actually break down into a "cellular soup" and completely reform. Incredible.
Eggs! You can also see pictures of Jem's mama and read a little bit about how the eggs are laid. Monarch butterflies always lay their eggs on milkweed.
Second photos: three days old. The egg has darkened, and little Jem decides it's time to breathe free.
Third photos: at six days, little Jem is growing up. A wasp recently menaced the little 'uns, but luckily the folks at livemonarch.com are looking after their charges well. :)
Monarch butterflies are amazing. When they migrate, it's not like birds--the butterflies who make it to the warmer destinations have never been there before; they do it as a species to survive, but nobody really knows how (and the destinations weren't even discovered until the 70's). When they go into their cocoons, it's not as if they retain their shape just slimming down and growing wings. No, they actually break down into a "cellular soup" and completely reform. Incredible.
Labels: Brian, butterfly, Jem, monarch
