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This has been an extraordinary season and many people still have caterpillars and chrysalises, with butterflies emerging every sunny day. Some people are seeing deformed adults and write to us as to what they should do.
The important thing is to remember that monarchs are wildlife… not domesticated pets. When we bring them indoors to a warmer, drier environment this will naturally speed up the metamorphosis. If they were outdoors it would take a lot longer: less light (shorter day length) and warmth slows the process down. But when the butterflies emerge they will, usually, after a few days, be ready to fly off and overwinter.
If you have monarchs indoors then it is important to let them sense what the weather is like out of doors. They can easily cope with cold, damp and dark, but strong winds, heavy rain and snow will take their toll. When they eclose (emerge from the chrysalis), and their wings are firm, take them outdoors. Leave them in the most sheltered spot you can find, where any sunshine will reach them. They do not need to feed immediately and, believe it or not, they will know exactly what to do.
They do not need to be transported to an overwintering spot. Although their brains are the size of a grain of rice, they have everything stored inside their brain to find the perfect place to overwinter. (And if the butterfly makes its own way you are not adding any greenhouse gases to the air!)
Another point worth noting: over the course of the season diseases and pathogens which affect butterflies have a chance to build up. By the end of the summer they will be affecting more and more butterflies. In the summer it takes about four weeks for a monarch to go through its metamorphosis, but when the days get shorter and cooler, it takes longer – and accordingly the diseases have more time to do their damage. If the monarchs are weaker they will often emerge deformed. This is Nature at work but if the butterflies are unable to breed, feed and fly, in the wild they will die, providing food for predators or the soil or even helping maintain the disease/pathogens. The best thing you can do, if you want to be involved, is to euthanase the butterfly – if you put it into the freezer its system will gradually shut down and you can remove it after 24 hours.
Feel free to share this information with friends and family who may still have caterpillars on their swan plants. They will be grateful for it.
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