Lmst

#MonarchWatch

Our 1st #Monarch #butterfly sightings of the year in #Toronto #Ontario #insects #butterflies #Nature #MonarchWatch #naturephotography Which butterflies have you seen?

Monarch butterfly in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Monarch butterfly in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

What a sweet little discovery.

#pollinators #monarchwatch #nativeplants

Milkweed with very small monarch caterpillar on the underside of one leaf

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
0 eggs
0 #caterpillars
0 chrysalises
2 #butterflies released today (last ones)

Tagged and Released for 2024:
34 Females
43 Males

For a total of 77 monarch butterflies raised and released this year. Any other tagging will have to be wild caught.

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

Green and gold monarch chrysalises hanging from the top of a net

The final monarch butterfly released from our raised batches. Seeing perched on the finger of my daughter with wings spread before flying away.

Several monarch butterflies after emerging from their chrysalises hanging from the top of the net

Three monarch butterflies and several green chrysalises in a large butterfly net with a potted red mum at the bottom

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
0 eggs
9 #caterpillars
27 chrysalises
16 #butterflies released today

Tagged and Released for 2024:
22 Females
27 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

Three monarch butterflies hanging from the ceiling of a mesh cage with a red mom at the bottom, several green chrysalises are hanging from the roof of the mesh along with the clear and tattered remains of old chrysalises.

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
0 eggs
12 #caterpillars
40 chrysalises
18 #butterflies released today!

Tagged and Released for 2024:
17 Females
16 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

Five monarch butterflies hanging from the top of a net with two chrysalises: one green and one black and ready to hatch soon. There are also the clear and tattered remains of several more chrysalises recently escaped.

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
0 eggs
28 #caterpillars
49 chrysalises
2 #butterflies released (yesterday)

Tagged and Released for 2024:
4 Females
4 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

Female monarch butterfly placed onto a lemon verbena plant with a tracking sticker from Monarch Watch on its right rear wing.

Female monarch butterfly hanging out on the blue glass hummingbird feeder, getting ready to fly off to Mexico. Hummingbird was less than pleased when it came along a few moments later.

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
0 eggs
36 #caterpillars
50 chrysalises
3 #butterflies released today

Tagged and Released for 2024:
0 Females
3 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

Male monarch butterfly being held by the wings, displaying the sticker tag that we gave it before releasing.

Male monarch butterfly on the hand of a child with wings spread wide. This can be identified as a male by the two scent glands that appear as two black dots in the middle of each bottom wing.

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
1 eggs
38 #caterpillars
46 chrysalises (3 looking like they will emerge as butterflies tomorrow!)
0 #butterflies

Tagged and Released for 2024:
0 Females
0 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

14 monarch chrysalises hanging from the top of a net cage. Most are bright green trimmed with gold. The leftmost two are becoming transparent and you can begin to see the black and orange of monarch wings inside.

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
2 eggs
45 #caterpillars
40 chrysalises
0 #butterflies

Tagged and Released for 2024:
0 Females
0 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

Multiple chrysalises hanging from the top of a bug net/cage. Several monarch caterpillars, crawling around to find sides to hang from including one hanging in a “J” shape preparing for its metamorphosis. It will split out of its skin and a chrysalis will emerge.

For two or three day-old monarch caterpillars on a milkweed leaf.

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
21 eggs
50 #caterpillars
8 chrysalises
0 #butterflies

Tagged and Released for 2024:
0 Females
0 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

Monarch chrysalis is hanging at the top of a butterfly net/enclosure trimmed in green.

Monarch caterpillars spread out over two milkweed cuttings at the bottom of a caterpillar net/enclosure.

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
1 egg
46 #caterpillars
0 chrysalises
0 #butterflies

Tagged and Released for 2024:
0 Females
0 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

One of the three large monarch caterpillars found in my garden today on a milkweed plant leaf. No idea how we didn’t see them the last few days. Monarch caterpillars are striped yellow, white, and black.

Today’s #Monarch Totals

In House:
23 eggs
17 tiny #caterpillars
0 chrysalises
0 #butterflies

Tagged and Released for 2024:
0 Females
0 Males

#Michigan #MonarchWatch

Picture of a large milkweed leaf with a newly hatched monarch caterpillar just visible. Caterpillar is very small.

Crazy magnified view of a monarch egg. The black head of the caterpillar is visible through the clear egg shell.

Waited a little while and were able to finally capture the new #caterpillar emerging. #monarchs #MonarchWatch

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UYCusz_lJvk

Went out this afternoon to begin to collect #monarch eggs and #caterpillars to raise to tag and release. Found 8 small caterpillars and 23 eggs. One we thought might not be viable, but once we checked it with the microscope we were proven wrong! #Michigan #MonarchWatch

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/AVuWZTm4DZY

I knew monarch butterflies were in trouble, but didn’t think it had gotten THIS BAD. 🤯😭 Thankfully the population has seen modest gains against that 2013-2014 low. Still a far cry from 1990s and earlier. Please, if you can, plant some #ButterflyMilkweed on your property.

First image: Excerpt from Nature’s Best Hope, see alt text.

Second: A population graph from #MonarchWatch

#MonarchButterfly #NaturesBestHope #plantnative #grownative #conservstion #naturalist #homegrownnationalpark

The overwintering population in 2013, for example, was estimated at only 3.6 percent of the population in 1976, when Canadian botanist Fred Urquart finally traced the overwintering monarch population to the Mexican mountains. Incredibly, migrating monarchs that were once present in huge numbers have been reduced by well over 90 percent to a tiny remnant of their former population (Monarch Watch 2013).

Hey, paragraph showing overwintering populations in Mexico. The tallest bar represents 18 hectares of overwintering monarchs in 1996 to 97 less than 1 ha in 2013 to 2014. populations in recent years have been between two and three.

The second batch had four #monarch butterflies. This is another #timelapse, this time of two monarchs emerging. #MonarchWatch

Two batches of #monarchs tagged and released today. The first batch of five emerged yesterday while we were out. This is an up close #timelapse of one emerging and inflating it’s wings. It is fascinating to see the black and orange of the wings through the clear chrysalis right before they emerge. #MonarchWatch

Released another batch of #monarch butterflies tonight. Took a moment to video the steps to tagging with my spouse narrating the process. The stickers aid in tracking and research if the butterfly is observed on its journey south. Hooray for backyard #science! #MonarchWatch
#Michigan

Second reared #monarch has emerged, been tagged, and been released. Fly far, little friend. #MonarchWatch

Handsome young man in a tie-dye shirt with a male monarch perched on his index finger. The butterfly has a monarch watch sticker tag on his wing.

We took a day trip today to the beach to enjoy Lake Michigan. Came home this evening to a hatched #butterfly ready to be released. Our first #monarch tagged to start #migration season from #Michigan down to Mexico. #MonarchWatch

Monarch butterfly hanging from top of net.

One person holding the monarch and gently pressing the sticker tag onto the wing after a second person in the photo placed the sticker by rolling it off of a toothpick.

A monarch being held safely by its wings. The sticker tag is visible on the wing.

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