Since the beginning of April, I have been obsessed with the Monarch butterfly. What started in late January as a gardeners “assist” to the beleaguered migrant, became an overnight emergency on April 9th. With more caterpillars than could be counted chomping on stem stumps and few milkweeds to be found (post-freeze nursery stock compounded by COVID-strangled supply), I dove deep into the world of trying to save the caterpillars.
Fortunately, most of that first wave were already 5th instars. By April 11th they vanished to pupate around my yard. Within a week we counted nearly 40 chrysalides along our backyard fence, window sills, banana, fig and citrus trees, with some venturing more than 80 feet away from their birth place. Yet a few youngsters remained and a few more eggs had hatched. These became my muse, my children and my teachers.
Today’s lesson is my first difficult one. The monarch has many challenges, and one of the most perplexing is its parasitization by the protozoan Ophryocystis elektroscirrha or OE. OE is only found on Monarchs and Monarch relatives. Information about the parasite and testing can be found HERE.
After much research on what can go wrong while raising monarchs, along with observing the development of now almost 50 chrysalides, it was immediately obvious that one of my charges was not developing the way it should. The gorgeous evergreen pod was developing a dark irregular pattern within a week following pupation. So the decision was made today to euthanize before eclosure.
Adult butterflies carry the spore of OE among its exterior abdominal scales, which then can be deposited on the eggs and the milkweed. Spores can remain (and accumulate) on plants, dormant throughout the growing season, and as the milkweed I was using was on its second round of caterpillars, the chances of OE infection was likely to increase over time.
I knew the risks when I started to become involved. I never tire of watching every step of the Monarch’s journey- this lesson is actually just as sweet- if difficult to swallow- that I can help improve their health by doing the hard part for them.
If in your wandering or your rearing see a chrysalis that looks like the image below, remove it from the rest of the population, and if you can, do the right thing. I intend to send it off for testing.
