1 chrysalis eclosed yesterday. 2 of them eclosed today. We released 2 of the 3 - a boy and a girl. (This is the male we released today. He was huge!) I think the 3rd butterfly has the butterfly disease OE, but I'm not sure. He was a rather sickly caterpillar. We found him curled up in the mulch one morning and put him back on the milkweed. Another time he kind of wandered away from it, like he forgot where he was supposed to be. His wings, abdomen, and proboscis are deformed. Thinking that he has OE, we wouldn't have released him anyway, but he can't fly or eat. I don't expect him to make it through the night. I know it's the way nature works, but it's kind of sad. Danielle enjoyed holding him, though.
We have one more chrysalis left, which I think will eclose tomorrow. Danielle is going to take it in to share with her class. Typically they don't eclose until a little later in the morning, so hopefully this gal will hold off until Danielle makes it to school!
While we were outside tonight, I noticed this bug on my lantana. It caught my attention initially because it looked like a wasp, but when I looked closer, I thought its wings looked more moth like. Thanks to my brother for the id - it's a peachtree borer moth.
1 chrysalis eclosed yesterday. 2 of them eclosed today. We released 2 of the 3 - a boy and a girl. (This is the male we released today. He was huge!) I think the 3rd butterfly has the butterfly disease OE, but I'm not sure. He was a rather sickly caterpillar. We found him curled up in the mulch one morning and put him back on the milkweed. Another time he kind of wandered away from it, like he forgot where he was supposed to be. His wings, abdomen, and proboscis are deformed. Thinking that he has OE, we wouldn't have released him anyway, but he can't fly or eat. I don't expect him to make it through the night. I know it's the way nature works, but it's kind of sad. Danielle enjoyed holding him, though. 
We have one more chrysalis left, which I think will eclose tomorrow. Danielle is going to take it in to share with her class. Typically they don't eclose until a little later in the morning, so hopefully this gal will hold off until Danielle makes it to school!
While we were outside tonight, I noticed this bug on my lantana. It caught my attention initially because it looked like a wasp, but when I looked closer, I thought its wings looked more moth like. Thanks to my brother for the id - it's a peachtree borer moth.
1 comment:
We have found wild butterflies before that I suspected had OE. They always seemed to "like" us - I'm sure it was because they usually couldn't fly at all, but they seemed sweet just the same. I know they say to kill them, but I just felt sorry for them instead!
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