Monarch midwife babies her butterflies

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This article was published 13/08/2020 (2037 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Enclosed by mesh, monitored by a security camera and ripe with milkweed, the front porch of Krista Summers’ home is dedicated to keeping the monarch butterfly off the endangered species list.

“I just wanted to plant milkweed and I noticed last year when the caterpillars were turning into a chrysalis, there were these little wasps that were attacking them, and they ended up killing the butterfly before it could emerge,” said Summers. “I figured I then needed to start collecting the caterpillars to keep them safe while they pupated, keep them safe from the wasps and then make them viable.”

Summers said she wanted to plant milkweed because it’s the only source of food for a monarch caterpillar and the monarch will lay eggs there. She is well aware monarch butterflies are an endangered species, mainly due to habitat loss.

Summers released 30 monarchs last year, but she said she’s on pace to release about 100 this year.

“I collected them as much smaller and raised them literally from egg,” she said. “That involves checking your milkweed daily to find the eggs and collect them all and keep them separated. The tiny newborn caterpillars will actually eat their own eggshell after they’ve hatched, but if you have other eggs with them, they might try and eat those too. So, you have to keep them separated.”

Releasing more butterflies this year meant Summers invested in a second mesh enclosure, which crowds her front porch.

“My daughter was giving me heck the other day because it’s all on my front porch. So, sometimes I’m sitting out there, wrapping milkweed leaves, cleaning containers and doing all this and my family can’t get in and out of the front door because I’m in the way,” said Summers with a laugh.

Summers is a mental health worker, but the COVID-19 pandemic had her redeployed to work at a COVID testing site. Her husband set up a security camera on the porch, so she could keep an eye on the butterflies and see if any eggs hatched while she was at work.

“The first thing I do when I go home is go out, clean and feed these caterpillars. I think my family is feeling a little neglected,” she said.

Summers plans to continue increasing her monarch releases for a third consecutive year, but she might set up a better space in the backyard. She added there’s something special about the monarch butterfly and that’s why she wants to continue the work.

“Maybe it’s a cliché, but what a butterfly represents, it’s metamorphosis, it’s change, it’s transformation,” said Summers. “I think that’s something people have to remember. If you actually watch what this poor butterfly has to go through to make it, it’s actually astonishing… this is fascinating and this is a small thing I can do, but maybe it makes a difference.”

kellen.taniguchi@freepress.mb.ca