Category: Interview Michael Wills

Farewell to the Monarchs for 2023

Monarch from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly

MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Here are two of the ten monarchs we release this year. In under three minutes this video shows a monarch caterpillar transforming into a chrysalis, emerging two weeks later as a butterfly. Music “Emotional Underscores Vol. 3” by Yuri Sazonoff (SOCAN) “Can You Guess” and “Blessing”

“Migrating monarchs soar at heights of up to 1,200 feet. As sunlight hits those wings, it heats them up, but unevenly. Black areas get hotter, while white areas stay cooler. The scientists believe that when these forces are alternated, as they are with a monarch’s white spots set against black bands on the wings’ edges, it seems to create micro-vortices of air that reduce drag—making flight more efficient.”

“Monarchs begin leaving the northern US and Canada in mid-August. They usually fly for 4-6 hours during the day, coming down from the skies to feed in the afternoon and then find roosting sites for the night.  Monarchs cannot fly unless their flight muscles reach 55ºF. On a sunny day, these muscles in their thorax can warm to above air temperature when they bask (the black scales on their bodies help absorb heat), so they can actually fly if it is 50ºF and sunny. But on a cloudy day, they generally don’t fly if it is below 60ºF.“

“Migrating monarchs use a combination of powered flight and gliding flight, maximizing gliding flight to conserve energy and reduce wear and tear on flight muscles.  Monarchs can glide forward 3-4 feet for every foot they drop in altitude.  If they have favorable tail or quartering winds, monarchs can flap their wings once every 20-30 feet and maintain altitude. Monarchs are so light that they can easily be lifted by the rising air. But they are not weightless. In order to stay in the air, they must move forward while also staying within the thermal. They do this by moving in a circle. The rising air in the thermal carries them upward, and their overall movement ends up being an upward spiral. Monarchs spiral upwards in the thermal until they reach the limit/top of the thermal (where the rising air has cooled to the same temperature as the air around it). At that point, the monarch glides forward in a S/SW direction with the aid of the wind. It glides until it finds another thermal and rides that column of rising air upwards again.”

Reference: text in italics and quotes is from one of two online articles. “The monarch butterfly’s spots may be its superpower” National Geographic, June 2023 and “Fall Migration – How do they do it?” by Candy Sarikonda, September 2014.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

First Release of 2023

Advice for releasing your monarch butterfly

MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

We let our first monarch butterfly rest overnight, until noon of the following day.

Pam did better with tracking the monarch’s flight, so I used video. Thanks Pam!

I delay butterfly release when:

  • the forecasted high temp is below 65° F (18° C) or 60° F (16° C) if sunny and calm.  When no other option exists, 50-59° F and sunny is borderline acceptable.
  • the forecast calls for rain.  A light rain is not a problem for butterflies with day-old dry wings, but it’s not a good release option for first-day newborns.
  • the butterfly emerges too late in the day.  I keep it overnight if the butterfly cannot get 3 hours warming of flight muscles in the sun.
  • there are storms in the forecast.  I wait when there are less than four (4) hours of good weather projected.  When extreme weather (like a hurricane) is forecast within twenty four (24) hours, I keep the butterfly safe until the storm passes.  Twenty four (24) or more hours should provide ample time to find shelter from the storm.
  • I am not sure about a release.  Keeping a butterfly overnight is acceptable. In fact, a butterfly’s wings are stronger on day two (2), providing better capability to escape predators.  A butterfly can easily hang from the mesh cage roof overnight. I do not worry about feeding a butterfly unless a second night of shelter is necessary.

As the moment of emergence approaches, the skin of a Monarch chrysalis becomes translucent to reveal the butterfly compressed into that small space.
Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

First Emergence of 2023

Monarch butterfly and chrysalis

MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Our grandchildren spent the day with us, the last week of their summer before school begins. This July I had improved on my Monarch collection from 2022, when 9 butterflies were released, by two (2) caterpillars for a total of eleven (11) raised over several weeks to the chrysalis stage. When leaving to pick up the children for an outing one chrysalis skin had turned clear, a sign the enclosed butterfly is close to emerging. We returned from an outing for lunch to find this chrysalis unopened, so we checked now and then for progress. Four hours later, just as their Mom arrived for them, the grandchildren and everyone witnessed this event. What luck!!

“Migrating monarchs soar at heights of up to 1,200 feet. As sunlight hits those wings, it heats them up, but unevenly. Black areas get hotter, while white areas stay cooler. The scientists believe that when these forces are alternated, as they are with a monarch’s white spots set against black bands on the wings’ edges, it seems to create micro-vortices of air that reduce drag—making flight more efficient.”

“Monarchs begin leaving the northern US and Canada in mid-August. They usually fly for 4-6 hours during the day, coming down from the skies to feed in the afternoon and then find roosting sites for the night.  Monarchs cannot fly unless their flight muscles reach 55ºF. On a sunny day, these muscles in their thorax can warm to above air temperature when they bask (the black scales on their bodies help absorb heat), so they can actually fly if it is 50ºF and sunny. But on a cloudy day, they generally don’t fly if it is below 60ºF.“

“Migrating monarchs use a combination of powered flight and gliding flight, maximizing gliding flight to conserve energy and reduce wear and tear on flight muscles.  Monarchs can glide forward 3-4 feet for every foot they drop in altitude.  If they have favorable tail or quartering winds, monarchs can flap their wings once every 20-30 feet and maintain altitude. Monarchs are so light that they can easily be lifted by the rising air. But they are not weightless. In order to stay in the air, they must move forward while also staying within the thermal. They do this by moving in a circle. The rising air in the thermal carries them upward, and their overall movement ends up being an upward spiral. Monarchs spiral upwards in the thermal until they reach the limit/top of the thermal (where the rising air has cooled to the same temperature as the air around it). At that point, the monarch glides forward in a S/SW direction with the aid of the wind. It glides until it finds another thermal and rides that column of rising air upwards again.”

This video includes an interview with Michael Wills about raising Monarch butterflies and this stage of the lifecycle. Video by Pam Wills using an IPhone 8

Reference: text in italics and quotes is from one of two online articles. “The monarch butterfly’s spots may be its superpower” National Geographic, June 2023 and “Fall Migration – How do they do it?” by Candy Sarikonda, September 2014.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved