Posts Tagged ‘monarch butterfly eggs’
Monarch Butterfly Egg Hunt — First Report
Dot’s Thot: “People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?” — Thich Nat Hanh
My Asclepsis or Butterfly Bush in the Front Yard
As best as I can tell, my butterfly plants are of the variety — Asclepsis curassavica Wildfire. I am no expert and just a lover of Monarch butterflies. I went out to the garden about 5 days ago and took the picture you see here. At that time, I saw no caterpillars and the leaves, buds and flowers looked uneaten.
Closeup of the Asclepsis or Butterfly Plant Blossoms
I hunted rather lack-a-daisically for butterfly eggs. Not having had the sense to look up pictures, I was not successful. Too busy to hunt down the chrysalises that I normally could find, I ignored the plants until 3 days ago when I saw a lone butterfly flitting about the plants. It was not particularly strong — being the first of the season and a loner butterfly I felt kind of sorry for it. Last night, before bed, I went on the internet and looked for pictures. I googled images and found some interesting ones. http://tinyurl.com/pjatn6. I did that to learn so I could egg hunt.
This morning I went out determined to find something. I hunted and peered, turning over leaves. I finally saw 3 small individual eggs.
My First Sighting of a Monarch Butterfly Egg for 2009
I took a shot, but I don’t have a macro lens — something to ask Santa for this year, maybe, … so you have to kind of squint … but it is in-real-time amateur living proof that the butterfly comes, then eggs get laid.
Now I wait for more butterflies (from the masterfully hidden chrysalises) and eventually the tiny caterpillars, one of the few creepy-crawlies I look forward to eating my plants.
This Monarch journal is just for fun, because I love to garden and Monarch butterflies have a special place in my heart. Follow along, will you? Butterfly hugs to all.
Fondest Aloha,
Dot
Related Articles and References:
Related Posts
- Asclepsis and Lantana: Food for Monarch Butterflies
- Scene in Hawaii: Monarch Butterfly Caterpiller in a Supermarket Garden Shop
- Scene in Hawaii: Hawaiian Bougainvillea “Dragons”
- Scene in Hawaii: Hawaiian Snowflakes, Rainbow Shower Tree Haiku
- A Note on Monarch Butterflies in Hawaii
- Monarch Butterfly Haiku: Camera Madness
- Monarch Butterfly Sightings Haiku — the Asclepsis Gardener’s Reward
- Missed the Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis — Found It Empty
- Monarch Butterflies — Caterpillar Faith
- Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle Site Review — go visit
- Monarch Butterfly Egg Hunt is On
Monarch Butterfly Egg Hunt is On
Dot’s Thots: “The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.” –
Rabindranath Tagore
I have looked unsuccessfully for Monarch butterfly eggs in the past and doing it again. I do have very bad eyes, but suspect it was my timing.. Here is a picture from the Wikimedia site that actually shows a butterly laying eggs — wow!! I just got my first Monarch butterfly yesterday from this last batch (fourth generation of butterflies since I planted and nurtured butterfly bushes.
Monarch Butterfly Laying Eggs
Common sense tells me that this is happening when my butterflies flutter around, but I have not seen the eggs — so how big are they and what will I be looking for — so I went looking for some pictures from which to learn and train my eyes. So, another Wikimedia helpful hint:
Monarch Butterfly Eggs on Gomphocarpus physocarpus (Swan Plant)
This does not look like the butterfly bushes I am growing, but I get the idea that the eggs are pretty small. Hence, I plan to look for the eggs over the next few weeks as the butterflies appear. I do admit to being a little lax in the hunting and noticing — I usually only catch on when the caterpillars appear and the leaves look kind of ratty.
This is an effort on my part to learn — I want to be a waypoint (tiny one) in that great migration of monarch butterflies down to Mexico and back. I remember monarch butterflies from girlhood in Hawaii.
Well, enough for today — I will post over the next few weeks and if I fail to find the eggs, we will at least be alert for the caterpillar appearance.
At least, I have learned via the internet what to look for and can be more observant. Next year I plan to track the monarch butterly migration a lot better.
Aloha, DoT
Related Articles and References:
Related Posts:
- Asclepsis and Lantana: Food for Monarch Butterflies
- Scene in Hawaii: Monarch Butterfly Caterpiller in a Supermarket Garden Shop
- A Note on Monarch Butterflies in Hawaii
- Monarch Butterfly Haiku: Camera Madness
- Monarch Butterfly Sightings Haiku — the Asclepsis Gardener’s Reward
- Missed the Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis — Found It Empty
- Monarch Butterflies — Caterpillar Faith
- Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle Site Review — go visit
- Monarch Butterfly Egg Hunt — First Report
