It’s been a banner year for Nicole Johnston’s butterfly garden. Over 20 Monarch caterpillars have been collected and housed in protective netted cages. So far one butterfly has emerged and been released, 17 chrysalides awaiting emergence, and a handful of caterpillars in various stages or ‘instars’ are eating and growing rapidly. They’ve cleaned out my garden of milkweed, but luckily I received a tip that the Tremont Consolidated School has a raised bed full of milkweed to share.
Key to the garden’s success this year, was the addition of Joe Pye Weed, a super pollinator magnet, to attract the Monarch butterflies, which then lay their eggs on the milkweed plants below.
Dramatic size difference between first instar, circled, and fifth instar caterpillars on either side.
Caterpillars go through 5 instars (growth stages between molting) before pupating and becoming a chrysalis. Each instar lasts a couple days and the chrysalis stage lasts between 10-15 days. During the chrysalis stage, enzymes break down the caterpillar’s muscles, organs, and tissues until they are liquified. Specialized cells called imaginal discs (similar to stem cells) survive the breakdown and act as blueprints and reorganize in the nutrient rich liquid to form the butterfly. These undifferentiated cells are clustered within the larval body and each imaginal disk is preprogramed to form a specific structure such as the organs, wings, legs, eyes, and antennae.
If you would like to foster caterpillars, you can purchase a net cage from the Charolette Rhoades Butterly Garden in Southwest Harbor and I will gladly rehome some caterpillars with you to get started.
You can also help the endangered Monarch population by simply planting milkweed. It is resilient, spreads quickly and it is the sole food source for Monarch caterpillars.
Butterfly just minutes after emerging.