Date: 09/04/2019

Number: 1

Monarch with crumpled wings. Must have come emerged from the chrysalis in the garden since it can't fly (how else would it have come here?)

I found this information on the net....
Why Monarchs Have Crumpled Wings.
A protozoan parasite known as Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) is most likely to blame for a monarch butterfly with crumpled wings. These single-celled organisms are obligate parasites, meaning they require a host organism in which to live and reproduce. Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, a parasite of monarch and queen butterflies, was first discovered in butterflies in Florida in the 1960s. Scientists have since confirmed that OE affects monarchs worldwide and is believed to have co-evolved with monarch and queen butterflies.

Monarch butterflies with high levels of OE infection might be too weak to emerge completely from the chrysalis and sometimes die during emergence. Those that do manage to break free of the pupal case might be too weak to hold on long enough to expand and dry their wings. An OE-infected adult might fall to the ground before its wings are fully open. The wings dry wrinkled and folded, and the butterfly is unable to fly.

These deformed butterflies won't live long and cannot be saved. If you find one on the ground and want to help it, place it in a protected area and give it some nectar-rich flowers or a sugar-water solution. There is nothing you can do to fix its wings, however, and it will be vulnerable to predators since it cannot fly.

Hamilton, ON

Latitude: 43.2 Longitude: -80

Observed by: Robert
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