My 11 year old daughter was greatly interested and watching the various butterfly cacoons around the property as they were emerging. One of them turned black about 2 days before it emerged. She read all she could find on the internet and found that it was either a bacteria infection or a parasite. She found lots of pictures that looked just like it. Some lived, some didn't, some never emerged, some emerged and died.
So this butterfly ermerged yesterday with it's wings small, crumpled, unable to open, and little energy. We filled a bowl full of flowers and leaves and put sugar water in there. We have kept it protected and watched it closely. She keeps reading and is trying to figure out what is next. One site said the wings could be washed careful with a light bleach solution which I did this morning. There wasn't more than a few drops. Something speckled and black was pouring off the wings. I was hoping that may have been a prasite leaving the poor thing. It's mostly dry again and still crumpled, but stronger than it was yesterday.
Because we are homeschoolers, I told her to put aside most of her other work and send emails to scientists if she can find them, take pictures, observe, and see if she can find out exactly how it eats and what it eats so that we can help it or at least figure out if it is indeed eating.
I've even told her that when she writes up her paper that details everything she has done and observed, that I want her to discuss if she feels she has helped or not and did the butterfly have any quality of life and did she feel the butterfly was trying to survive. That's a lot for an 11 year old to digest. But that's why we homeschool!
Does anyone have any experience or advice to share?
We have had the monarchs before a few times. 2 of them put their crysalis's up in my house above my kitchen sink. This is the only time we've ever seen a monarch born like this. We waited over 24 hours to try the bathing because the wings were still small and crumpled. I know there must be milk-weed someplace. The websites I've been reading say that there is not nearly enough and that the parasite they get is always present. But if they don't have enough milk-weed they can not fight the parasite. They also said that a lot of people spray the milk-weed with chemicals that hurt the monarchs. We got the milk-weed from a website that is promoting raising monarchs because their populations are so dwindled. So I'm sure it's the right kind.
We did go and get hummingbird nectar yesterday and a sage plant for it to hang out on. The wings are very floppy and seemingly heavy for the little lady. My daughter says it's a female monarch. She's studied the situation all over on the net. There is a parasite that Monarchs get if they don't get reared on milk-weed. We don't have any milk-weed in our yard and very little anywhere. A friend of mine directed me to a page that explains this again and offers seeds. So I ordered milk-weed seeds for next year to plant in the spring.
This little guy will flap it's wings and move into a comfortable spot. but for the most part it's not real well. I suspect it will have a short lifespan. Usually it lives about 10 weeks or so.
My goodness gracious. Is everyone determined to be snarky this week? I just figured some people would have similar stories of their kids trying to save helpless creatures. Being a parent of 4 daughters, we've had our share of wild animal finds.
Thank you :) Sure wish more mamapedians were interested in educational conversation. But I guess I don't have time anyway :)
Just got this today! Go to this site for free clip art for awesome Martha Stewart butterflies. Have fun : )
http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/fine-specimens?...
With a strong interest in butterflies, you should look for the next butterfly educational opportunity in August and September next summer. Powell Garden's, just east of Kansas City about 15 minutes from Lee's Summit on HWY 50 (toward Warrensburg) has huge butterfly events during the Monarch migration. You can check the calendar on their website.
Powell Garden's is a nice place to go for studying "nature" and have things for every season. Great walking trails, beautiful flowers summer through fall, peaceful serene setting, they have different events and is also a wedding destination. Awesome picture opportunities, one can easily spend several hours there.
Too bad the butterfly events were over earlier this month and is very much weather related.
Why don't you contact the Butterfly House in Chesterfield, MO.
That's what I'd do surely they could help or send you to someone to advise...
L.
Have you contacted a butterfly museum/zoo?
Try the NAtural Science Museum in Raleigh and the Natural Bridge Butterfly zoo.
http://naturalsciences.org/exhibits
http://www.naturalbridgeva.com/butterflies_at_the_bridge.php
We are collecting different arthropods and have a display case with all sorts of different species. My 10 yo has a card file with a card for each one with its LAtin name, and a paragraph. We homeschool too.
How cool.
Have you been able to identify what species of butterfly it is? You might be able to find out what its normal adult life span is, whether they normally live for a couple of days or a few weeks. Did you find types of flowers that are popular with other butterflies? Have you seen it trying to drink nectar, or is it unable to move?
I have been to many science museums that have the butterfly exhibits. The staff don't seem to care about individual butterflies dying and they usually have more ready to replace them.
Here are 2 websites to try:
http://www.butterflyfunfacts.com
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/
Wow - I didn't think your post sounded like you were slamming the non-homeschoolers at all!
I think it's really cool that she's researching and trying to care for it (whether she's at school with you or elsewhere). Unfortunately, my kiddos are still really small, so not much experience with injured animals yet. Glad you found out some more information! Great suggestion about going to Powell Gardens!
My son has been raising monarchs for 6 years now. And I help, too, because I think it's totally awesome. Not sure if you're only dealing with monarchs, but here is some info on them.
Monarchs have a beautiful green chrysalis that gradually turns black (actually, clear - just looks black because you can see their bodies and wings through it) before they emerge.
All butterflies emerge with crumpled wings - they need to pump them up, and let them dry out. Takes 1 -2 hours. I've never heard of using a bleach solution on their wings, and never would, because that doesn't seem to make sense to me.
It's fun to raise monarchs. And if you find one, then you have to have milkweed around somewhere, because you will only find monarch eggs and caterpillars on milkweed. So if your daughter had a monarch, then she had to have gotten it from milkweed. There are many different kinds of milkweed, so I hope you made sure that what you ordered is the kind they like. They won't touch some varieties of it!
Once a monarch has formed its chrysalis, it is very unlikely that anything bad will happen to it after that point. Even if it is shaken and falls (highly unlikely) you can string it back up and it will be fine.
The monarchs that are born this late are the ones that are flying back to Mexico, where they will winter, and then start their journey back north in the spring. It takes four generations of butterflies to make the journey back up here, but only one to migrate south and winter in warmer weather. So the ones heading back now have life spans of more than 10 weeks.
I hope your daughter continues raising butterflies - monarchs are the coolest - and enjoys it as much as we do! In our opinion, Painted Lady caterpillars are the gross and ugly! : )
Blessings,
J.
If you are really motivated, I'm sure all the information you're looking for is out there on the internet. You just haven't found it yet.
You asked for people with knowledge of butterflies. Frankly, I'm surprised you got O. helpful response! Not exactly a common hobby for moms, I would think.
Sooooo....is this a slam to the non homeschoolers?
Seriously, that's what your ending and SWH sound like.
