Caterpillars in motion July 26 2010

A little blurry, but here is a video of the caterpillars this evening. They are VERY restless. Not the least bit interested in food at the moment, they are all over the place. Up and down and across the top, sides, bottom, sticks and leaves.

Once again I am left to wonder....are they looking for a nice spot to make a chrysalis? Or are they just "walking off" the MASSIVE amount of food they have eaten since this morning! Since I can only guess their age based on size, they are "presumably" at least 8 or 9 days old, possibly 10, but I don't think so. The sites I have checked put them at chrysalis between 10 and 14 days. Only time will tell!

I went to check on the 2 that I took to Irvine today. They are doing very well also! Not nearly as large yet, but well on the way!

I did a check of the caterpillars on the milkweeds outside today, also. I could only find 2 yesterday, and just one this morning. This evening, I cannot find either of them. However, there were a couple of wasps hanging around the milkweed plants, down low, where the caterpillars were. Wasps will prey on caterpillars, and I am afraid they may have been victim to them. Or possibly they have moved off of the plants in search of a chrysalis spot, as my indoor babies might be doing? I'll hope it's the latter!

It makes me feel good that my indoor caterpillars will have a better chance of making it to butterfly, given the protection they have from predation. But it will take at least 2 more weeks to know for sure if they make it that far! I sure hope they make it....Monarch Butterflies are surely in distress from the loss of their overwintering habitats in Mexico. Too much rain last winter resulted in much of the habitat being washed away, and killing many of them, and illegal logging is destroying habitat as well.

Monarch caterpillars July 25 2010

WOWSIE!!!
Can you believe this! From 25mms on Friday to a monstrous 45mms just 48 hours later! Obviously, they came back to the milkweed and proceed to munch like crazy over the weekend....so much bigger, I'd swear that my own babies were replaced with these huge ones! Currently, 2 of them are eating, and one has climbed onto a stick and appears to be resting, although his antennae are quivering just the slightest little bit.
They sure do make a LOT of cater"poopies" now!
I expect to see some chrysalis by mid to late week this week......anticipation!!!

Monarch caterpillars July 23 2010

Holy smokes! Look how big they are....the one that was most easily measured is 27mms!! The others are about the same sized.
This morning, they were happily munching away at the milkweed. This evening, they have left the milkweed and have crawled up the sides of the container. But while they have crawled up the sides, each is now facing face down, and are very still. I'm not exactly sure what this means....I have sticks in the container for them to use when they are ready to form into chrysalis but they are not on the sticks (which were right over and next to the milkweed).
Time will tell what will happen next! It shouldn't be too long before they each form a chrysalis now!
The last picture is one of the "wild ones" outside on the milkweed!

Monarch caterpillars July 21 2010

WOW, with just about 4 full days of eating like mad, the caterpillars have gone from 1st to 4th instar already at a whopping 15mm!! So much for getting a picture of each instar! They were Not this big this morning...they molted during the day today while I was out. Sorry now I didn't take a picture then! I'm hopeful that this generation of babies will lay eggs on my plants too, and if I am so lucky, I'll take pictures twice a day, every day!

This generation of monarchs that are growing here now will be the parents of the generation that will make the amazing migration in the early fall to Mexico.

For further information on this amazing phenomenon, and why, in part the Monarch population is in jeopardy, you can check out these links:

www.monarchwatch.org/tagmig/index.htm

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/30/eveningnews/main6348230.shtml

Monarch caterpillars July 18 2010

Today, I inspected my milkweed plants and sure enough found some "first instar" Monarch larvae! "Instar" is the term used for each developmental stage of the larvae, with a molt for each new stage. The tiniest one on the left is just 4mm, and the others are 5mm. They are likey just a day or 2 from a molt. In less than 2 weeks, if all goes well, (and a LOT can go wrong at each stage from parasites, predators, etc.) they'll be 25 to 45 mm!! Then, hopefully, they will develop into the chrysalis and 10-14 days later, adult butterflies!
I'll be attempting to raise these 4 myself, and will monitor the milkweed plants outside for the growth and development of the others...I was able to find 3 more of this stage, and possibly a few eggs as well!

Evening visitor July 16, 2010

Well, look what came to visit on the porch this evening!
Caught between the window and screen, and having no idea what it was, my brave husband managed to corral it into the "critter catcher" for a close look so we could figure out what it was. (other than the HUGE, that is! Just about 2" long!)

It's a Cicada Killer Wasp.

Relatively harmless, only the females sting and only if provoked. The males have no stinger at all. (not sure which sex this is). The females use the stinger to kill cicadas they have caught and take them back to the nest for the larvae to feed on.

Unlike other wasps and bees, they are solitary, and don't live in colonies, with each female digging her own burrow in the ground for nesting. They are usually seen in July and August.

Misc Irvine July 11 2010

Diamondback Terrapins...not easy to photograph, they are FAST swimmers!

Steve's fish exhibit! Top to bottom-Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Sunfish

Box Turtle exhibit. Kids can crawl under and pop up in the middle!

BRUISER!