We had a fake out. One of the 5th instar was on the screen lid on the side where all the chrysalises are. Later, I thought it fell, but it was happily munching on a leaf. I don’t know how folks keep track of greater numbers.
Month: August 2018
Elders Kissing in the Glade
Guardianship update: 12th August 2018
The temperature took a nosedive today, and it’s cool enough that I’m in jeans and a sweatshirt quite comfortably (My low blood pressure is helping that). The cool damp in the air instead of the humidly stifling feeling is quite a change! I’m wondering how much difference this will make for the larvae growth rate, as the forecast is predicting this will be the norm for a few more days until the temps start to hit low 80s F again. Continue reading “Guardianship update: 12th August 2018”
Note to Future Me #6
Remember those images of the shade changes in the backyard we took last year in mid May after reading about how useful it is to understand which parts of a garden is shaded or not, and when? They were then filed away in the “Progress” folder, and I only found them again this year while hunting for an older picture. Here’s a refresher in case you forgot again: Continue reading “Note to Future Me #6”
Why didn’t I think of this sooner…skunk.
After I had checked on the monarchs, I went to roll up the shade on my office window, and immediately was grateful the window was closed. Continue reading “Why didn’t I think of this sooner…skunk.”
Guardianship update: 11th August 2018
So much to my surprise, and with a twinge of guilt, at late suppertime yesterday (which was the 10th for folks pondering the time difference), I saw Junior poised in preparation for J already. Since the four older instar had been out of the incubator for a while, I really didn’t realize how big Junior had grown, especially since the last to form a chrysalis was the biggest 5th instar (and bigger than Junior). Continue reading “Guardianship update: 11th August 2018”
If I had a nickel…#1
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve seen a plant labeled “perennial”… Continue reading “If I had a nickel…#1”
Contextual Egg–unknown fungi
Guardianship update: 8th August 2018
Yesterday was busy, so I didn’t get a chance to post news. When I cleaned out the incubator yesterday, I found a single newly born. I think one bit I thought was an egg was really just a tiny milkweed sap bubble. I checked over the seed pods with a magnifying glass several times to be sure there were no remaining eggs before I put them back outside–they take up a lot of room in the incubator, and I wanted to bring in a stem with more leaves as all the larvae were getting bigger. Continue reading “Guardianship update: 8th August 2018”