Monday, Jul. 23, 2007 - 11:41 p.m.
Butterfly Chronicles ( part 1 )
*******************
On Sunday July 22 afternoon
I went to the abandoned school yard
and hunted through the copious stand of
milkweeds that are plump and fresh
from the recent rains
the flowers had faded
and the immature seedpods
had begun to swell..
on the eastern side of the building
where the milkweeds got the morning sun
the egg hunting was best
I was ablew to flash examine
dozens of plants
leaf by leaf
and was amazed that my eyes
slipped into mictoscope mode
and i was able to scan
the undersurfaces of the leaves
square cm by square cm
as if i was watching for diamonds
indeed i was'
as Monarch Butterfy eggs
are the size of a two grains of salt
stacked atop each other
in an hour of silent searching frenzy
I walked away with 22 butterfy eggs
and brought them home as carefully as I could
thet are delicate beyond belief
one tiny false move
and they detach
and are lost
forever
At home I sorted the leaves carefully
by magnifying glass
pouring over each one
as if each milkweed leaf
was a $1000 bill
every dot and detail
had to be inspected to the point
i was getting crosseyed
indeed, each butterfy egg collected in the vield must be carefully accounted for in the studio snipped away from its leaf
leaving a two cm platform with its central egg
and each little egg bearing platform
carefully taped to a piece of white paper sio I could observe it hatch
and then transfer the hatchling caterpillers
each the size of three gains of salt
stacked atop each other into the nursery
the nursery is a clean margerine pail
or in my case,
using advanced techniques:
a plastic salad bowl
at this point i re examine each unhatched egg
to make sure it is indeed an egg and not a tint drop of milkweed sap which the eggs so closely resemble I always find that a certain number
of potential eggs are
after the super close look
are just sap droplets
I accept this
and am glad i can see this well
at such close range
the real eggs i watch carefully
and keep the hatchery on my desk
at all times to observe their progress
and as soon as they hatch
I transfer them to the nursery where the caterpillers will just eat and poop without end
for the next 10 days
moulting their skins several times
today I have 12 butterfy eggs
and maybe 20 tiny caterpillars
that hatched this afternoon
they are all perfect
note: be sure to examine
every single milkweed
leaf on every surface
& make sure you do not miss
a tiny egg or a tiny caterpillar
before discarding=
Check twice yourself
and have someone else check
its easy to imagine
that you are checking super valuable
tiny things with absolute fidelity
inspection at the egg stage
is the key to success
raising butterfys its all simple
but it is all very important use a strong magnifying glass
a CHEAP PLASTIC LENS WILL DO
BUT GET THE BEST LENS YOU CAN
a good source of small powerful glass lenses
old or broken 35 mm film cameras..
a broken or redundant camera
is often available at garage sales
for a small price
ask someone responsible
to remove the glass lens
and take good care of it//
keep it safe clean and handy
a good small lens is a VALUABLE TOOL
IN THE BUTTERFLY WORLD
