It has been a pretty darn good year in the butterfly house so far! We have raised and released about 250 monarchs so far. We allowed many of them to breed and lay eggs on milkweed plants in the greenhouse before their release, so we now have many hundred (thousand?) larvae coming along. We should have plenty of a variety of sizes for distribution to the local school districts.
If you are interested in larvae for your classroom, Johanna is coordinating the effort this year. You can email her at johannalittle@aol.com. They will be available for pickup at the greenhouse over labor day weekend. She can also answer any possible question you could have on raising them!
Various pictures of larvae/butterflies in various stages of development are available at https://picasaweb.google.com/100426844359989897318.
We are looking for a tagging/release date of September 13 or 14th... stay tuned for details!
J
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
First Generation Raised...
So here we are at August 7th... there are about 250 +/- monarchs in the butterfly house in various stages from larvae to adults. All of these were the effort of just a few females that we raised earlier this summer- see prior post.
We have started to pair off the adults and watch for mating and ultimately egg laying activity. For whatever the reason, we seem to be about 10 days ahead of schedule, so we need to make sure we have eggs being laid over the rest of this month, to be sure we have enough larvae to distribute to all the elementary school classes that want them. Most of the remaining butterflies will just fly around the greenhouse for a few days, but ultimately get released on their merry way. All of this generation will be local breeders rather than migrators. All future eggs laid this year will be the ones who attempt the great migration to central Mexico, overwinter, breed and start the generations who will join us next summer.
My daughter Johanna will be coordinating the distribution of butterflies for the classroom this year. If you are an educator and want some larvae for your classroom, shoot her an email at johannalittle@aol.com and make arrangements. We would expect the distribution to be here at the greenhouse on Labor Day weekend.
The remaining larvae that are raised here in the greenhouse will be tagged before they are released. Generally, we have an open house in mid-September to allow visitors to assist in the tagging and release. Watch this blog for further details on that event...
For more information on monarch migration, visit http://monarchwatch.com/ ...
We have started to pair off the adults and watch for mating and ultimately egg laying activity. For whatever the reason, we seem to be about 10 days ahead of schedule, so we need to make sure we have eggs being laid over the rest of this month, to be sure we have enough larvae to distribute to all the elementary school classes that want them. Most of the remaining butterflies will just fly around the greenhouse for a few days, but ultimately get released on their merry way. All of this generation will be local breeders rather than migrators. All future eggs laid this year will be the ones who attempt the great migration to central Mexico, overwinter, breed and start the generations who will join us next summer.
My daughter Johanna will be coordinating the distribution of butterflies for the classroom this year. If you are an educator and want some larvae for your classroom, shoot her an email at johannalittle@aol.com and make arrangements. We would expect the distribution to be here at the greenhouse on Labor Day weekend.
The remaining larvae that are raised here in the greenhouse will be tagged before they are released. Generally, we have an open house in mid-September to allow visitors to assist in the tagging and release. Watch this blog for further details on that event...
For more information on monarch migration, visit http://monarchwatch.com/ ...
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Praying Mantis nymphs
With all of the butterfly larvae we raise, it would never make sense for us to use pesticides or herbicides around the greenhouses. So how do we control pests that want to eat up our plants? Over the last few years we have experimented with various "biological" controls including parasitic wasps and praying mantis nymphs... we have decided we like the praying mantis the best! I honestly d0n't know if they do a better job, but they are way cool! The image to the right is a photo of the nymphs emerging from the egg sack.
So it begins!
The greenhouse season is wrapping up at Little's Greenhouse... the "2 for 1" sale is this weekend. One way or another everything will be gone by next weekend! Behind the scenes for many months we have been preparing for a new butterfly season. Lots and lots of tropical milkweed has been planted for the monarchs... dill and parsley for the black swallowtails... our entire effort for the rest of the season will be toward producing lots of happy butterflies!
This week I brought my "breeding stock" in from another butterfly grower in the south.... a dozen larvae ranging from a day to a few days old. Over the next month, they will grow, pupate and emerge as monarchs. At that point will be pair them off, allow them to breed and then contain the females with milkweed plants, where they will hopefully lay eggs. With any luck, we will have three generations of monarchs this year... with the last batch ready to migrate in late August and September. If all goes right, we will have a "tag and release" party in Mid-September at the greenhouse.
Black swallowtails are usually the first butterflies we raise each year. For whatever the reason, they have not been around this spring. We have planted dill and parsley in the gardens and are hoping for some caterpillars sometime soon! If you find any in your garden... on dill, parsely, carrots or on Queen Anne's lace, stick them in a cup and bring them to me. I can show you have you can raise them successfully...
This week I brought my "breeding stock" in from another butterfly grower in the south.... a dozen larvae ranging from a day to a few days old. Over the next month, they will grow, pupate and emerge as monarchs. At that point will be pair them off, allow them to breed and then contain the females with milkweed plants, where they will hopefully lay eggs. With any luck, we will have three generations of monarchs this year... with the last batch ready to migrate in late August and September. If all goes right, we will have a "tag and release" party in Mid-September at the greenhouse.
Black swallowtails are usually the first butterflies we raise each year. For whatever the reason, they have not been around this spring. We have planted dill and parsley in the gardens and are hoping for some caterpillars sometime soon! If you find any in your garden... on dill, parsely, carrots or on Queen Anne's lace, stick them in a cup and bring them to me. I can show you have you can raise them successfully...
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