Name: Janet Stein Carter
Address: Clermont College, 4200 College Dr.
City, State, Zip: Batavia, OH 45103-1785
(carterjs@uc.edu)
(http://BugLady.clc.uc.edu/monarch/)
Milkweed species used: Asclepias syriaca
Notes about milkweed used: Our maintenance crew had mowed this area several times this spring. We located these plants in June, before we knew if we would be getting eggs, and marked them with red flags, then asked maintenance to not mow that edge of the field. Thus, most of the leaves are new growth within the last month. Some have orange aphids in large numbers, while others don't. Milkweed beetles have been seen on them, but I've never seen any milkweed bugs out there. Leaves harvested were relatively free of aphids and beetle feeding damage.
Notes about area where milkweed was obtained: OHIO: Clermont Co., Batavia, Clermont College campus. Ecotone area between old field (successional: boxelder, poke, poison ivy), mixed mesophytic second-growth forest, and mowed area (coarse grasses and mixed dicots) at S-SE edge of school's "athletic field" (goal posts are the only "improvement"). Batavia is about 20 mi. E of Cincinnati. The surrounding area is mostly rural or forested.
map of US showing location of Batavia
map of Batavia showing location of campus
map of campus showing location of milkweed
Date eggs received: 25-VII-96
| Date | Container | # Larvae | # Pupae | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 Thu 25-VII-96 | Shipping Cup 1 | 3 | Orange aphids and exuvia observed on leaves sent with eggs. One of the hatchlings in #2 is either deformed or got out of the egg, but not the egg skin. Looks like several eggs may have gotten smashed in transit. | |
| Shipping Cup 2 | 2 | |||
| Day 2 Fri 26-VII-96 | Cup 1 | 4 @ 1 day + 1 @ 0 day from #1 = 5 | In shipping cup #1, saw 2 eggs with head capsules visible inside; in #2, saw 1. Picked Common Milkweed for these, but also located blooming Swamp Milkweed if we want to try that, too. | |
| Cup 2 | 2 @ 1 day + 1 @ 0 day from #2 pm + 1 from #2 +1 from #1 = 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | pm + 1 from #1 = 1 | |||
| Day 3 Sat 27-VII-96 | Cup 1 | am all 5 OK pm 2 2nds + 3 1sts | am: The oldest ones are looking really stretched and shiny by now--still all 1sts. pm: changed leaves, two caterpillars have molted and several more look ready to go | |
| Cup 2 | am all 5 OK pm: OK all 1sts | |||
| Cup 3 | am larva found on lid transf. back to leaf + 4 new from #2 = 5 pm: all OK | |||
| Cup 4 | pm: 1 from #1 + 3 from #2 =4 | |||
| Day 4 Sun 28-VII-96 | Cup 1 | am 4 2nds + 1 1st = 5 all OK | afternoon: transf. 1 in Cup 5 to Swamp Milkweed pm: all OK, no new ones but ~4 more eggs have visible head capsules, one of the 2nds in cup 2 is hanging on the side wall--I'll check it again in am (could it be molting again?) | |
| Cup 2 | am: 2 2nds + 3 1sts = 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | am: 5 1sts | |||
| Cup 4 | am: all 4 OK + 1 from #2 =5 | |||
| Cup 5 | am: 1 from #2 = 1 | |||
| Day 5 Mon 29-VII-96 | Cup 1 | am: 1 has just molted again (3rd) + 4 2nds = 5 | am: 1 egg in shipping cup #1 + 3 in #2 have visible head capsules, but are not hatching I'll keep checking, but it's looking doubtful | |
| Cup 2 | am: 5 2nds some getting ready to molt | |||
| Cup 3 | am: 2 2nds + 3 1sts = 5 all OK | |||
| Cup 4 | am: 1 2nd + 4 1sts =5 all OK | |||
| Cup 5 | am: 1 1st OK | |||
| Day 6 Tue 30-VII-96 | Cup 1 | afternoon: all 5 OK | afternoon: showed students how to transfer caterpillars & changed leaves pm: had to add more leaves, already | |
| Cup 2 | afternoon: all 5 OK | |||
| Cup 3 | afternoon: all 5 OK | |||
| Cup 4 | afternoon: all 5 OK | |||
| Cup 5 | afternoon: 1 OK | |||
| Day 7 Wed 31-VII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 OK | growing fast! | |
| Cup 2 | 5 OK | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 OK | |||
| Cup 4 | 5 OK | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 OK | |||
| Day 8 Thu 1-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 OK molting | other eggs never hatched; total = 21 changed leaves & collected leaves to dry | |
| Cup 2 | 5 OK 1 very small | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 OK | |||
| Cup 4 | 5 OK 2 very small | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 OK | |||
| Day 9 Fri 2-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 OK | am: added leaves; lots look like 4ths by now, some getting ready to molt again | |
| Cup 2 | 5 OK | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 OK | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 OK am: runt missing pm: found dead very tiny maybe 1st or 2nd | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 OK | |||
| Day 10 Sat 3-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 OK | I've had to add more leaves several times today. It's time for bigger houses! pm: chloroxed the silkworm boxes | |
| Cup 2 | 5 OK | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 OK | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 OK | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 OK | |||
| Day 11 Sun 4-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | am: 4 to big box 1 molting left in cup | afternoon: + food | |
| Cup 2 | am: 4 to big box 1 left in cup | |||
| Cup 3 | am: 1 just molted & 4 getting ready pm: 4 to big box | |||
| Cup 4 | am: 3 4ths + 1 small | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 OK | |||
| Day 12 Mon 5-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | am: 5th one to big box pm: some wandering | am: + food + more... + more... all 20 still OK | |
| Cup 2 | 5 OK 1 still in cup | |||
| Cup 3 | am: 5th one to big box | |||
| Cup 4 | am: 2 to big box pm: + 1 to big box 1 still in cup | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 OK | |||
| Day 13 Tue 6-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | am: 4 larvae + 1 PREPUPA | pm: 1 |
am: + food the two pupated between 6:30 and 9:30 pm while I was in class pm: 2 more prepupae in #1 and 1 in #2 |
| Cup 2 | am: 4 larvae + 1 PREPUPA 1 still in cup | pm: 1 | ||
| Cup 3 | am: 5 OK | |||
| Cup 4 | am: 4 OK 1 still in cup | |||
| Cup 5 | am: 1 OK | |||
| Day 14 Wed 7-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | am: 2 larvae + 2 prepupae | am: 1 pm: 3 |
am: prepupae & pupae numbered & removed, fed in #2 & 4, last larva transferred to box |
| Cup 2 | am: 3 larvae + 1 prepupae | am: 1 pm: 2 | ||
| Cup 3 | am: 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | am: 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | am: 1 | |||
| Day 15 Thu 8-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | am: 1 larvae + 1 prepupa | am: 3 pm: 4 |
pm: 5th one from #1 obviously prepupa, but not attached anywhere--got it to grab onto a piece of paper towel & taped that so hanging properly |
| Cup 2 | am: 1 larva + 2 prepupae | am: 2 pm: 4 | ||
| Cup 3 | am: 1 larva + 4 prepupae | pm: 3 | ||
| Cup 4 | am: 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | am: 1 | |||
| Day 16 Fri 9-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | am: 5 (see note) |
am: the last one in #1 pupated, but fell--looks like the paper towel gave under the twisting--managed to hang the stump on a piece of tape | |
| Cup 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Cup 3 | 1 prepupa | 4 | ||
| Cup 4 | 1 larva + 3 prepupae | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 | |||
| Day 17 Sat 10-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 | am: fed extra to the ones still eating took one in #5 home bec. I need to coll. leaves for it & the building is locked so I can't get back in | |
| Cup 2 | 1 wandering | 4 | ||
| Cup 3 | 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Cup 5 | 1 | |||
| Day 18 Sun 11-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | had to leave at school bec. pupating & building locked so couldn't check should be OK | ||
| Cup 2 | ||||
| Cup 3 | ||||
| Cup 4 | ||||
| Cup 5 | ||||
| Day 19 Mon 12-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 | almost there! | |
| Cup 2 | 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 | |||
| Day 20 Tue 13-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 | 20 out of 20 made it this far! | |
| Cup 2 | 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | am: 1 prepupa | pm: 1 | ||
| Day 21 Wed 14-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 | ||
| Cup 2 | 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 | |||
| Day 22 Thu 15-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 | ||
| Cup 2 | 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 | |||
| Day 23 Fri 16-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 | still waiting all still are green | |
| Cup 2 | 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 | |||
| Day 24 Sat 17-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 | still all green no black ones yet | |
| Cup 2 | 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 | |||
| Day 25 Sun 18-VIII-96 | Cup 1 | 5 | building locked did not check | |
| Cup 2 | 5 | |||
| Cup 3 | 5 | |||
| Cup 4 | 4 | |||
| Cup 5 | 1 |
| Date | # Emerged | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Day 26 Mon 19-VIII-96 | 2 | 1aF, 2aM |
| Day 27 Tue 20-VIII-96 | 2 | 1bF, 2bF |
| Day 28 Wed 21-VIII-96 | 6 | 1cM, 1dM, 3dF, 3bF, 3cM, 2dF |
| Day 29 Thu 22-VIII-96 | 4 | 3aM, 2cM, 1eF, 3eF |
| Day 30 Fri 23-VIII-96 | 3 | 4aF, 4bF, 4cF |
| Day 31 Sat 24-VIII-96 | 1 | am: 2e is black, will go later today 4d & 5a still green 2eF |
| Day 32 Sun 25-VIII-96 | 1 | building locked; 4dF |
| Day 33 Mon 26-VIII-96 | 0 | out of 19 out so far 6M:13F This sex ratio is strange! |
| Day 34 Tue 27-VIII-96 | 1 | 5aM final count 7:13 |
carterjs@uc.edu
Copyright © 1996 by J. Stein Carter. All rights reserved.
