Monarch Butterflies

1. Monarch Butterflies PowerPoint Pizzazz by the ‘Butterfly Lady’ Jacqui Knightof Russell, Bay of Islands, NZ Danaus plexippus

2. Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly 1 – Egg/Ovum4 days (longer if cool) 1- Egg Ovum 4 - Adult Imago 2 - Caterpillar Larva 3 - Pupa Chrysalis

3. Egg (Ovum) • smaller than a pin • male dies soon after mating • one female laid 1179 eggs!* • average female lays 400 eggs! Photo and statistics:* Monarch Lab, University of Minnesota, used with permission

4. after about four days eggs are transparent (can be as little as one day or may take all winter) black face of caterpillar can be seen

5. Life Cycle : Caterpillar 1 – Egg/Ovum4 days 2 – Caterpillar/Larva10-14 days 1- Egg Ovum 4 - Adult Imago 2 - Caterpillar Larva 3 - Pupa Chrysalis

7. Caterpillars (Larvae) • emerges only 2mm long • eats egg shell • grows in stages (five instars) • eats day and night for 9-14 days (Summer) • slower in Winter

8. five pairs of legs egg to chrysalis, caterpillar grows in size 3000+ times

9. finally 5-6cm long In NZ not palatable to birds - chemical defence against predators

10. Life Cycle : Chrysalis 1 – Egg/Ovum4 days 2 – Caterpillar/Larva10-14 days 1- Eggs Ovum 4 - Adult Imago 2 - Caterpillar Larva 3 - Pupa Chrysalis 3 - Pupa/Chrysalis10-14 days

11. Chrysalis • caterpillar lays down mat of silk • in centre of mat a tiny white silk button • clasps button with last two prolegs and lets go with front legs • hangs upside down in a J formation

13. skin splits, revealingchrysalisinside

14. wriggling chrysalis pushes old skin up and out of the way

19. chrysalis wriggles and moulds into smooth shape

20. The green colouration is caterpillar’s blood or haemolymph. The make-up of the specks of gold unknown.

21. pale green changes to jade green

23. cuticle (skin) actually transparent hangs 10-14 days as butterfly body forms inside

24. Fourth Stage : Adult 1 – Eggs/Ovum4 days 2 – Caterpillar/Larva10-14 days 1- Eggs Ovum 4 - Adult Imago 2 - Caterpillar Larva 3 - Pupa Chrysalis 4 – Adult/Imagomates 3 - Pupa/Chrysalis10-14 days

25. Chrysalis shell breaks open MonarchButterflyemerges

26. Adult pumps fluid into wings to straighten and strengthen Then knits together two parts of mouth (proboscis)

27. finds a mate… … and life cycle begins all over again

28. Adult Photograph courtesy of Dale McClung, http://www.adver-net.com/FMonHome.html • Females have broader veins

29. Adult • Males have a black dot, a scent pouch, on their lower wing • Their black veins are also thinner Photograph courtesy of Dale McClung, http://www.adver-net.com/FMonHome.html

30. Food Sources - Butterfly • Echium Fastuosum ‘Pride of Madeira’ • Schinus molle (Pepper Tree) • Tweedia • Buddleia • Butterfly Bush • Cosmos, Lantana, Asters, Sage, Yarrow, Phlox • any flowering plants, nectar-rich

31. Butterfly feeder • plastic pot saucer • sand • 1 teaspoon of cow or horse manure • over-ripe piece of banana, apple, pear • place sand and manure in saucer with small amount of water • add fruit

32. Butterfly feeder • 1 teaspoon sugar dissolved in 2 cups water • DO NOT USE HONEY (can spread disease from bees to other insects)

33. Food Sources - Caterpillars • Milkweed (Asclepias species) • poisonous cardenolides or cardiac glycosides • cardenolides are poisonous to vertebrates (animals with backbone)

34. Food Sources - Caterpillars Swan PlantAsclepias fruticosa • grows 1 - 2 metres • slender leaves • clusters of small cream flowers • seedpods resembling swans, silvery green, • seeds slightly bigger than a pin-head, hard, black • plants often stripped by Monarch caterpillars and die in height of season

35. Food Sources - Caterpillars Giant Swan PlantAsclepias physocarpa or Gomphocarpus physocarpus • 2 - 3 metres • large round leaf • larger cream flowers • round seedpods more like hairy golfballs • rapid growth, strong plant, usually outlives caterpillars’ attacks • may need staking - plant out of strong winds

36. WARNING!!! • milky latex-like sap • poisonous • can cause itching • if eaten - vomiting, stupor, weakness, spasms

37. ALTERNATIVE FOOD SOURCES • Pumpkin! • Put thin slivers on to a plate • Use the ‘moat’ process to force the caterpillars to eat pumpkin • Frass (poop) will turn golden! • Only suitable for caterpillars bigger than 2cm

38. Pests • Birds – do not predate Monarchs - caterpillars are poisonous

39. Pests • Wasps: • Tachinid larva burrows into a Monarch larva (caterpillar), eats tissues and fluid from Monarch • Brachonid wasp, femalelays one egg inside Monarchlarva. From that egg, asmany as 32 genetically-identical adults develop Photograph: Morris, Clearwater, Florida, USA

40. Pests • Do not try and kill pests -- • Some wasps are beneficial, introduced to control other pests such as aphids

41. Protection from Wasps • Vase full of water on a tray • Spread a thin layer of water on the tray to act as a moat • Put a branch of Swan Plant in the vase • Remove small caterpillars very gently from their host plant using a ‘pocket’ • Add caterpillars by pegging pouch to Swan Plant • Add more food daily to the vase • Under the tray you will want to put layers of newspaper to catch all the frass or poop

42. New Zealand • NZ has only 23 species of butterfly • 11 endemic • 12 non-endemic

43. New ZealandThe Monarch Butterfly • first recorded in NZ 1880s • believed to have blown here on a storm • no harmful effects on NZ ecosystem

44. New Zealand • 1960-1970s Monarch Butterflies tagged • 6500 butterflies tagged • 1011 recovered • Only 28 butterflies flew more than 20km Photo by Ed Wesley, NE Pennsylvania Photo courtesyLinda & Jeff Ives

45. New Zealand • no pattern of migration • parks and gardens – thousands of butterflies in one tree • following taken at Butterfly Bay near Russell, Bay of Islands

47. North America • Native • East of the Rockies: Reserves in Mexico • Autumn: migrate up to 3000km south to Mexico for the North American Winter • That’s one and a half times the length of New Zealand! • Spring: migrate back to where their great great grandparents come from – 5th generations!

48. North America • Native to America • West of the Rockies: overwinter in California – e.g. Monterey Peninsula • Spring: migrate back north – some say to where their forebears lived.

49. North America 80% of the Eastern Population of migrating Monarchs enters Mexico by crossing the Rio Grande in Southwest Texas. For six weeks each fall many thousands of monarchs cluster and nectar nightly on the scrubby, arid vegetation. Thousands of square miles of scrub brush provide ample shelter and sustenance for the many millions of Monarchs. This pair of tagged Monarchs will nectar on the Lantana horrida, warming themselves in the direct sunlight before resuming their southward trek. Photo courtesy Rio Bravo Nature Center Foundation, Inc. Eagle Pass, Texas

50. Monarch Butterflies for further information, plants, presentations to schools and clubs etc contact the ‘Butterfly Lady’, Jacqui Knight, Russell, Bay of Islands, NZ That’s all folks!