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Raising Monarch Butterflies as a Family Project by Nick Ruth
Raising monarch butterflies is a fun project that the whole family can enjoy together. All you need is a container to raise them in and a good supply of milkweed. Adults as well as children will enjoy watching these fascinating creatures grow and transform.
You can purchase a caterpillar enclosure, but it's not necessary to buy something fancy. Any large container will do. We like to use bulk-size plastic jars such as those you would find in the warehouse stores.
Milkweed is essential for monarchs; the butterflies lay their eggs on the milkweed, and the caterpillars will only eat milkweed. Milkweed can be found in meadows, vacant lots, and on the side of highways. There are a number of varieties, but it's usually the tallest plant in the meadow. You can tell if you have the right one because if you break off a leaf, it bleeds a sticky white sap.
The best time to look for eggs is during the southward migration in late summer or early fall, but depending on where you live, you may be able to find them intermittently throughout the summer.
The Monarchs usually lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves. Look for a tiny, white, football-shaped egg about the size of a pin head. The egg has ridges along it. If you find something round or smooth, that's not it. The Monarch eggs have a distinctive shape.
Once you find an egg, break off the entire leaf and put it in the container. Mist them lightly once a day with a plant mister or spray bottle to keep them from drying out. It takes about three days for the eggs to hatch, or less depending on how old they were when you found them. You can tell when an egg is almost ready to hatch, because it gets a black spot on top; the black spot is the caterpillar developing inside.
When the caterpillars hatch, they are no bigger than a grain of rice. Usually the first thing they do is to eat the egg, and then they begin to eat the milkweed leaf. The caterpillars will eat, poop, and grow for about two weeks. All you have to do is to clean out the frass (poop) and supply them with fresh Milkweed. Be very careful when you clean the container those first couple of days, because they are so small it's easy to lose them. As they grow, they periodically will crawl up the side of the container and molt their skin to enable them to grow. If you see a caterpillar stuck to the side of the container and not eating, leave it alone. When it's done molting, it'll crawl back to the milkweed and start eating again.
When they're small, a single leaf will last them for a while. But when they get bigger, they can chew through an entire plant in about a day! Be sure to have plenty of milkweed nearby.
After about two weeks, the caterpillar will crawl up to the top of the container and hang upside down in a 'J' shape. This is an indication that it's ready to pupate, or turn into a chrysalis. It hangs upside-down for hours, wiggling from time to time. When it's ready, the skin at the bottom splits and peels up, and what emerges is a chrysalis. It's a most amazing transformation if you get to see it! The chrysalis continues to wiggle for a little while, until it hardens into a beautiful green and gold jewel.
After about ten days, the chrysalis turns dark and you'll be able to see the butterfly's wing pattern inside. The chrysalis splits, and the butterfly emerges. At first, its wings are wet and crumpled and it needs to hang upside down to dry them for a few hours. Be sure that it has room to hang the wings down without bending them. When the wings are dry, you can take the container outside and release the butterfly.
Monarch Butterfly Links
Find Houdin: Article about monarchs from The Dark Dreamweaver: http://www.darkdreamweaver.com/node/16
Find the peak migration in your area: http://www.monarchwatch.com/tagmig/peak.html
Watch http://www.monarchwatch.org
Track the migration: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch
Nick, Sheila and David Ruth wrote this article based on their experiences raising monarchs as a family project. The Ruth family is a homeschooling family with a passion for books. Nick was inspired by the family obsession with monarchs to write an award-winning children's fantasy novel, The Dark Dreamweaver. You can find more information about The Dark Dreamweaver at http://www.DarkDreamweaver.com
About the Author
Nick, Sheila and David Ruth wrote this article based on their experiences raising monarchs as a family project. The Ruth family is a homeschooling family with a passion for books. Nick was inspired by the family obsession with monarchs to write an award-winning children's fantasy novel, The Dark Dreamweaver. You can find more information about The Dark Dreamweaver at http://www.DarkDreamweaver.com
Sheila and David also review children's fantasy and science fiction on their web site, Wands and Worlds, at http://www.WandsAndWorlds.com
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