Monarchs reign supreme in Middleboro backyard
Oct 30, 2022
The stages of a monarch’s growth. To the left is the empty chrysalis from which the monarch butterfly had hatched. The green in right center is a chrysalis, which had recently transformed from a caterpillar. On the extreme right is a chrysalis ready to hatch to a monarch. Photos courtesy: Bob Lessard.
A monarch butterfly on its host, the milkweed.
A specially designed cage stymied this creature’s interest in the growing monarchs.
MIDDLEBORO — A Middleboro resident is helping monarch butterfly numbers take flight by raising them from eggs to caterpillars and then into their full-grown beauty.
A bed of milkweed near his driveway prompted Robert Lessard to look into giving them a head start by raising butterflies, which he then releases.
Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on the leaves of milkweed, the only host plant for this iconic butterfly species.
So he began combing the milkweeds in search of the eggs and caterpillars.
The first two years, he gathered enough eggs and caterpillars to raise about 20 monarchs each year.
But this year, he stepped up his efforts as he heard about the struggles that monarchs are facing. Scientists have reported that the numbers of monarchs have dropped by about 95 percent since the 1980s. This population drop has been attributed to climate change, habitat loss and the use of herbicides and pesticides.
So Lessard raised and released 46 monarchs this year.
He raises them in little cages that are similar to clothes baskets. These specially designed butterfly cages can be bought online.
Lessard reports that the previous generation’s adult butterfly lays eggs on the milkweed, when the stage one of the first generation starts. Within four days, the eggs hatch to form a caterpillar or larva, the second stage. At this stage, the larvae eat the milkweed on which it lives.
Within two weeks, it attains full growth and attaches to some place like a leaf or stem by discharging silk, and undergoes the process of metamorphosis to transform into a pupa or chrysalis.
In the next 10 days, a continuous process of metamorphosis transforms the old body parts of the pupa into the beautiful parts of the future adult butterfly. The adult butterfly will emerge in the mid-morning time and fly away in search of food and a mate.
As Lessard raises and releases these beautiful creatures, he has learned first-hand that the monarchs face challenges literally in their own backyards.
He photographed a praying mantis, which “kept showing up whenever I placed the baskets out in the sun on our front porch.’’
But with the growing monarch safely protected in Lessard’s cage, the mantis didn’t have a prayer.
