Magic of the Backyard Butterfly
Finding the Very Hungry Caterpillar
I used to only hunt shark teeth in the sand. But I've moved on to live treasures. Lately, I have been searching for caterpillars at Lowe's and Home Depot. This was all dependent on my neighbor's promise that there would be one more round of caterpillar babies at the end of the summer. We had the rush of the spring/almost summer butterflies, but we were hoping for more. From what I understand, there are three times a year that caterpillars hatch.
Milkweed Drama
To invite these mini beasties into our backyard, we started buying milkweed plants. We quickly discovered that local butterfly fans have strong convictions about the tropical milkweed versus the native milkweed. We usually just choose ours based on what's available, what looks like a healthy plant, and what might have caterpillars clinging to the leaves.
We have purchased milkweed at Lowe's, Home Depot, Earthworks and probably a few other garden stores. These plants are perennials, so some of them we've carried over from year to year. They can thrive pretty well planted in the backyard, but we usally just keep them in pots.
Toward the end of summer, the milkweed on the carts at the hardware store looked sad. Like too much sun had been spent on its limp leaves. Some of the leaves were brown. The stems were long and sparse. The leaves were reaching from the tops of the branches and offered a sad landing for the insects to come and leave the little babies. I did find a few.
Does One Adopt an Insect?
Sometimes I didn't need a whole new milkweed plant, so I would rehome the caterpillar on a magnolia plant, buy that guy, and head home. The caterpillars look like tiny stripes of yellow and black inches down the long thin leaves. They liked to hide underneath. From far away they look like bee worms.
Eventually though, we had enough caterpillars that we had to buy plants to keep them well-fed. My neighbor just two houses over had a whole crop of milkweed, but it's bad manners to take your neighbor's plants to feed your temporary pets.
Our butterfly excitement began with big Monarchs flying close to us last spring. The same neighbor had two enclosures just filled with chrysalises. We ordered one similar netted enclosure to put some milkweed in with a caterpillar on it. One side has a window where you can peek in and see the caterpillars grow, the chrysalises form, and the butterflies dance.
A Bit of Beauty Inside
We took the project further this year with a smaller, square enclosure we kept inside. We had 4 caterpillars growing in there. They were named Ariel, Eric, Alanna.
The little guys eat a ton of milkweed and also leave behind evidence of all that evening. The nightly cleaning of the enclosure was pretty simple, and providing leaves was fun. It's been a little less than a month of entertainment. The chrysalis stage is about two weeks, and full of changing colors. There is a delicate thread that clings to the top of the enclosure, keeping the magic suspended.
The best part is freeing them and watching them soar into the air with newly developed wings. When I get off work, I get to check for butterflies and see if any new creatures need to be released.
Nature is a wonder.
