Date: 05/29/2017

Number: 19

Of the 28 eggs/caterpillars I collected out of my milkweed patch this spring, I had the following results:

2 died as caterpillars;

I released the following:
3 girls/1 boy eclosed on May 29, 2017
3 girls/2 boys eclosed on May 30, 2017
3 girls/2 boys eclosed on May 31, 2017
1 girl/1 boy eclosed on June 1, 2017
2 girls eclosed on June 2, 2017
Same day: 1 boy born with deformed legs: so I took a scale sample and euthanized via freezing.
1 boy eclosed on June 3, 2017
Same day: 1 boy born with deformed legs. scale sample taken and I euthanized.
* I took my samples to the local university biology department and looked at them under a high-powered microscope. No sign of O.E.
I still have 5 chrysalides to date on my porch.
So -- I released a total of 19 Monarchs last week.
After seeing the two deformed monarchs, I started researching O.E. and have come to realize that if I'm going to raise them from the wild that I need to test every monarch before I release it, and I need to set up a super sterile environment for the eggs and caterpillars that I raise. My next blog post will discuss this. Cheers, Heather Rayburn www.MonarchLover.org

Asheville, NC

Latitude: 35.6 Longitude: -82.6

Observed by: Heather
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