*SORRY -- MY COMPUTER DECIDED TO SEND THE EMAIL BEFORE I HAD FINISHED TYPING. HERE IS THE ENTIRE MESSAGE.*
Tuesday I received a shipment of Monarch caterpillars from Rose Franklin, the Milweek Lady, in PA. This is the first batch of the season. I have also ordered some from Monarch Watch, but those have been delayed. They arrive by mail, on a small milkweed plant about 6 inches tall. They are tiny, less than 1/4 the size of a grain of rice, and at first I had difficulty finding any, as they usually hide on the underside of the leaves. I opened the shipping container over a plastic circular tray that I place under potted plants. That was fortunate, as one fell out, and I noticed him only because the tray was white. I placed one of the potted tropical milkweed plants from my deck into my medium size butterfly cage (the small one now hold a praying mantis egg case), and gently rested the smaller plant with the caterpillars at the base of the larger milkweed, so they could move onto that as the one they were shipped with gets eaten up or drys out. Lastly, I managed to get the straggler that had fallen offhttp:// dan-matyola.squarespace.com/danmatyolas-pesos/2020/7/4/new-catsonto the tray by scooping it up with a small milkweed leaf and placing the leaf at the base of the larger plant. It is pretty hot and humid, but I hope they will all develop into pupae and then butterflies over the next few weeks. It is tricky to photograph the little guys, because they are so tiny and ten to hide under leaves. Also, I was trying to make the transfer as quick and gentle as possible, as they had just survived a traumatic journey courtesy of the US Postal Service. Below is the best image I could manage under the circumstances. The second image is included to give some idea of their size (the leaves are about 1 1/2 inches long), and to show how the arrive on the small milkweed plant. http://dan-matyola.squarespace.com/danmatyolas-pesos/2020/7/4/new-cats K-5 IIs, smc FA 100 mm Macro F 2.8 Comments are invited and appreciated. Dan Matyola *https://tinyurl.com/DJM-Pentax-Gallery <https://tinyurl.com/DJM-Pentax-Gallery>* -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.