Raising Butterflies and Other Odds and Ends

        When I mentioned raising butterflies indoors in my last post several of you left comments expressing an interest  in knowing more about the process. I do not have pictures of the entire sequence, but I can explain what you need to know without them, and I think the narrative will be sufficient. After this post if you still have questions feel free to get in touch with me.

     The first thing to determine of course is the species you wish to raise and to ensure that you have their preferred plant either in your garden or close at hand.

     We have usually raised three species (and I must add that Miriam pretty much does this without a whole lot of help from me), Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes), Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) and Monarch (Danaus plexippus).

     The swallowtails are known to seek out Rue (Ruta graveolens) to lay their eggs, so we have it growing in our backyard. At the appropriate time just keep an eye on the plant and you will not fail to notice the females depositing eggs. For Monarchs, a species of milkweed (Asclepias spp.) is necessary and we have Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), both containing a poisonous, bitter-tasting chemical which remains in the tissue of the adult butterflies and gives Monarchs immunity from predators. Dill (Anethum graveolens) is also accepted by swallowtails but milkweeds are essential for Monarchs.

     Bring stems of the plant indoors with lots of leaves for the caterpillars to munch on when they hatch, keeping them green and fresh by standing them in water, and then watch the process unfold. When the caterpillars first emerge from the eggs you will be astounded at how tiny they are, yet you will be even more amazed at their rate of growth and the sheer volume of frass that accumulates at the bottom of the cage. You can't believe how much poop one little caterpillar can produce! We line the bottom of the cage with newspaper and change it regularly, and provide new food constantly.

     If you are fortunate and are able to catch the moment when the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, or the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, you will be moved by the experience in a way that little else in life has moved you. It all takes place very quickly, however, so you have to keep checking!

     When the butterfly emerges from the cocoon it hangs for a while inflating its wings and letting them dry; after which it is good to go on its journey as an adult butterfly.

Black Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail

     We are finished with swallowtails for this year but have several Monarch caterpillars at various stages of development in the house now, so we have much pleasure and excitement to look forward to.

Other Odds and Ends

     After four months of not getting together our Tuesday Rambles with David resumed, and we were careful to practice socially-distanced birding.

     From left to right above - John Pries, Carol Gorenc, Jim Huffman, Judy Wyatt, David Gascoigne, Franc Gorenc, Mary Voisin.

     Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) appear to have had a very successful breeding season and we have seen several newly-fledged families of these delightful flycatchers.

     The local creeks, swamps and wetlands harbour good populations of Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) which can often be seen sunning themselves on a convenient log.

         The young Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) at RiverSong have now left the nest and this lone adult was perhaps more than a tad relieved to be free of parental duties.

     We have had a decent amount of rain of late, much needed and very welcomed by various species that gather in low spots in fields flooded by rainfall. This Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) was taking full advantage of the conditions.

     Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) is quite common around the shoreline of lakes, ponds, rivers and streams, but it was unusual to find one just taking a rest.

     We continue to get out every day and we are almost giddy with the full flush of nature at this time of the year. Life like this really is the way life was intended to be.

A Sunday morning Butterfly Chase

08 July 2018

     Although a birder first, foremost and always, there is not a single aspect of the natural world that fails to capture my interest. I have different levels of proficiency (or in some cases a decided lack thereof) of various taxa.

     One of the most colourful additions to the summer landscape, especially when the birds are preoccupied with raising young, is a wide range of butterfly species. In addition there are some interesting diurnal moths and I have even been dabbling in nocturnal moths under the expert tutelage of my good friend, Ross Dickson. If you have ever felt you had sinister tendencies of incipient masochism, sitting out in the dark watching moths crawling over a lighted sheet, in a mind-boggling range of diversity, colour, shape and form, will cause them to be front and centre! And that doesn't even take into account the lack of sleep.

     In any event, it occurred to me a while ago that many people I see with a butterfly net have not the slightest idea how to use it properly. They charge around like Don Quixote tilting at some illusory windmill, smacking the ground, flattening the grass, uttering the unseemly curses of a drunken sailor, and coming up empty-handed - or should that be empty-netted?

     With this in mind I thought it would be a good idea to have a proper training session so that budding lepidopterists would learn how to wield a net correctly, sweep with grace and efficiency to capture their quarry, extract it from the net swiftly and cleanly in a collecting vial, take whatever photographs they need, and release the papillon unharmed.

     Owen Lucas, of the rare Charitable Research Reserve, as fine a net professional as one could wish to find, agreed to come and conduct a tutorial.

     People gathered round with great interest.

     Like a magician on a stage, Owen was in short order explaining technique.

     It did not take everyone long to get the idea and we set off on a walk to capture some butterflies. New skills were on display, strategies were developed, and stealth became a new art; but I must say, with a certain level of vicarious pride, that Miriam was the undisputed champion. Hers was a performance worthy of a prima ballerina in the Bolshoi Ballet. In total we captured about fourteen species, much to everyone's delight.

      As a bonus for the eager adventurers we introduced them to the wonderful world of caterpillars. A couple of people had already raised Monarchs indoors so there was the added excitement of seeing the varied forms and colours of the larvae of other species.

     Here is the colourful child of a Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes).

     And how grand is the caterpillar of a White-marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma)?

     Jeff Grant, a local teenager from St. Agatha is keenly interested in butterflies and moths and has been raising Cecropia Moths (Hyalophora cecropia) by placing their eggs on appropriate host plants and protecting them by means of a mesh sleeve. Jeff kindly opened up one of the sleeves to show everyone the grandeur of a Cecropia caterpillar - and even provided a little discourse on the life cycle of this stunning moth.

     The caterpillar of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucous), in a late instar with its false eye spots is perhaps one of the most appealing of all, and we were lucky to see one such example along with a little brother (perhaps second instar) on the same leaf.

     We were not quite as happy to find many Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars. This species is truly destructive in our eastern hardwood forests and is an invasive species in any event.

     Some had already cocooned.

     The weather was quite beautiful, a perfect day in fact for what we wanted to do. And just in case I had withdrawal pangs from not dealing with birds, Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) displayed their aerial superiority as they hawked for insects and a male Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) perched on a nest box where his mate is incubating four eggs. Perhaps he even delivered a juicy caterpillar for lunch.