Thursday, July 12, 2007

Monarch Project Day 2
monarch caterpillar project

We put the monarch in a spare bedroom with a 20-watt accent lamp I've timed to correspond with the amount of natural sunlight he'd be getting outside.
butterfly project

I haven't seen the caterpillar (not sure what gender it is) move much. Every time I come into the room it's lying inert, with rivers and bays chewed from a Swamp Milkweed leaf. It hasn't touched the Butterfly Weed (also a sort of milkweed), which leads me to believe that Monarchs have their own favorites. I've decided to throw a few forbs of Butterfly weed as well as Swamp milkweed in, and add some Common Milkweed that is growing near the curb to see what its preferences are (you'll also notice we added a small branch (you cannot tell, but it's set in there at about a 45 degree angle) to give the caterpillar something to weave its cocoon on). I have noticed that I find Monarch caterpillars on Swamp Milkweed much more often than I do on Butterfly weed.

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