12
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
Monarch butterflies
need our help
Looking at the life history
of the monarch butterfly in
the accompanying montage
one can see what changes
and conditions they have to
go through to maintain their
place in nature.
However, those are only
part of what happens to the
butterfly — to achieve this
miraculous work there is the
irreplaceable need for only
one plant the caterpillar can
eat: milkweed. Then, after the
caterpillar metamorphoses
into a butterfly, other flower-
ing plants are necessary for
nectaring. This story is about
how to ensure that milk-
weed and wildflowers will
always be there for the but-
terfly’s survival, by creating
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monarch way-stations.
Being tropical butter-
flies, monarchs must have a
way to survive our cold win-
ters. To do this they migrate
south to spend time closer
to the equator — the only
North American butterfly to
do so. The eastern and cen-
tral U.S. monarchs head for
Mexico to spend winter in
towering firs, while western
populations find the warmth
they need along the coastal
parts of central and southern
California.
The Mexican wintering
habitat is shrinking due to
illegal logging. In the U.S.,
habitat for food plants are
vanishing due to changing
land uses. The western pop-
ulation’s wintering habitat
along the California coast is
capable of supporting a lot
of monarchs, but the habitat
for milkweed and nectaring
plants when they head back
north is getting more difficult
to find.
The last generation of the
summer, monarchs have no
interest in mating, only in
building fat reserves that will
be their survival food once
they arrive at their winter
quarters. After their winter
stay (which is not hiberna-
tion, as they are awake all
winter, which lasts for five
months), the sun reaches that
spot in the sky that makes
days longer. A biological
trigger creates the urge to
mate again. As they start
north, they will mate at the
first milkweed patch they
come to, lay eggs and die.
A female lays hundreds of
single eggs on the underside
of the milkweed leaves. After
three to five days, the eggs
hatch, and the tiny larva (cat-
erpillar) will begin to feed on
“Spelk when yos lre lngry, lnd
yos will mlke the best speech
yos’ll ever regret.”
— Groscho Mlrx
the leaves. As it grows the
larva will get too big for its
britches, shed the old skin
and begin the next instar
toward becoming a pupa.
Finally, after the larvae
have grown to a little over an
inch long (about half the size
of a human’s little finger) —
a process that takes 10 to 14
days and a lot of milkweed
— they’re ready to pupate.
The caterpillar(s) — in a
prepupal “J” shape — with
a silken thread on the end
of it’s abdomen will attach
itself to the bottom of a hori-
zontal twig before shedding
their skin for the last time.
In the photo above you can
see the remains of the outer
skin hanging on the pupal
case.
The pupa slowly becomes
a butterfly, the outer skin has
space for the new, three-seg-
ment body, slender jointed
photos by JiM anDerson
Life cycle of the monarch butterfly.
legs, four wings, segmented
eyes, an entirely differ-
ent eating device, breath-
ing organs and the ability to
reproduce.
When the process of
metamorphosis is completed
and the new creature — an
adult monarch — is ready
to begin its life, the chrysa-
lid splits open and the adult
insect steps out into the air.
Its wings are soft and mis-
shapen from being stuffed in
the solid chrysalis and must
be pumped up with body flu-
ids and harden.
When that process is fin-
ished and the coiled mouth-
piece that acts like a straw is
prepared for feeding, the but-
terfly takes wing and begins
to explore its new world.
See MoNarcHS on page 31
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Class schedules and open studio times
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Dr. Bonnie Malone, DC
392 W. Main Ave., #3
Sisters Chiropractic Clinic • 16190 Hwy. 126, Sisters • 541-549-7141
(Across from Bright Spot)
Serving Sisters for 33 Years
541-588-0931