the monarch twins... 2020
Watch these baby monarchs with me as they grow from egg to baby caterpillars to bigger caterpillars… and hopefully to adult Monarch Butterflies!
meet the monarch twins!
Follow the adventure as these two monarch babies grow from egg to baby caterpillar… hopefully to chrysalises and adults! These two do everything together! It’s magical.
I actually got to see the mother laying their eggs on my milkweed plant (Asclepias tuberosa) on Sunday, July 5th, around 5:35 pm. I even have video of her!
flight video & mom laying eggs
Here’s a short video of the monarch twins’ mom flying around and laying eggs.
Video is in slow motion… but I edited down to just 3 minutes.
Monarch Twin Elizabeth I
Second to pupate, but first to emerge… this video shows Elizabeth II releasing and dropping into the “J” position after making her silk pad.
Monarch Twin Elizabeth II
First to attach, but second to emerge… this video show Elizabeth II completing the silk pad to which she attaches and hangs in the “J” position prior to pupating.
Elizabeth I - emergence to first flight
This video has been compressed (8X speed used after first couple minutes) but shows complete emergence to full wing expansion, then snippets until first flight.
Watch the second video below for the complete emergence to full wing expansion at normal speed (about 15 minutes)>
elizabeth i - complete emergence sequence
This video capture the full emergence to complete wing expansion in real time, to the early “clap and fling” isometric exercises.
My apologies… the first few seconds are unsteady as I had to shift into a better position to capture the video. In order to get the best zoom and focus, I had to hold the camera by hand. I wasn’t able to use a tripod.
Elizabeth II - Time lapse emergence sequence
It was a busy morning… Elizabeth I emerged at 8:00 am and was getting ready for first flight (taken at 10:31 am), while Elizabeth II emerged at 10:14 am. I set up a second camera on a tripod to take time lapse photos to help me hedge my bets.
I was also able to get some video of the emergence, but not the complete sequence that I achieved for Elizabeth I.
This video does not have all the detail of the Elizabeth I emergence, but it is super short… so a good overview of the emergence process, even if it does miss the classic pirouette.
Elizabeth II - slow motion first flight video
This video has angles from two cameras, one real time, one includes slow motion video capture… the best flight video I was able to capture of the two “Monarch Twins.”
