Butterfly Sightings In The Garden

I hesitated to include these photos because there are so many weeds in the garden these days.

We've had lots of other butterflies this season in 4 different species but I just haven't had much luck photographing them.

I felt lucky to catch this painted lady yesterday. Since this is the variety that we've been raising and releasing here it was nice to see the population of them increase and keep going.

It took the longest time to try to capture a photo with the wings open. Most turned out like these.

Building a low cost Butterfly Habitat for Raising Caterpillars

This habitat at 3 ft wide, 3 ft tall and 1ft. wide is much larger than most people would need but there had been a mix up with our last caterpillar order and we ended with 4 times as many as we normally get and we were in a hurry to find a home for them all. 

We bought 2, 1x4,s 6ft long and 1 , 2x12 6ft long at a total cost of $10.14

We had a roll of window screen on hand and salvaged an old door so I'm not sure what those would cost you.

Construction was easy, we simply cut all of the boards in half. The wide boards became the top and bottom and the narrow ones for the upright corners.

Once we got everything together we had to salvage one more board to frame the door in with.

Here's the finished product. After we've raised and released all of these we'll be adding casters to what is the top here. That will give us a freestanding unit that can be rolled wherever we need it. The reason we'll turn it over is so that the door will be on top and easy for me to reach from my wheelchair.

We are still waiting for most of the butterflies to come out.

Here is the first one to appear.

I've got food, flowers and nectar in the habitat for them.

While they were in the house a couple of butterflies got out and lived with us for a while. One lived in the window next to my work table but didn't show any interest in going outside even though we tried it get it to go.

It stayed about 4 days and then Doug reached for it and it let him carry it outside where it sat on his hand and enjoyed the sun before it flew high up toward our big pine trees.

A few days later we decided to take the habitat outside and see if any of the others were ready to leave.

On the day we did that another one flew around the house and Doug gave it a ride outdoors.

The Butterflies get moved out into the garden

Even though we left the door of the habitat open but not all of the butterflies were in a hurry to leave.

This one sat on that flower for quite a long time before finally flying away.

What a great way to spend the day.

Raising Butterflys

It's that time of year to get started in the garden and as the weather warms one of the reasons I've really been watching the weather is so that We can get started with our raise and release butterfly program. As you can see the first caterpillars are off to a good start. Just last week they were barely the size of ants!

TUESDAY APRIL 13, 2017

For the time being they live on a tiny corner shelf in my living room and it's kind of fun to watch them crawl around the jar in the course of the day while I wait for them to head for the top and make cocoons. It won't be long now before they'll be ready to put into the screened habitat when they'll be transformed into painted lady butterflies that we hope to release at a small family reunion so everyone can enjoy them. 

WEDNESDAY APRIL 13, 2017

It is surprising how quickly they grow.

THURSDAY APRIL 13, 2017

It was only a matter of days before they reached for the top.

FRIDAY APRIL 14, 2017

It was fun to watch them wrap the cocoons. I've just never managed to see them shed exoskeletons before that point.

FRIDAY APRIL 14, 2017

Someday I'm hoping to have the equipment set up to film the whole process and share it with you in a time lapse video.

SATURDAY APRIL 15, 2017

I'll be moving them into the screened habitat next, It should only be a week or so after that before the butterflies emerge and just days after that before they are ready to release.

SUNDAY APRIL 16, 2017

MOVING DAY, WEDNESDAY APRIL 19, 2017

It is important to remove the dark bits (exoskeletons) and waste at this point (tan balls) but the most important thing to do is remove the extra silk strands so that they won't become tangled in it when the butterflies are emerging from the cocoons.

I find cotton swabs work best for this task. Mostly because I don't want to get my hands in it but you're welcome to use whatever works best for you.

Once they're cleaned off they're ready to place into the screened habitat for a week or more until the butterflies emerge.

The reason that some of the chrysalis's are blurry is that they don't like anything coming around an this point and begin to fibrate and swing back and forth to scare anything away and protect themselves. It sure scares me! if you move away from them and leave them alone they will settle down and be still again.

Here's what's left after cleaning them off. Just put the lid back on and put it in the trash.

Relax and join the wait for your butterflies to come out and begin to dry their wings before they start flying around.

IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG:

 
Butterflies feeding on fruit (strawberries, grapes, oranges) and some sugar water.

It wasn't long before it was time to release the butterflies and ask some of our favorite people to come and join the fun.

This butterfly sat on the bench and kept us company before it flew away.