Quick Monarch Update

Of the 9 caterpillars, we currently stand at:

Three successfully hatched out today! All males, huh. (Yes, you can tell – they have spots in the lower inner wings the females don’t.)

Four more chrysalides, cross your fingers.

One lost the other day to apparent bacterial or virus infection. Isolated it, disposed of it, rinsed off the plants. Drat. Hey, did any of you know one of the things Pasteur figured out besides  pasteurization was bacteria as a disease cause of silkworm ailments? (Pébrine is now recognized as a protozoan, and flacherie as sometimes caused by a virus where the bacteria are just taking advantage to kill, but they were indeed microscopic causes and his methods for stopping transmission worked!)

One last caterpillar, feeding on the milkweed which has leafed back out a bit, yay!