Monarch Chrysalis Stages, Problems, and Surprising Solutions

541 Comments

1. I found a monarch who is missing I believe the hind wing. Its the larger wing. I have repaired damaged wings before but not sore about missing ones. I read they don’t need the hind wing to fly and was wondering I’d I should cut off the other one so he can balance. It has been hanging out in my house eating nectar from freshly cut flowers. He escaped once through the screen and I found him again three days later so he has some survival skills. I know he longs to be free so not sure what to do.
   Thank you!

   1. Hi Claudia, I’ve trimmed wings before but never removed them entirely…since he’s grounded in current condition, it wouldn’t hurt to experiment.

2. Hi, I am a first grade teacher and my class is observing the Monarch life cycle. Our caterpillar changed into a chrysalis on Sept 10 . We observed the chrysalis getting black and then transparent. It has been in the chrysalis stage for 17 days and I am wondering if it will ever emerge. I want to start preparing the students if it’s not going to emerge because something developed abnormally. The chrysalis stage is usually 10-14 days but how long can they go at the extreme?

   1. Hi Lisa, butterflies typically emerge the morning/afternoon they are completely transparent. If your chrysalis has been like this for days the butterfly didn’t survive. There seems to be more bacterial issues this year because of the wet conditions in our region…this can be largely avoided by bringing in eggs. It’s also helpful to use elevated stem cuttings to feed caterpillars so they’re not crawling around in frass. For issues like this, prevention is key.

   2. Hi my caterpillars are out of the cocoon when they should still be in it but they are moving will they survive and how can I help them

      1. Hi Emily, I would post a photo in a facebook group to make the issue more clear:

         facebook groups for monarch enthusiasts

3. Hi! I have a monarch chrysalis and it looked really good, the abdominal segments are beginning to turn yellow.. Is that normal? Is it still going to hatch?

   1. It’s hard to say….many times when they chrysalis starts to turn abnormally yellow or black, the butterfly doesn’t emerge. All you can do at this point is monitor.

4. Hi I have a caterpillar who attempted to form a chrysalis Burbank still has half I do its skin covering the bottom half of its body. It’s been several hours and it hasn’t she’d the rest of it’s skin. Is there anything I can do to help it along?

   1. Hi Natalie, unfortunately, it sounds like the caterpillar did not survive to the 3rd stage of the life cycle. There is nothing you can do to help them in this circumstance.

5. In the past 2 days 4 adult monarchs have emerged slowly and their wings are not unfolding. I had them in 3 of your tall cages. There are other remaining chrysalis in all of the cages. Is there anything I can do for them. I am not sure why this is happening. Up until now, adults have been emerging fine and I released them.

   1. hi Becky, crinkled wings and/or other deformities are a common symptom of heavy OE infection:

      OE and Prevention

6. Hi! Hoping I can get some prompt help. We had a monarch emerge from its chrysalis this morning, but it’s antennae cannot detach from the chrysalis properly. It looks like there may be some excess silk or perhaps a piece of spiderweb holding it to the remaining chrysalis. Any advice to help release the antennae?

   1. Hi Hilary, I would spray it with water (this loosens silk) and gently pull. good luck

7. Hi Tony:

   I have several chrysalis that have attached themselves to the plastic side window of the pop up enclosure. Should I relocate them?

   Thank you.

   Debra

   1. Hi Debra, if they are on the PVC window, I would remove and relocate

8. Hi,

   We have some monarch caterpillars that formed a chrysillas on the floor of a cage (we didn’t have the leaves going up to the roof yet), and there is no silk to attach them. Do we need to wait for 2 days before hanging them?

   Thanks!

   1. you can hang move them now…just make sure if you drop them they have a soft place to land, like a towel. good luck!

9. Hello! I have a question about a newly emerged butterfly. After forming the chrysalis a few weeks ago it fell. I rehung it but didn’t realize it was still soft and was flat on one side from laying at the bottom of the cage. The butterfly emerged this morning but hadn’t straightened out wings. I came home this evening and it has moved to different areas of the top of the cage, however it’s wings are still crumpled and it’s body isn’t as big and plump as the others. Is it possible the chrysalis was damaged and the butterfly emerged before it was ready? It is alive.

   1. Hi Jean, it’s possible it was injured in the fall. The butterfly could also be heavily infected with OE:

      OE Parasites

10. Hello- I have had my last 4 chrysalises turn out deformed, ranging from somewhat of a gaping hole to a smaller holes but all at similar in area- they seem to have not “sealed” properly where the “lid” of the chrysalis seams to the bag at the bottom, if that makes sense. These ones also don’t seem to be attached with as much silk, as one just fell while I was cleaning the cage. It hasn’t been long enough for any butterflies to have emerged from these deformed chrysalises and they are still green but is it even possible for it to survive? What could have caused all 4 in a row to do this? The cage is not overcrowded, having less than 10 caterpillars at any given time and I never saw any of them bothering the pupating cats, or even leaving the milkweed at all. These deformed ones are all at the top of the cage.

    1. Hi Tracey, this isn’t a normal occurrence. If this is happening to multiple chrysalides my guess would be exposure to insect growth regular (pesticides) or some other chemical:

       Tainted Milkweed

11. Our family raised and released over 20 monarchs so far this year in VT. Still have more cats and chrysalises. I found 7 more eggs late August and brought them in. They all hatched successfully, one disappeared mysteriously at only a few days old. I usually do a head count after removing the dried leaves and thoroughly check them before tossing them, but my guess is I must have missed the tiny guy and possibly he got tossed, so I feel awful about that. But my question is: one of the babies seems to have gotten stuck molting. I use cheesecloth over glass bowls as the enclosure. I discovered this baby sitting on top of the cheesecloth so I scooped it onto a leaf so that I wouldn’t accidentally squish it when removing the rubber band around the bowl/cloth. I then realized it was starting to molt but I disturbed it. I left it on the leaf and hoped it would just continue in the safety of the bowl, but a few days later I was cleaning dead leaves and poop, and the still tiny baby was hanging on a thread from the leaf. But it still is moving, has a larger head than body, but it doesn’t seem to have control over its lower half and is only able to roll in a stiff manor. It appears to be trying to finish molting but can’t. I’ve left it and keep checking on it the last few days. It is still alive because it moves when I touch it. But still no progress or change happening. It just lays in a half curl on the leaf and doesn’t try to do anything unless I touch it gently with a toothpick. Is there anything I can do to help it, or is this one not going to make it? The other 5/7 babies are growing and munching away. This one is still much smaller than its “siblings”. Thanks for your advice!

    1. Hi Carolyn, if it’s been down there for days and is struggling it won’t make it…perhaps a mechanical issue with the attempted molt. I would probably euthanize at this point as it is slowly starving.

12. Hi! I am a science teacher, and our classes are raising Monarchs this fall. The first chrysalis to turn black has been black since Friday (6 days ago) and has yet to emerge. Is it dead? Now I’m worried about my other chrysalises. They are in separate containers from the black chrysalis. Do I need to do anything special with them to make sure they don’t die like the first one?

    1. Hi Alyssa, the chrysalis starts to get dark/transparent the day before the butterfly emerges. If it has been 6 days, it did not survive. More info on diseases here

13. Hi, I had one turn into a chrysalis earlier today and now there is black bubble on the bottom. Should this be ok? Or should I remove it from the enclosure?

    1. Hi Emily, when in doubt, separate and monitor. As you get more experience, you will be able to tell when something is going to be an issue, and when it will probably be OK. If the chrysalis is not close to others and there are no feeding caterpillars in the cage you could opt to leave it.

14. my caterpillar went to the ceiling of cage and formed a j within a few hours. then it started hanging completely straight and has not made the chrysalis. can you tell me what is happening? I have raised them before and have never seen this.

    1. Hi Janice, it sounds like the caterpillar probably died. Common reasons this occurs are exposure to insect growth regulators or tachinid fly parasites:

       Diseases and Parasites

15. Chrysalis with Tachinid fly strands, found the fly pupae in the cage and removed it. is the chrysalis now a goner? Can a monarch butterfly still emerge?

    1. Hi Judy, the maggots feed on the caterpillar/chrysalis from the inside out. Unfortunately, it did not survive.

       1. Ok, thanks you for responding so quickly. Dam* flies!

16. Hi Tony,
    Our fourth Monarch of the season emerged this morning, seemingly healthy. We gave him around six hours to dry out his wings; while the wings have no deformations, we noticed his beating them much more slowly than our last several monarchs. We took him out (he willingly climbed onto my finger) to release him but it doesn’t seem that he’s able to fly. We gave him a little time in our screened in porch but he kept moving to the upside down position, so now he’s safely back in his mesh cage. It’s been at least 9 hours since he emerged– is it possible he’s grounded, even if the wings look good? And if so, what’s the most beneficial thing to do?
    Thanks for your help!

    1. Hi Maggie, if the butterfly is still not ably to fly, check out this post for ideas:

       Butterfly Can’t Fly?

       1. I have a monarch chrysalis on the siding of my house that has been transparent for approx. 3 days now. I can see the wings are developed but the monarch hasn’t emerged yet. How long does this take or is the monarch in trouble at this point?

          1. Hi Debra, typically they start to darken the day before they emerge. It probably did not survive it’s been 3 days…

17. Hi Tony:

    I’ve had a wonderful batch of Monarch caterpillar this summer and have successfully hatched three in my home. The rest are outside. I live in NH and nights are getting cooler. Will the formed chrysallis that are outside (I’ve seen two in attached to shurbs near the milkweed patch I preserve) be able to withstand cooler nights and make the journey south? There are still a couple of caterpillar that are still chowing down on leaves. Should I bring them inside or will it be too cool in general even if they do make it to the butterfly!

    1. Hi Sharon, there should still be time for everyone to make it out before the weather turns…I wouldn’t worry about chrysalides or large caterpillars.

       1. Thank you and my apologies for the typos! :-O And thank you for the plural form of chrysalis 🙂

    2. Hi there!
       I was trying to relocate a chrysalis from a low-hanging leaf and tied the thread around the cremaster stem too tight. It broke off and now I’m having trouble attaching it to anything. Ideas?

       1. Hi Sara, there are ideas on the chrysalis page…please read:

          Chrysalis Problems and Solutions

18. My monarch has been in cocoon for 21 days it’s half clear and half green. It’s been pretty cold here but I’m guessing it’s dead? Is it possible it will still come out?

    1. cold slows down metamorphosis…I would give it a little more time. good luck!

19. Hello,
    My monarch emerged this morning and seemed to be doing fine, moving well for a half hour to hour, then I noticed it just stopped moving completely. She hasn’t moved for at least an hour and I noticed fluid dripping from her that is a reddish brown color. Has my monarch likely died? She is still hanging, but is motionless.

    1. Hi Kelly, they expel meconium (reddish fluid) about a half hour after they emerge. They are pretty quiet for the first few hours after emerging…once they’re in sun, they become more active

20. Hi there. This past Sunday 9/01/19, my 6yr old son saved a Caterpillar from 2 spiders. He put it in his big cage. Neither he nor my husband mentioned this to me. We went to a local fair that evening and when we returned he went to check on it and realized it wasnt a Caterpillar anymore but a “cocoon”. Which is how I found out about the Caterpillar! When he picked up the cage the chrysalis fell. I gently scooped it up with the leaf that was in the cage. It was still wiggling around near the top. I googled and found this site. Which has been so helpful!!! I didnt find any silk anywhere. It did wiggle and had some of the black leftover Caterpillar shell on the very top of it. So following the advice on here I let it sit on the leaf until the 48hrs were up. My husband and I were able to wrap dental floss around the black tip and tape that to the top of the cage. I also put a fluffy soft towel underneath and figured I’d remove that closet to the 10day mark.
    I dont see any signs of damage. I dont see ant black marks or spots.
    Do you think there is a good chance it will be okay?
    We’ve never raised monarchs before. We have a bunch of wild milkweed in our backyard near our old garden. We purposely leave it to grow wild in that area just to watch the butterflies. There is a bunch of other wild flowers in there too. Naturally growing. The kids and I sit and watch the monarchs fly all over it during the summer. And although my 6yr old asked this year to try to raise some we never did. So this is all new to me and VERY UNEXPECTED!
    Just wanted to know your thoughts. Thanks!

21. Not a pest or disease issue but a release question. I’m in Virginia Beach and we are expecting the possible arrival of Dorien in the next 2-3 days. There is also a tropical storm currently headed for Mexico and another possible one out there a ways in the Atlantic. This is our second year raising monarchs from gathered eggs off my outdoor plants and so far so good. We’ll release we’ll over 30 this year if all keeps going well. Here’s the question. I am releasing g between 1-4 each day but with all the storms, I’m not sure how much or until what time I should delay their release. Advice would be appreciated.

    1. Hi Pam, check out this info:

       Delaying Release and Feeding butterflies

       be safe and good luck!

22. Re pupa lying on its side: I had a deformed adult emerge with all its hind wings on one side.

    Re close quarters with 2 stage 5s: they fought, and we could hear the clicking of their antennae.

23. Hi Tony,

    What determines the direction in which a chrysalis hangs? In the past, all my chrysalides hung with the same directional orientation – like little soldiers marching the same way. This year, I have had two cages where they hung willy nilly in any direction. I’m curious about what drives this directional orientation. In both cases with mixed alignment, the orientation of the cage was not changed while the caterpillars were growing and eating.

    Appreciate any help you can provide,

    Thanks,
    Ann

    1. Hi Ann, I’m not sure this means anything. I first heard the question last year, then noticed they don’t always face the same way.

24. One of my chrysalis became dark and I could see wing color. I was expecting to see a butterfly but nothing happened. I dissected the chrysalis and though the butterfly was dead, it was completely formed. What could cause such a late death? ?

    1. Hi Doris, if the butterfly is heavily infect with OE, they can get stuck in the chrysalis. Otherwise, I’m not sure what else would cause that to happen:

       OE info

       1. Hi Tony,

          I have a chrysalis that appears healthy but has been hanging for over 2 weeks. It is still bright green. It is a wild butterfly and I haven’t disturbed it. Is it dead? It has been down into the 40’s a few nights.

          1. if it’s still green it’s probably fine. However, cold temps slow dow metamorphosis…give it a few more days. good luck!

             1. After 29 days, a butterfly finally emerged! So happy to see

25. we recently chopped a small tree down. while cleaning the small limbs up i discovered a monarch in the grass. i put her on some golden rod and went back to work i found another monarch but this one s wings were not pumped up yet, my thought is they were in the tree hatching and one was good and the other was not completely hatched because her wings were still “bent” slightly. we have her in a net habitat and she is just started eating on the flowers and hummingbird food we put in .she is exercising her wings but one still looks a little bent how long should we give her to pump up her wing or should we plan on keeping her .right now she seems to be having trouble “flying”. thanks for your help anna lilly palmyra,n.y.

    1. Hi Anna, deformed and bent wings are often a symptom of heavy OE infection. if the wings are fully dry and bent, there’s not much hope they will be able to fly. You can keep feeding her, just keep her separated from other monarchs in case it is OE. good luck…

26. Recently we found 22 monarch caterpillars (after releasing the last of 8 a few days prior). I change out their milk weed in the mesh habitats daily. I have 7 in their chrysalides. But one of them had fallen to the bottom of the habitat. I’m not sure when it fell, or how long it had been formed before it fell, and when I retrieved it to hang it back up, it seemed larger and partially wet, like the moist paper towel under the milkweed got it wet. What should I do about it? I have it hanging again.

    Also, I have had a couple of caterpillars form a J, then the next day they hung more straight and never formed a chrysalis, they didn’t respond to movement or touch. They were both on the smaller side. Best to euthanize? I currently have another that seems to be doing the same. Plus a really large caterpillar hung in its J last night and this morning it was hanging straight down and had about 1/2 an inch of its body stretched super thin. When my husband removed it, it burst and liquid goo came out. I immediately removed all caterpillars and cleaned the habitat. Ideas of cause? We never had any of these issues with our first 8 in August.

    1. Hi Michelle, using wet paper towels inside the cage and raising monarchs on the cage floor can spread disease. I would try a different system next season.

27. Homeschooling Mom here! This is our first year raising monarchs! We have one chrysalis that is attached to an old curled milkweed, on a stick- (it seems pretty sturdy) but I’m so nervous it’ll break off and fall once it emerges. it is almost completely translucent now n I don’t want it to get hurt coming out n falling! What should I do!? Can I relocate this late in the process!?! ????

    1. Hi Jill, if it’s that close to emerging I would leave it and keep a watchful eye. For future reference, try stem cuttings in water so the leaves don’t dry out:

       Milkweed Stem Cuttings

       1. Fellow Monarch Mentor in Toronto here. This is my 4th year hand-raising monarchs and I have found Tony’s website a wealth of information and guidance. Today I will release my 88th (and last) Monarch of the season. I’ve been reading the blog on chrysalis problems with interest and am moved to comment on how to deal with the problem of a chrysalis that has been formed on the underside of a milkweed leaf. I use whole plant cuttings in water to keep them fresh, and have encountered the problem of caterpillars consuming the leaf on which the chrysalis hangs. My solution is to cut the whole leaf from the plant while it is still fresh and carefully thread a bamboo barbecue skewer through the leaf parallel to the spine. As the leaf dries, the skewer keeps it firmly attached and in place and the chrysalis safe until it ecloses. I am disappointed in my expectation that I would collect more eggs late in this season. In July it seemed I couldn’t turn over a leaf without more eggs and or new cats. I see Monarchs feeding in the garden now, but no one laying eggs. Is this typical of the season up here in southwestern Ontario?

          1. yes Catherine, egg laying season should be finished for your region. In Minnesota, the latest we ever find eggs is sep 1st or 2nd, but usually it’s late August.

       2. i wrap my milk weed and flowers like a bouquet .take a 1/2 paper towel wrap the end that was on the plant wet the paper towel and lay it in the bottom of the habitat. anna lilly palmyra n.y.

    2. The best way I have found to rehang a chrysalis (especially if the dental floss thing isn’t suitable) is to use a safety pin from the outside of the net cage. You can pin through and let the leaf/stick hang on th inside. Good luck!

    3. This page has been a lifesaver, and a monarch saver! I’m on chrysalis formation 28, released 3 this week and awaiting many more. But I’ve been looking for some help and answers today that I can’t seem to find so hopefully your knowledge can help! About a half hour ago, chrysalis 28 formed. It seemed fine until I noticed it was..dripping.. The fluid was clear for a few minutes and then it turned a lighter green but when it hit the floor of the enclosure, I noticed it was very dark like a greenish black. It’s formed now, no more wiggle dance, but still dripping this dark fluid. After seeing so many form, I can’t explain it nor can I find anything that an intense google search can offer. The caterpillar had been with me since egg, I watched its monarch mama lay it and quickly collected, as I do all of my eggs to hopefully prevent tiny invaders. What could this be? It’s formed above 6 other caterpillars, I can’t get into the cage to clean yet as there is another next to it forming its chrysalis as I type this (they go in pairs around here) so I’m worried my other little beans may be in danger of some sickness I can’t find. I know, paranoid, but I’ve lost 2 (one to an unforeseen 4 year old who needed to pet a 1st instar and one was a chrysalis I found outdoors in a bad place who’s wings didn’t develop) so I’m really trying to do everything I can to prevent more loss. Thanks so much, seriously all that you do is absolutely incredible.

       1. Hi Liane, I’m not sure about this one. I wouldn’t recommend moving it with a j cateprillar next to it. At this point, I would just monitor and see if you can figure out the issue. Good luck and keep us posted…

28. The butterfly has emerged but his head/face looks like it’s sunctioned tight with the clear part of the chrysalis. It did fall and was having a hard time (wings wet) so I got him to hang from a stick. Should I try and take that part off of his face? Or leave it? I don’t think it can see to fly.

    1. Hi Chelsea, I would try gently removing the chrysalis. If the butterfly is also weak/falling, it probably isn’t healthy: Monarch OE

29. My chrysalis has a small black area for about a day now. This has happened twice this year. The last one never came out. I’m guessing this one won’t either. What would be the cause?

    1. If the black spot grows it could be OE, or perhaps parasitized by flies. It could also just be dried blood and it might be ok…you can always wait a bit to see what happens.

30. Hi! I have a monarch cat that turned into a chrysalis recently on one of my flower pots outside, but it looks very… Odd… Most of it’s pale green, with two vertical dark green stripes and two mirrored brown spots on either side of those two stripes. I’ve never seen one look like that before. I’m assuming that’s not good…?

    1. Hi Makidoo…it sounds like an issue with bacteria or parasites. I would euthanize

31. I am so glad to find your site.

    This will sound crazy, but I saw it and so did my friend who was visiting. Got my caterpillar all settled, and it quickly ate its way through the leaves in the clear wide-mouth glass vase with 🙂 Williams Sonoma strainer overturned on the top. It created its green cocoon right away. I picked up the strainer to take a look, and a miniscule thing that looked like a caterpillar (maybe 3/4″ long, 1/32″ wide) descended on a single silk cord and then somehow pulled itself back up into the cocoon. My beautiful butterfly hatched today. But what was that thing?

    1. Hi Bethe, it sounds like a tachinid fly larva, but if that was the case your butterfly would not have survived…

32. One of our chrysalises has a shallow fissure less than a quarter of an inch long near the bottom with an area that looks like the skin of the caterpillar is embedded in it on one side– the rest of it is all the regular green color. Should we wait and see what happens or is this guy a goner?

    1. Hi Leda, I always separate and monitor if there’s a question…good luck!

33. It seems I may already know the answer to this question. I’m just having a hard time. One of my monarchs hatched from a deformed cocoon, but without antennas on the front of the head..I’m afraid his little tentacle used for eating is not there either. I have it isolated in a mesh hamper outside and he’s fluttering around…wings are ok except one is slightly bent. Not sure how this is affecting it. My main question is…does it sound like this little baby is going to survive if I release and if not..? What’s the most humane way to make sure it’s not suffering…without antennas and a way to eat, it doesn’t seem likely it would survive. I’m devastated even though I’ve had such success this year. I’m calling it Nemo bc of the bent wing.

    1. it sounds like your monarch has some serious developmental issues…probably best to euthanize. More info:

       Hatching Butterflies

34. I was able to get his wings into the correct position and he can now fly.

35. We brought in 3 large and one tiny monarch caterpillers we found. The large ones spun their chrysalisis right away, the first was August 25th and the next 2 around the 26th and 28th. The tiny one spun a week or so later and today emerged beautiful and healthy.

    The other 3 have gotten dark and have not done a thing. I’m new to this (my young daughter wanted to ‘adopt’ them and watch them change) and I’m worried the other 3 are sick and will not emerge but I dont know how to tell. No oozing, not really weird looking that I can see, but it seems like an excessive amount of time to hang and be dark. I’m in NY and our weather is changing, should I bring their habitat back outdoors? Is there a way to tell for sure if they’re okay or not?

    Thank you!

    1. Hi Kate, typically the chrysalis turns dark/transparent the day before the butterfly emerges. If it’s dark more than 48 hours, the monarch didn’t survive.

36. I am brand new to this. I have one caterpillar in a chrysalis. Tonight, I saw a second J cat on the top of my net, just starting to split to make its chrysalis. I started to open the net and it fell from the top to the bottom of the net. I got it to stick to a cotton swab, but now he’s just hanging, skin still split, no further movement. There was no liquid that came from it when it fell, but it seems odd that he fell with such little movement. Is this little guy a lost cause or is there anything else I can do to fix this?

    1. Hi Deb, it sounds like the monarch didn’t survive…when the chrysalis is being formed, it’s best not to pen the cage until after they are done.

37. Our chrysalis formed on glass and part of its lower body was exposed. We let it go anyway and now the butterfly that emerged is malformed. Not sure what to do. What should we do? Very sad.

    1. hi Ruth, if the butterfly is sickly and weak, probably best to euthanize to avoid spreading disease. Otherwise, you could keep and feed it:

       feeding adult butterflies

       1. Hello! I have a chrysalis that has been clear with the butterfly visible for almost a week now. It is day 17. I’m assuming the little one didn’t make it? Can a cold snap affect hatching? :(. Thank you.

          1. Hi Liz, if it’s been transparent for a week the monarch didn’t survive…cooler temps might delay hatching a few hours or up to a day, but not a week.

38. hi tony i have large fourth instar of a small fifth looking for a place to j hang. but he was walking on another chrysalis i thought he was hungry and trying to eat it so i put him back on milkweed and 30 minits later he was back on the top not at all intrested in milkweed i dont think its black death tho do you know what it could be.

    1. hi Soren, if the milkweed in the cage is fresh, perhaps it’s just a small monarch. Otherwise, sometimes caterpillars parasitized by tachinif flies pupate early: Tachinid Fly Info

39. I found a chrysalis on the ground. It looks OK, but has no cremaster, just a tiny whole where that should be. Will it survive? And how do I help it?

    1. hi Diana, it doesn’t sound good, but you could always lay it down on a paper towel inside a cage and see if the butterfly develops…

40. I have 4 mesh cages with 18 chrysalises in one and probably about the same in the other three. There are are maybe 9 chrysalises that formed about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch from the side of the mesh cage. Should I move these. Most are are at least 4 days old.

    1. Hi John, you can remove/rehang but it’s not necessary unless the chrysalides are touching…

41. This is my first year of trying to help the Monachs but this morning I ran into trouble. Two of my beautiful butterflies emerged and immediately fell in a crumpled heap, I tried to help them hold on to a stick but neither seemed to have any strength in their legs, though they looked perfectly formed their feet would not grip into anything and after an hour I decided to end their struggle. Any idea what may have gone wrong so that I can prevent another tragedy.

    1. Hi Ruthie, if a butterfly is too weak to hang, it could be heavy OE infection

       1. I had the same experience. I went and checked the cube and the Butterfly was on its back all crumpled up. I couldn’t get the Butterfly to grip and hold on. I got a paper towel, with the rough surface it held on. I taped it to a table with a fluffy towel under in case it dropped off. After a few hrs it flew away.

42. Tony, this is only my second attempt to be a monarch mom. I had been gathering all the eggs I could find and washing the leaves as I was bringing them into the house. I have 3 pop up cages and at least 8-10 cats in each cage. All seemed to be doing fine, until they would start to J hang. Only two made it all the way to the chrysalis stage. The rest would start to chyrsalize and then stop. This has happened more often then not. I am totally baffled as to what I may be doing wrong. I’m not sure why they stop mid way and then just hang limp. Of course I have removed them as carefully as possible. And I keep trying to isolate any cat that seems to be ready, but doesn’t make it. What am I dealing with here? Is it OE, NPV, or worse?

    1. Hi Teresa, this sounds like potential exposure to insect growth regulator (pesticides)

       Tainted Milkweed Info

       1. I too had 10 cats and gave three away. The ones I gave away turned into butterflies, but the ones I kept died as they were forming their chrysalis. ?
          The cage had a metal screen on top. We also had air conditioning in the house, and a night light on at night. Could any of these things caused the problem?

          1. Hi Judy, we sometimes have the A/C on with our chrysalides inside, and no issues with the temp mid 70’s. I am not aware of any issues with lights, and doubt a night light would affect them. This can be a common symptom of exposure to insect growth regulators:

             Tainted Milkweed

43. First-timer have 24 cats most are now hanging chrysalises some for a week, some for just a day or three. The first six are in jars- I thought that was all I’d be raising, until I found a few 1/4 ” when gathering milkweed cuttings, then a whole lot more when I examined my plants one morning with strong reading glasses and found a large batch of 1/8″! Bought a couple of the mesh cages for these batches and they are all chrystalises on the tops. I have a spare cage to use if it’s cold and or raining when they are ready to be released (I live on Cape Cod).
    I moved one that was dangerously close to the bottom of a jar on the edge of paper towel after reading a quick reference to moving the chrysalis from another site.

    Now, reading this page I see that the thread should be only on the silk? I wrapped it round the black cremaster with just a little bit of it showing at the bottom. Should I rehang it with thread just through the silk? Also I have one hanging on the glass on the side of a jar, should it be moved to the top?

    Thanks, this site is very helpful. This is exciting. We had no monarchs in the area for years, and I’m convinced it is because the electric company has been using something similar to Round-up to clear out the growth under our power lines which was a major source of milkweed, and people have been treating – spraying- trees in the area for 7 years for winter moth caterpillar infestations. Even though we’ve left those caterpillars to the birds (they flock to our fruit trees in the spring) I started planting several varieties of milkweed the past three years and finally, the monarchs have returned!

    1. Hi Janet, you can tie thread or dental floss around the silk or cremaster…it depends on what you have to work with. yes,I would remove/rehang a chrysalis from the side of a jar.

44. Hi. I am completely new to this and my kids brought some of the caterpillars home last week. One formed a beautiful chrysalis and the other formed a chrysalis but the very top of him is sticking out still. Is the butterfly dead then? I am still trying to learn about the whole process and I do not have them in the best container right now I have ordered a new one but I am just trying to keep them healthy until then. Any input would be great. Thanks!

    1. Hi Paula, if the chrysalis is fully formed, it’s just the old caterpillar skin sticking to the top…this is not an issue

45. Great forum and I appreciate all the info. We have two chrysalides in a cage in our air conditioned home. I don’t know if there is a humidity or temperature recommendation for them. This is our first time raising them and aren’t sure what kind of environment to provide.

    1. Hi Kate, there is info about suggested raising temps here

46. Hi! and thanks for all the useful info, questions and comments here.

    My husband and I stick with the mostly ‘au natural’ rearing – ie, our garden is full of milkweed plants and other fun nectar plants for the butterflies.
    We have had a steady stream of butterflies all summer, and we have an enormous number of cats now chomping away, in what we presume to be the last ‘litter’.
    What I am curious about is this: We are in Ohio, and we have Cinderella (native) Milkweed that went off and to seed fairly early, and some healthy patches of Tropical Milkweed that is now pretty much spent as well. I am thinking that maybe I should have deadheaded the plants to prevent going to seed too soon, because all the cats we now have are on the tropical, very few on the native, and I fear them having enough to make it through their life cycles.
    I had started some plants from seed, but they are yet too young, and so I don’t have much hope for this season, but want to plan better for the next.
    Any thoughts on plant care management?

    1. Hi Laura, we rely on the non-natives this late in the season, but if you want more natives, I’d supplement by planting more seeds this fall or next spring…1st year plants stay viable late into the season

47. Hello! I’m a first timer here and my very first chrysalis turned dark/clear alittle over 72 hours ago. Should I be worried? Is my little guy not gonna make it?

    1. Hi Angelica, your monarch didn’t make it. If the chrysalis turned transparent with butterfly markings it’s possible the butterfly had heavy OE infection and the chrysalis was stuck shut. Otherwise, I’m not sure what would cause the butterfly to fully develop but not emerge…

       OE parasites

48. Hi! Chrysalis formed this AM right as i left for work and bright green liquid came out. As soon as possible ( other guy hanging in “J” right next to him tonight when I got home!) we plan to isolate it; what could be the cause for this? It dripped on the tray and the edge of the mesh cage, should we try to clean or isolate that edge of the mesh – we have 7 chrysalis, 3 J, 3 top stretched guys and one muncher, all instar 5 in the cage. Thanks!

    1. Hi Heather, it’s always best to isolate when there are issues…I would also try to keep the last caterpillar away from the green liquid spot since you can’t properly disinfect at this point…good luck!

49. First time monarch raiser, and I have found your website and replies INCREDIBLY helpful. My question: cat is ready to pupate soon, currently living in a large, smooth plastic, cake container. I had made a mesh window on one side and as a ‘sun roof’ (really for air). The rest of the environment is plastic. Will the cat be able to scale the smooth plastic? Will it make a silk pad on the plastic ceiling??
    Thank you!

    1. Hi Amy, yes to both…caterpillars can scale plastic and form their chrysalides on it. As for ‘sun roof’ the plastic can magnify the sun…we always turn the PVC window away from the sun.

50. Hello there! I have 21 catepillars I am rainsing. 12 are chrysalises already (so exciting!) and 2 are j-shaped. 4 are still catepillars happily grazing on 2 types of milkweed I pick every day. One chrysalis fell to the bottom. I picked it up gently and moved it to a leaf on the bottom of the cage. It was slimy 🙁 I’m thinking this one is done for? The last little guy started forming a chrysalis, but seems to have stopped at a small amount of green chrysalis. It’s been like that for 24 hours. Did she die?

    1. Hi Christy, the chrysalis is formed pretty quickly and all during one short session once they start. If the caterpillar stopped shedding its skin, the monarch didn’t survive.

51. My last chrysalis out of 6 started to go transparent and then seemed to charge its mind and went back to solid green. Can that happen?????

    1. Hi Diane, I’ve never heard of this happening before…once the chrysalis starts darkening and become transparent, the butterfly emerges within the next day.

52. We have 6 crysalises and 4 caterpillars in our pop-up. This afternoon, one of our smaller caterpillars has spun his webbing (no dot yet), but he seems too small to be doing this now. What might be the problem?

    1. Hi Ashley, if the caterpillar isn’t hanging, it could just be molting. (they shed skin 4 other times before chrysalis) If it’s hanging, could just be a small monarch or have a parasite like tachinid flies

53. I have a chrysalis in a jar and there is water in the bottom…about an inch. I put it in there to water the milkweed when the Caterpillar was in it. Should a try to remove the water? **1st timer**

    1. Hi Pamela, I would definitely pour that out…too much moisture + potential hazard for emerging butterfly

54. Hi Tony,
    My friend gave me a monarch caterpillar and I have been dutifully feeding him new milkweed leaves every day for the past couple of days. Today he seems to have attached himself to the side of his container with a delicate web of silk and he is hanging there motionless. He is about an inch long, which I assume is too small for him to be a mature. This isn’t a little silk button he is dangling from to build a chrysalis. His body is straight out against the side of his container and he seems to be just held there with strands of silk. He got in this position about ten hours ago and hasn’t moved. Is this normal? Was he somehow attacked by a tiny yet vicious spider that I didn’t see? Is this some kind of illness? At first I thought he might be shedding his skin, but when I went on YouTube and watched how caterpillars shed their skins, it did not look like this. Thank you very much for any insights you may have. Robin

    1. Hi Robin, not sure, but this doesn’t sound good. If it’s still motionless and hanging by a thread, it sounds like the little cat didn’t make it. Always rinse milkweed thoroughly with water to clear away potential pathogens or small predators. I hope you get another chance to raise soon!

    2. This happened twice to me last week. I put a fresh new young leaf in, and gently pulled them from the side and back on the leaf. One did molt after all day like that. They are fine now.

55. I have 7 caterpillars on my 2 parsley plants. I’ve placed 1 of the plants in the mesh cage. Can they fully develop into Monarch on parsley?

    1. Hi Lucy, those are:

       Eastern Black Swallowtails

56. I have a chrysalis that just formed yesterday. Only a few hours after the caterpillar formed his chrysalis, I found one of the other caterpillars trying to eat it. There is now a dark spot on the bottom of the chrysalis and there was a small amount of black liquid on the bottom of the cage directly underneath the hanging chrysalis. I moved the other caterpillar back to one of the plants and have left the chrysalis hanging. It is no longer leaking any fluid. Is there a chance that the butterfly may still form correctly? Or would it be better to euthanize?

    1. Hi Megan, if the chrysalis looks normal (not deflated) it could be ok….hopefully there was no munching of anything vital for development. all you can do is monitor and hope for the best. Make sure there is always fresh milkweed in the cage and this won’t be an issue. good luck!

       1. Hi there I have a question I am new at rasing monarchs first year. I have 17 now most are in their final stage. Yesterday I got to release a happy healthy monarch. I had two one darkened a day before the other yesterday I went out and the first one was still in its chrysalis, the other was out and hanging dry up already, so I took the first one out and help it out of it’s chrysalis he was alive but seems but has silk wrapped around it’s torso holding down the back legs, it couldn’t get out, but it was stuck like that I tried to it to pump but it had harden in that position. I feed it for the day it’s was eating hoping to build its strength. But it stayed that way could not grab or move its legs. 🙁 So I had no choice but to euthanize it after one last meal. My question is why wasn’t able to break through it’s chrysalis properly, why would it have that thin silky casing over his abdomen? I wish I had gotten to it sooner I may of had a different outcome. It was hot and humid that day could that have caused it? Hope to get some input. Thanks

          1. Hi Tanya, many times if they’re weak, deformed, or can’t emerge from the chrysalis, OE is the culprit:

             OE Parasites Info

57. Hi Tom: My husband and I just started bringing in monarch catepillars, 6 now and none seemed able to stay on the milkweed to form chrysalis. They all would get to the point of stopping all food consumption and start rubbing on the plants but would end up falling off and would lay in the liquid they were producing. Try to get them back up on milkweed but by then, they seemed pooped out. Not sure what we’re doing wrong.

    1. hi Mari, there is something going on with your caterpillars. If the liquid they are expelling is green it could be pesticides, if darker it could be viral or bacterial.

58. Hi Tony,

    My chrysalis are starting to turn black all on one side, and my butterflies are hatching but their wings are not developing like they should. What would cause this?

    1. Hi Helen, sounds like possible OE infection or exposure to chemical/pesticide. Viruses/bacteria typically kill the monarch before the butterfly ecloses.

59. My butterflies (three hatched yesterday and five this morning–my first season of raising!) have a tendency to fall after they hatch. Is this a sign of OE or are they just not good at attaching to certain surfaces (or both)? Are some surfaces better than others? One BF yesterday fell after hatching from a chrysalis attached to a plastic cage, so I moved all the remaining chrysalides onto twigs, but I still had to rescue a few butterflies this morning–one was about to fall off and one did fall. One problem may be that I am not tying the chrysalides high enough up against the twig so the butterfly can’t reach the twig. Does it help to have a piece of yarn or rope hanging down so they can climb on that? I tied the chrysalides up with plastic dental floss, and one butterfly struggled to gasp onto that to climb up from the chrysalis.

    1. Hi Noor, healthy butterflies don’t typically fall from chrysalides. Monarchs don’t need twigs in their habitats, although you can use them as insurance. Butterflies can easily hang down from the mesh roof of a cage.

60. Hi, Tony,
    I gathered quite a few eggs this season and now have quite a few “fat cats” that are eating me out of house and home. Luckily I am blessed with quite a lot of butterfly weed that reseeds annually. Some of the larger plants die back and sprout up in the spring. I plan to try your rooting method during the winter so that I can get a earlier start in the spring and also hope to have some potted milkweed to put cats on.
    My question is this: I have one cat that chose the side of a milkweed cutting jar to pupate. I was planning on moving it but when I picked up the jar I realized that the side of the chrysalis is stuck to the glass. I haven’t put even the slightest pressure on it yet because I’m afraid of tearing it. Any suggestions? Will the butterfly be able to eclose if the chrysalis can’t “swing”?

    On another note I found out that putting a 18 inch ceramic tile at the bottom of my 24 inch inclosure has been great. It hold it down well and gives me a great surface that is easily cleanable. The dried frass often rolls off and collects at the edges of the inclosure but it is easy to suck up with a hand-held vacuum as long as you watch out for meandering cats.

    I ordered your 24″ enclosure and I love it! I also ordered an extra set of the floral tubes and they have done well. One thing I found at my house that has worked well is a glass floral frog. If your readers don’t know what that is, it is a heavy glass object that resembles a paperweight. It has holes through it from top to bottom and it is used to arrange flowers. I found a jar that it fits well in, right at the jar’s opening, and I can stick cutting through the holes into the jar of water. It is easy to clean and if I have several cats on a naked cutting, I just stick the cutting into one of the holes and they move easily to the fresh ones. I’m kinda showing my age because floral frogs were very popular when I was growing up. LOL

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I enjoy being part of your community.

    1. Hi Dianne, the butterfly just needs to emerge from the bottom of the chrysalis and then hang. You could try removing the chrysalis and rehanging (maybe spray with water first to loosen it from the side) or you could leave it and see if it has enough room…

61. A few weeks I brought in 24 eggs and almost all have now become chrysalis and hatched. Unfortunately, many were deformed. Reading about OE parasites, I believe this is the reason. I will not feed the same milkweed plants to my caterpillars still left but should I dispose of the milkweed. Or cut it down and let it grow back for next season.? Once the milkweed is infected with parasites, does it recover?

    1. Hi Silvia, cutting back plants in continuous growing regions is recommended as OE spores and other pathogens build up on plants. The spores are not in the plants, but on them…

       Monarch Diseases and Parasites

62. I have a Monarch that has a piece of chrysalis covering it’s eyes and antenna. It can’t “see” to fly although it is trying to free the chrysalis from it’s head. I guess it is not going to make it and I have no heart to put it in the freezer. How long will it live? It spreads it’s wings and moves about but it seems that chrysalis is fused to the poor creature. I tried to help but I can’t move it either and he seems so delicate, I don’t want to break him.

    1. Hi Kathy, you could try spraying it with water to see if the chrysalis could be removed…

63. Hi Tony, My husband and I are very new to this and are learning a lot. We did have one of our 4 butterflies with crumpled wings and after a google search, we determined it was affected by the OE parasite. We did euthanize it. We have had one successful flight so far. Two still in chrysalis. One will emerge today. My concern is our 4th chrysalis. It has a brown spot close to the top by the gold rim for the past few days. Should we assume he didn’t make it? thank you for your website. We are excited to have this new hobby and help the butterflies.

    1. Hi Diane, if it’s just one small spot, I would continue to monitor and see what unfolds…good luck!

64. I realized I was posting under the wrong forum, sorry 🙂
    So I have one chrysalis and I think it’s day 15. The wings turned black within hours of my carefully moving it to a different location. I tied it by it’s cremaster, I hope that wasn’t a mistake. Been several days since and the abdomen appears to be developing, a Golden brown. Is it dead and this is an infection or alive and probably sick?
    Second, I have a cat who I was feeding plenty except past 24 hrs due to tainted milkweed. Now he’s J’ing but I don’t see silk. I used tulle and he wiggles like he’s stuck and can’t get his front legs back up. I have no idea if he will pupate or die from dehydration. Not sure what to do. I can’t remove the tulle as he may fall.

    1. Hi Alli, you can tie string or dental floss around the cremaster…that won’t hurt them. At this point, all you can do is monitor them and hope things work out…good luck

65. Hello. I have 12 chrysalides and 1 is the emerald green color, but has slightly darker green tiger-like stripes on it. It should emerge in a couple days if all is well. Should I be concerned?
    Thank you!

    1. Hi Caitlin, when things look a little off, all you can do is separate the chrysalis if there are others in the habitat, and monitor to see what happens. good luck!

66. I have a cat that has been trying to pupate for over an hour now. The skin is split just behind his head and was starting to wriggle but seems to have given up. He’s still alive too. Is there anything I can do to help him? Do they ‘rest’ in between attempts?

    1. Hi Sarah, if the caterpillar stopped pupating mid-way, it did not survive….sorry

       1. I have a similar issue. My 6 year old knocked down the container last night with the catapiller hanging like a j. I carefully put the container back up out of her reach. This morning we woke up and you could see the skin has split only around his head and there is about a half inch of just skin he is hanging from. No movement the last 7 hours . Is it dead?

          1. Hi Christina, when they form the chrysalis it’s finished very quickly. If you see some green chrysalis and a motionless caterpillar, your monarch didn’t make it.

67. I fear I just made a terrible mistake and I wanted to check in to verify. I had a monarch caterpillar that had just spun his silky webbing and was hanging, still completely in caterpillar form like it had just happened, but the problem was that he did it right at the edge of where the lid slides open on the aquarium, so if he had turned into a chrysalis there I would not have been able to open the top at all to get into the tank for any reason. My first instinct was to remove him from the top before he spun into his chrysalis since it was or at least seemed so fresh…he came off the top fairly easily, but the silk is still hanging from his rear. I laid him on a milkweed leaf and he is still alive, although he is not moving much at all. Did I just kill him? ;-(

    1. no, the caterpillar should be fine Mike. Just tape him up by the silk under a cupboard:

       Rehanging a chrysalis (or caterpillar in this case)

       1. Thank you for the fast response. I have gone ahead and done this as described. Fingers crossed…and I am so glad that I found this resource!

       2. Just as a follow-up, when I woke up this morning I still saw him hanging like a J, and then my landscaper came and I was talking to him for it couldn’t have even been more than 10 minutes or so, and when I came back inside, BOOM…a beautiful green chrysalis! Thanks again!

68. I have 2 that pupated about 9 days ago. I have another that pupated yesterday. The one that pupated yesterday has a pupa that is significantly smaller than the other 2 pupae. Is this a cause for concern?

    1. Hi Laura, sometimes there’s a problem, and sometimes it’s just a smaller than average butterfly. All you can do now is monitor and hope for the best…

69. I was wondering what to do with a chrysalis that has formed looking strange. It is normal in size but tear drop shaped, has 1″ either skin or part cat above chrysalis from which it is hanging and on one side has 2 dark spots. There is a normal chrysalis hanging about 2″ from it. Should I remove the good chrysalis and relocate it and wait and see what happens with the strange one or just euthanize the odd one?

    1. Hi Pam, if you’re not sure if there is a serious issue, separate and monitor sounds like the best option…good luck!

70. Hi, Tony. Thanks for all your help with these beautiful creatures! I have been restoring habitat on our land for native plants, insects, birds and other wildlife. This includes encouraging and/or re-introducing all Asclepias species native to our region. However I’ve noticed that due to predators and disease the smaller Monarch larvae often seem to disappear before they can pupate.
    Caterpillar #1 – On Saturday I brought my first ever caterpillar inside to an enclosure on its sprig of Swamp Milkweed [Asclepias incarnata]. This cat was large enough to “J” and pupate and I wanted to ensure success for the Monarch. Within 24 hours it stopped eating and has become a beautiful crysalis hanging on a stick.
    Caterpillar #2 – On Sunday I found another large larva eating Common Milkweed [Asclepias syriaca] and brought that cat inside to the enclosure on its sprig. For about 24 hours cat #2 ate the Common Milkweed I provided and even tried the Swamp Milkweed. Then it began to look for a place to pupate. It climbed up and down sticks, all around back and forth inside the enclosure, in and out of the leaves, no longer eating, and all the while spinning silk with its mouth but never settling into a “J”. All night it remained motionless parallel to the underside of a stick. When I misted the enclosure this morning it began moving around again but is no longer eating or making a “J”. It wants to go higher than my enclosure so I’m not sure what to do. The goal is success for the butterfly!

    1. Yay!!! Since writing of my concern over an hour ago, the caterpillar has made a silk pad at the top edge of the enclosure and is now hanging in a “J”. The last frass prior to this was a medium coral color! A friend who used to raise all kinds of moths and butterflies just told me that the last frass prior to the last molt is often an unusual color or consistency, although orange is a bit unusual.

    2. Hi Judy, if it’s a healthy caterpillar (you never know what it was exposed to outside), it will form a chrysalis inside the cage. All you can do is make sure there is fresh milkweed in the cage (in case it’s not ready) and hope everything works out. good luck…

71. Hi,

    I had many chrysalises on my milkweeds but none of them successfully hatched this time. Some of them failed to fully come out of chrysalis, some of them came of with deformed wings and died . I am in NZ and the weather is fairly warm throughout year. It is the beginning of spring and those caterpillars were growing during the winter. During the summer every thing was ok, This winter we had too much rain but was not really cold.
    Can you think about any causes of deformed wings or death ?

    1. Hi Lulu, this sounds like OE parasites:

       Monarch Diseases and Parasites

72. I’ve been raising Monarchs in Northern NJ since I was a little kid (30+ years.) I’ve got ~20 late generation Monarchs in chrysalises right now (9/15) and one of my earlier groups just emerged without a right hind wing. Observing the chrysalis I could see that it was shaped oddly on one side but it looked like the wing was intact. What I didn’t realize was that the hind wing was missing altogether. I feel terrible that I didn’t catch the deformity earlier because she’s otherwise fully formed and alert, it would have been better to euthanize the chrysalis. In 30 years of practicing the hobby I’ve never had one emerge missing an entire wing. She was raised from an egg that I pulled from our garden milkweed and I tend to think this may be a genetic defect vs. parasitic infection as it doesn’t look like anything formed at all. There aren’t too many good options for her, I can hand feed and keep her indoors or we may decide to euthanize.

    1. Hi Andrew, sorry to hear about the lady with the missing wing….good luck with your 20 chrysalides!

73. I have a question about the relocation of a chrysalis: when moving them and re-attaching them to their new location, what would be the minimum distance between them? Currently, I have tied them with floss to sticks and they are on average 1.5 inches apart in their new enclosure. Most will start emerging at different times (and I have done my best to stagger them); but, there are a few that formed their chrysalis within hours of each other. Thanks!

    1. Hi Alicia, at least enough space so there’s no way they can get in each others way after eclosing…I usually space ours a few inches apart, but your spacing should be ok.

74. My son and I have been raising some caterpillars we found this summer in a hay field. We took them as the hay was about to be cut and they would have been cut down. They all seemed healthy and made it to chrysalis stage but now are not emerging? It has been 3 weeks and I am worried. They are all still hard to the touch and the beautiful green. What is happening? Should we continue to wait? We have 9 and they all formed pupated within 3 days of each other.
    Thanks for any suggestions you might have!

    1. Hi Jackie, if the chrysalises are green and look healthy, I would definitely continue to monitor. If the weather is cool, it can slow down metamorphosis although 3 weeks is a long time.

75. Hello! Last month I found a monarch egg and was able to raise him and watch him pupate successfully. When he turned dark I thought for sure he would emerge with the 24 hour window but three days went by and he still had emerged. You the chrysalis looked healthy and you could see his wings, but everywhere I read they said that more than 48 hours and they probably died. I was sad to think that had happened and took it outside and opened the chrysalis expecting him to be dead but he was still alive! There was a bad smell coming from him and when I tried to hang him his wings didn’t look right. I eventually just placed him outside on some plants. What do you think happened? I should mention that when I tried to hang him he fell a few times

    1. Hi Ashlee, the butterfly was sick and I would have euthanized to avoid spreading disease. If a butterfly is disfigured and too weak to hang on, it’s always best to euthanize.

76. my newly formed chrysalis is dripping green fluid. this is my first–is this normal?

    1. Hi Linda, not normal but should be ok if the dripping stopped quickly and the chrysalis looks normal.

77. Hi there! I’ve had a monarch caterpillar for two weeks and it has just recently started to become very lethargic. I thought it was dead because it wasn’t moving but then it slowly started to move and eat a little bit and then stopped moving again. It pretty much just sits still most of the day. When we first got it it was very active. Should I be concerned or is this normal? Thanks in advance!

    1. Hi Bre, they are usually quite active unless they’re about to molt (shed their skin) or the temps are cool. If it’s neither of those there could be an issue:

       Monarch Diseases and Parasites

78. A few weeks ago I raised 11 caterpillars with all 11 successfully developing and I released 11 healthy butterflies. No problems. I gathered additional cats and eggs and several have formed their chrysalis the first one on 9/5. This one looks terrible, turned dark and brown and split on the side and I have another that doesn’t look good either. I removed the diseased chrysalis from the others. Any idea what might be happening? My first time raising monarchs.

    1. Hi Cynthia, check out this page for some ideas:

       Monarch Diseases and Parasites

       1. Thank you for your information. This round of caterpillars is a disaster. Seems I have a tachinid fly issue. I isolated an infected chrysalis and after a few days, I tiny white maggot emerged from that chrysalis. I’ve since removed 3 more chrysalis, another one turning black and a dead caterpillar. What a learning experience. I will only bring in eggs next year or ones that have just hatched. At least I’ve released 11 perfect butterflies from the first round.

79. My wife and I have been reporting Monarch migration sightings for a number of years, and even collected a few cats and raised them successfully. Yesterday a friend of mine while moving a big rock from a field found a large number of intact chrysalises underneath, like something had stored them there. He brought 49 to us that we are now seeing if they will hatch. Lots of milkweed in this field. I have a hard time imagining that they all crawled under this rock and piled up together. I suspect chipmunks or mice were collecting them for winter. Have you ever heard or seen such a thing. He said there must of been 100 of them but sadly a lot were killed when he moved the big rock with his tractor. I found your site looking for hatching information. We live in upstate NY and the monarchs are just hatching out. There seems to be more that in the past few years.

    1. That is fascinating Keith…I would guess mice or rats but you never know unless you catch them green-handed. yes, hopefully some healthy butterflies will still emerge…nice to hear you are having a good season out east!

80. Hello Tony, this is my first time rearing Monarch caterpillars. So far, I have 7 chrysalids, 3 cats in J’s, 2 ready to start buttons any minute now, 5 instar 5, and 2 instar 3-working on 4. One amazing cat molted 3 times in one week and is as big or bigger than ones hatched 3 weeks ago! Anyways, I’ve had 3 cat fatalities. 2 had trouble molting-didn’t completely shed, were slow growing, and eventually just died. I’ve noticed that several have thinner white bands, incomplete through the back midline. I read that this is where their heart is and could possibly be a sign of disease or genetic defect. Any ideas on what could cause it? I’m afraid of accidentally spreading it. Or releasing diseased cats. Although I don’t know if I have the heart to kill them if they seem other-wise healthy. I have isolated any I’ve brought in as cats and isolate any that seem abnormal. But there have been seemingly healthy cats with the dead and different cats, prior to symptom recognition and isolation. I’ve also re-bleached containers and milkweed. Thoughts?

81. Now I am working on monarch butterfly life cycle. On dated 12-09-2017 pupa has been done arround 9:30 am (GMT+5.30). Arround 8 pm accidentally pupa has been holed at bottom and leak out some amount of black color liquid. After that holed area covered and now no liquid coming. I want to ask you what will be the effect of the pupa growth, it will damaged?

    1. Hi Rajib, if the pupa is deflated, that’s not good. But if it stopped leaking and still looks normal, you should hopefully be in good shape…good luck!

82. I have about 5 chrysalides in a 10 gallon aquarium and had another 4 in a mesh pop up. The ones in the mesh have already changed but the ones in the aquarium haven’t. They still all look healthy. The only difference I can think of was I had the aquarium on the front porch at first but brought it in when it was cooler, whereas the pop up habitat has been in the house since the start. Is there something wrong with the ones in the aquarium. I have a screen over the top of the aquarium so it’s not totally enclosed. Help!

    1. Hi Barbara, if they look healthy otherwise, it’s probably the temperature difference…cool temps slow down metamorphosis

83. We have a crysalis that has attached to the side of our cage. There also are four others that are hanging from the top. Would it be okay to unhook the screen and raise it so he is hanging vertically from the cage rather than horizontally. There is alot of silk on the screen and I am afraid the one side of the crysalis appears to be flattened. I am so afraid to hurt the crysalis. We thought about cutting out that part of the screen and attaching it to the top of the cage but I am so afraid I will hurt it. Any suggestions? Thank you.

    1. Hi Lisa, yes, allowing the chrysalis to hang down sounds like a good plan. I would probably try to remove and rehang, but if you’re not comfortable doing that, repositioning the screen should work

84. We have had 3 Monarchs for about 21 days now. After a couple weeks, our biggest formed a chrysalis without any problems. It has about 3 days to go. As for the other two, they have been caterpillars for over 20 days now and have stopped eating about three days ago. One is just resting on a milkweed leaf and the other is on the underside of a branch. I believe they are dying as the upside down cat will release its rear from the branch once in awhile like he is too tired to hold on. We are in Southeastern Michigan and last week temps dropped at night to below 50 degrees. The cats are inside but maybe the house was too cool? We are not sure what to do.

    1. Hi Lora, if they haven’t eaten for three days there is something wrong. All you can do is provide fresh milkweed and hope they start eating. 50 degree temps at night might slow down metamorphosis a bit, but those temps are not an issue.

85. I am raising monarchs for the 1st time outdoors and have 2 issues. I currently have about 8 cats in different stages and 8 chrysalides. One of the chrysalis emerged last night, but the butterfly was on the floor of the box and his wings were still soft. They are on my back porch and it dropped colder than I expected last night….down to about 45. Could the cold have been the problem or something else?

    Also, a cat fell in the beginning stages of chrysalis development. It was a soft landing as I have shredded paper in the bottom of the box, but since it was still moving I brought him indoors to finish. There was some fluid emerging from the chrysalis, but not a lot and there is now a small black spot on the outside of the developed chrysalis. I was able to hang it and it looks fine other than the spot. Should I be worried?

    1. Hi Christina, it’s good you were able to rehang the chrysalis…all you can at this point is monitor. If the black spot doesn’t get bigger, it might be ok.
       45° is cold, but should not be an issue for a healthy monarch. Hopefully it was just a fluke…good luck

86. Hi, I found this site after a google search about how to help a fallen chrysalis. I’m currently raising 20+ monarchs as a teacher. I love how excited my students get about these little guys. I recently had my first chrysalis. Today I went to clean the enclosure and found another chrysalis on the ground! I never saw him hang at all so I think he just formed on the ground. ? There is not much of a stem to thread dental floss through and no silk to attach either. Do you know if it’s safe to use any type of glue or anything that will get him to hang? Should I just let him try to hatch on the ground?

    1. Hi Annette, you could rehang by tying waxed dental floss around the black cremaster (above chrysalis) or place the chrysalis on a mesh cage floor by a mesh wall so the butterfly can climb when it emerges…

87. Last night, my monarch caterpillar was hanging in J and fell. He was still in the J shape but laying on the floor. I read somewhere that you can touch his last set of prolegs to the silk button and he will stick to that. That seemed to work, so I left him hanging there overnight. This morning I woke up to find him with his skin split only at the bottom- near his head. He is just hanging there with a little bit of his chrysalis exposed. Do you think that I should assume that he is dead? Should I try to peel back the rest of his skin? Thanks for any insight you can provide.

    1. Sorry Amy, your monarch died trying to form its chrysalis. It’s hard to speculate whether the issue was the fall or something else.

88. Hi, I have 8 monarchs in the chrysalis stage indoors. The first one started 14 days ago and still looks the same- none have emerged. Are they supposed to take this long or is something wrong?

    1. Hi Sandy, it can take longer for them to emerge when the temps cool down. 14 days is not too long. If the chrysalis still looks healthy I would not worry…

       1. thanks, I will wait patiently and post back here what happens

       2. Good news! I’ve got 9 chrysalides that formed the first week in September. We had some cool nights in West Michigan, in the high 40’s, and cooler days. The chrysalides still all look healthy and green. Now the weather is in the 80’s and I hoping to finally get some butterflies. I’ve got another group of 11 that are a few days behind the the group of 9 and 12 that just pupated in the last 3-4 days. I have 4 more coming along. They appear to be in the 3rd instar. I’m hoping that the weather holds out for all of them to make it.

89. I had a butterfly that hatched but it fell to the bottom of the container rather than hanging to dry its wings. I gently moved it to try and get it to attach to the top of the cage but it wouldn’t grab on. It’s wings are drying all wrinkled andything I can do?

    1. Hello Nicole, if it’s too weak to hang on, it’s probably sick (OE parasites) and should be euthanized.

       Monarch Diseases

       1. How do you euthanize a butterfly?

          1. Hi Katrina, you can either put it inside a plastic baggie and put in the freezer, or place inside a paper towel and squeeze.

             1. How long will it take to die in the freezer?
                Also I just found a Monarch outside that has curled wingtips, thus unable to fly. I brought it in and put in my butterfly pen with some sugar water – but is there anything I can do for it or should it be euthanized?

                Thank you!

             2. Hi Katrina, I would leave them in for about 24 hours if you use that method. As far as a butterfly that can’t fly you can keep as a pet, or euthanize. Whatever works best, Tony

90. hello,
    I have successfully released 5 monarchs this year – for the first time! My sixth one is concerning me. I had to move the stick the black chrysalis was hanging on. As I did if fell about 12 inches onto a stack of papers. It is now lying there without the top. Will the monarch still emerge? Have I inadvertently killed the boy little guy? Is there anything I can do to help it at this point?

    1. Hi Deb, I would just set it on a paper towel and see if it can emerge…12″ is not a long fall so hopefully it will be ok.

       If you have a mesh cage set it by a wall so it can climb up to hang. It will have to hang right away so the wings can dry properly…

91. Hi! Thanks for this fantastic resource on Monarchs! I am trying to raise Monarchs for the first time. I have 1 chrysalis, 1 medium cat, and 3 eggs. It’s going down into the 50’s at night here in Maryland. Will my Monarchs still have time to mature and migrate? Any special precautions I should take?

    1. On cold night below low 50’s I would bring the eggs in as cool temps slow down metamorphosis…I wouldn’t worry about the other ones. good luck!

92. I just had a cage of cats die and I think it might be from some milkweed I recently purchased at a nursery. My question is since I don’t know which plant it is, (on the side yard, not my whole front garden) if I cut back all the plants in the planter to 6″ , will the regrowth next season be ok to use???

    1. Hi Deborah, sorry you got some ‘bad’ milkweed…never a fun experience. Yes, if you cut back, it should be fine to use next season.

       1. Hello. I have a few chrysalide and one of them turned to a brown almost black a couple days after it formed should I be worried and is it possibly dead or diseased?? Let me know please thank you

          1. Hi April, this is bacterial or viral, and the monarch didn’t survive…sorry

          2. Same exact thing happened one a chrysalis I have. Formed on the 7th of Sept. I removed it today and it has a crack on the one side. I successfully raised 11 cats this year for the first time and released 11 healthy butterflies so this is disappointing.

93. Hi, I had one of my cats form his chrysalis on the side of the fish take a use to raise my cats. I thought about moving it several times but I was afraid to do it. Now the chrysalis is turning black and could hatch tomorrow or the next day. Is it too late to move it now? I’m just worried the butterfly won’t have enough space to dry his wings.

    1. Hi Chelsea, the only time the chrysalis should not be moved is before is the first 24 hours while it’s still hardening. Otherwise, it can be moved any time…good luck!

       1. Thanks! I ended up moving him last night anyway and when I got home from work today he had come out of his chrysalis along with another. I should be able to release him tomorrow morning as long as the weather holds!

       2. I have 2 chrysalis. 1 fell when it was pupating so I hung it back up, and now he has some brown lines by the top of him. Another 1 was fine but now it looks a little red like there’s blood or something where the wings are. They do not look normal what should I do? Please help.

          1. Hey Kate, I would continue to monitor. If you brought these in as caterpillars it could potentially be tachinid fly parasites. Unfortunately, it sounds like a serious issue…

             1. Wow. They acuallly hatched healthy! The red one turned out to be fine and the one that had fallen had hatched with its uper wings a little smaller, and she is darker, but she hatched fine:) Thank you!!

94. First, thank you for this site. I come here A LOT for information and answers. I found and brought into an enclosed milkweed (it is outside but wrapped in toulle), 4 smaller cats that are probably 2nd or 3rd instars. Last night I noticed they had all taken on a strange position and this morning, they are the same and it is worrying me! They are holding on with their back feet but the front 1/3 of their bodies are lifted up off of whatever it is that they are holding onto. It is almost like when they start to go into “J” position, how they lift off with the front of their bodies first, but they are WAY too small for that to be happening right now. Are they too cold? Did the new milkweed make them sick? I only want to help but don’t want to make it worse for them by bringing them “in”.

    1. Hi Alicia, it sounds like they might be getting ready to molt (shed their skin) which they do several times before forming a chrysalis…if the milkweed was just purchased, I would double check to make sure it wasn’t treated with pesticides.

       1. Hey Tony,

          Are you on Facebook? I have been raising milkweed for 3 years now and this year I finally see half a dozen cats on the milkweed. I usually level my garden before winter, but don’t know if I should do that or not. Can you kindly help me learn the monarch way??

          1. Hi Chris, I’m not sure where you’re located but if you have caterpillars on milkweed, I would wait a few weeks before cutting everything back. Here’s the facebook page:

             Monarch Butterfly Garden Facebook

95. Hi there! I was given some caterpillars and chrysalides from a friend. There were 4 caterpillars – 2 bigger ones, 1 that’s about an inch long and one itty bitty. The 2 larger ones both attempted to hang and started forming their chrysalis but both died in the process. 🙁 The 1 inch one seems to have stopped eating and the tiny one died, I believe. They have fresh milkweed and a clean habitat…I’m hoping to get a few more caterpillars but how can I help them to stay healthy? This was very disappointing. Thanks for your help!

    1. Hi Elaina, sorry to hear about your monarchs. Unfortunately, when you don’t have them from eggs, you never know what they could have been exposed to before you received them…if they all died, it’s important to discover the source of the issue so it doesn’t happen again. Dying during pupation is common when caterpillars have ingested an insect growth regular (pesticides)

96. Tony

    1st & foremost-THANK YOU! What you do for us Monarch enthusiasts is amazing-I’m sure I speak for all of us in expressing our sincere thanks for all the work you do to provide us with the best information possible.
    My question is I just had 4 Monarch caterpillars go to chrysalis but instead of the skin shedding outside the chrysalis (normal) the skin is visible inside the chrysalis @ the very top. What’s up with that? Do you think I should just wait & see?

    1. Hi Gene, whenever you see something out of the ordinary, it’s always best to separate the monarch caterpillar/chrysalis from others and monitor…

97. Good Day!

    I live in Randolph Ctr. Vermont. This year a healthy crop of milkweed decided to sprout up in my perennial garden. Over the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of observing many Monarch caterpillars, chrysalises (chrysalides, which is the proper plural?) and butterflies. I have been trying to track the caterpillars and have been eagerly awaiting the emergence of 4 butterflies from their chrysalises. There are likely many more, I just haven’t found them (though I do keep looking). I have taken many pictures throughout their life cycle. Is it known whether or not a camera flash is harmful to a chrysalis or any other stage of the butterfly’s life? I have read in several publications that monarchs are usually only in the chrysalis for 10 – 14 days. The oldest chrysalis that I have been tracking has been in the chrysalis stage since August 12. They all look ‘normal’. Perhaps I am just being silly… I’m sure it’s probably just the weather. However, I do worry that too many camera flashes had an adverse affect on them. I would appreciate any thoughts you might have. Thank you so much for your time.

    1. Hi Dianne, I’ve never heard anything about camera flashes being harmful to monarchs. However, I don’t typically use flash photography to capture caterpillars or butterflies. Metamorphosis is slowed down by cool night time temps…it looks like you will have some warmer temps next week so hopefully you’ll see some butterflies then. good luck…

       1. What is the longest time that it has taken a butterfly to emerge from a chrysalis? All the information that I have found states about 10 to 14 days. It’s been 4 weeks now. Could they actually still be alive?

          1. They are still alive!! Two butterflies emerged today. That’s 4 weeks in the chrysalis stage. I guess that’s Mother Nature for you… Always keeping you guessing.

             1. Hi Dianne, that’s fantastic news….cold temperatures can really slow down metamorphosis, but if the chrysalides look healthy, always give them a chance. congrats!

98. Hi Tony
    I have 2 monarch chrysalides that turned dark and can see the wings today. I am preparing for two more healthy releases and have 4 more to go! I live in Chicago and the days are typically warm and in the 70s but at night it drops down into the fifties and even the upper 40s. If I release my monarch butterflies tomorrow during the warm day will they be able to survive the cold nights?

    1. Those night time temps are not a problem. They can survive temps below freezing so I would not worry at this point…good luck!

99. We had a cat that was just shedding its last skin to form into a chrysalis. Our neighbor girl was blowing on it and knocked it to the bottom of the cage and it split the chrysalis as it was still soft. I left it alone and it has hardened and turned green. It remains split (about 1cm wide and 2cm long) and I can see something moving inside. So far, we have separated it from the other chyrisalises we have but left it. Is there anything else we should do?

    1. Hi Sarah, I would tie waxed dental floss around the cremaster and rehang. All you can do at this point is monitor and hope for the best…

100. Hi Tony,

     First, thank you for all the info you provide. I refer to this page constantly.

     I have a chrysalis that looks perfectly fine, but the shed skin didn’t drop off like the others. It is crinkled up at the top of the chrysalis under the cremaster. Can I leave it there or should I try to remove it? If it has to be removed, what is the safest way to do it? Thanks.

     1. Hi Christine, It should be be fine if you leave it…

101. I’ve had 3-5 caterpillars “attack” chrysalides. It appeared to me that they wanted to hang themselves into J from them! ??? 3 were incidents I saw, the others I just saw the damaged chrysalides, one of which eclosed and flew away today – to my great surprise! (It was really demented looking). Another probably won’t be so lucky: when I tried to pull a caterpillar off a newly forming chrysalis, the chrysalis got injured and started to ooze for about 10minutes – I felt terrible! It became about half its original size. When it happened the 3rd time (all in the same corner of a 16x16x13 mesh container) I took a teensy tiny wad of tissue paper – like men sometimes use to stop the bleeding when they cut themselves shaving – and put it on the dripping spot & lo & behold! The hemorrhaging stopped… yippeeeeeeeeee! I was worried that there might be a problem when eclosing time came around but the “bandage” came off 2 days later when I was spritzing my plants w water.

     Since then, when the caterpillars about to go into j at the top of the enclosure start bothering each other, (and the chrysalides) I separate the pre-Js out by putting them into empty pre washed salad containers. 2 days after they go into chrysalis mode, I separate the top & tape the whole lid by itself under a shelf. This works well because then I don’t have to remove as many chrysalides from the mesh container since (as per your instructions) I want to keep the eclosing butterflies separate from the caterpillars.

     Thanks for all the awesome info & tips, Tony!

102. Great site, thanks! Never tried raising Cats before, but after seeing one get attacked by a wasp, started hunting for eggs mid August.
     I have 4 pupae; three are hanging from the mesh or top edge of the aquarium I have the in, the fourth attached himself to the
     side. I was worried that he might not have been able to pupate from that location, but he managed. Do you recommend leaving him as is, or should I consider reattaching him to hang straight down from the mesh?

     1. Hi Bob, you could try removing either the caterpillar or chrysalis and rehanging with the attached silk….good luck!

103. Tony … where can I get the mesh enclosure shown in the panel “accident Insurance”?

     1. Hi David, there are mesh enclosure alternatives on the supply list…we will have cages back in stock sometime in October:

        Raising Supply List

104. I have 3 chrysalises in two cages, which formed 2 days ago. Do they need any leaves or milkweed left in the cages for purposes of “breathing” or photosynthesis? The reason I’m wondering is I left one small leaf and small piece of stick in the one cage and that chrysalis is still wiggling ever so slightly. The two in the other cage with no leaves are still. I removed most of the milkweed because they had a lot of poop on them.

     1. Hi Melodie, monarch chrysalides only move before they are full hardened (but swallowtails chrysalides can move at any time). I always remove the milkweed after the caterpillars are done feeding, but you could also discard after the butterflies emerge…good luck!

105. I have 15 cacoons. One of the caterpillars was smaller but still turned into cacoon today. I am watching it and I think I see something brown. Should I remove it from the cage?
     Half of the cacoons I taped on a stick. But it is in my living room they are not in cage so I was wondering can a fly do something to them ?

     1. Hi Zornitsa, yes, if you think it has a possible disease/parasite I would rehang and monitor. The flies parasitize the caterpillars, so more likely to be a disease issue unless your brought in caterpillars from outside. Then, it could be either…

106. Sad to hear all the incidents of the spraying for mosquitoes. Any ability to spray the MW with water and wash off the mosquito spray?

     1. Hi Dale, rinsing will always have a positive impact unless the pesticide is systemic.

107. Hello Tony,
     A friend and I raise caterpillars to monarchs and have had successful years and learn more and more as we go. Question – neither of us have seen a chrysalis in the “wild”. We cannot figure out why. I know they have many predators, but never….

     Thank you,

     1. Hi Margie, I have only ever found 2 chrysalides in our garden, I’m sure a few more have made it, but they are good at blending in with nature. Here are some ideas where to look:

        Where to Find a Monarch Chrysalis Outdoors

108. My husband and I are raising 80 monarch caterpillars. One of ours just shed its skin and turned into a chrysalis. However, The silk button did not attach. The skin is attached where the button should be attached. At the end of the skin which is hanging down are about 1/4-inch pieces of chrysalis that are attached to the chrysalis. It is leaking a pale green liquid and seems to be deflating. There are two black lines on the chrysalis and we are guessing he is dieing although he is still moving. Should we remove him and put him in the freezer ? The woman from monarch watch who is my mentor wants any maggots or flies that might be around. Not sure how to handle this. Hate losing any of them. There is one caterpillar in the same cage and three others in the cage that look like they are getting ready to go into the ‘J” position and one in a chrysalis. What to do?

     1. Hi Judy, if the caterpillar/chrysalis is deflating it did not make it and should be removed. Sorry to hear this, but congrats on raising 80 monarchs. That’s fantastic!

109. Tony, my last of only 3 is trying to get out if his chrysalis and is having trouble. Head is out but seems to be exhausted and can’t get the rest of the way. Can I help?

     1. Hi Hollie, you can try to carefully remove the butterfly by cutting away the chrysalis, but this usually indicates heavy OE infection. If you successfully remove him, make sure he hangs right away to see if his wings can expand and dry properly. good luck!

110. Help!
     Our Monarch Caterpillar started his final shed into Chrysalis today….
     He got to a point of about a Lima Bean size of green and then seemed stuck!
     7 hours later he is still the same!
     Can we help him?
     Is it too late?

     1. Hi Tina, if the caterpillar stops mid-pupation, the monarch has died. This is often due to growth regulators in milkweed plants (pesticide) or possible parasites like tachinid flies…you would see maggots/pupae on the cage floor:

        Monarch Diseases and Parasites

111. Hi all! My kids & I have been raising late stage monarch caterpillars in Western Texas with moderate success (5 chrysalides out of 18 original eggs). Four are green and one is black…hoping for an emergence today! We still have one caterpillar who has yet to pupate; he stopped eating more than a week ago and simply makes slow circuits of the container, seemingly avoiding the fresh milkweed at the bottom but no closer to his J-shape. Everyone else in his “pledge class” has pupated or died; I have no idea what to do. How much longer can he go on? Is he suffering? We’ve had two or three instances of frass pellets, so he’s still processing something. It’s been 23 days since 2nd instar and he’s an inch long, only slightly pale. I’m stumped. Thanks!

     1. Hi Kate, something’s going on with your milkweed, or possibly parasites/disease. If your caterpillar hasn’t eaten in a week and isn’t growing, I would euthanize. I’m not sure how much they suffer, but the caterpillar is starving. I hope you are able to figure out the issue that is affecting your monarchs:

        Monarch Diseases, Parasites, and Prevention

112. We have a monarch caterpillar that went into the j position last night. How long does it take for him to form a crystallis from there? I expected him to be formed when we got up this morning, but he doesn’t look any different.

     1. Hi Sarah, they can take awhile…like 24 hours. As long as the caterpillar is still in a ‘j’ shape it should be fine. good luck!

113. I just wanted to join in on the discussion… it seems there are a lot of issues this year with monarch rearing. No questions, just comments to add to the discussion here. I reference this page often.

     Last year, I didn’t plant my milkweed until later in the year and only had short plants, but I got a lot of eggs. A big storm knocked off the first batch of eggs (before I had learned that I needed to harvest them – I’ve truly learned so much this past year!), but a second batch was laid later. 5 eggs. Then I helped some cats that were in a community garden and running out of milkweed on a plant already overrun with aphids.

     But this year? I have checked my plants every single day since they came up. I have seen no eggs and no adult monarchs. I only found instar 3 cats. One day, there were 2 instar 4’s! The first one I found was even younger, in instar 1 (he was leaping off a leaf, attached to silk, fleeing the granddaddy longlegs and ants that were after him). So a total of 7 this year for me. Nothing since the last one. I’m truly shocked! I released cats in December last year (Central South Carolina – it was in the 80’s). But this year just seems like a dud. I agree – I think the widespread mosquito spraying for Zika is to blame, and it is heartbreaking to watch the effects within my butterfly community.

     I have a mentor who is a master gardener who got me into this last year (I had already planted a butterfly/pollinator-friendly garden to try and help) and not even she – with her tons of milkweed plants – has seen an egg, cat, or adult. It’s a shame.

     I have 4 in chrysalises. 1 made it halfway to a chrysalis, but didn’t finish shedding its last instar and became entrapped in his skin. He also didn’t spin enough silk to attach to the top of the habitat. When it was touched, he immediately fell. I still wanted to give him a chance, even just for science’s sake, so I rehung him. An hour later, the green started to drip from him. An even larger pity because you could already make out his eyes, antennas, and wings. The last one was very lethargic yesterday. I figured he was taking his 24 hour feeding protest before moving to the top of the cage. But overnight, he moved to the top, became a J, and pupated. My family member got home and said he had fallen as well, with some of his skin attached to the top… another hour before I can see what she means. She said there is no green goo, though… I can’t help but be hopeful.

     One of the 4 chrysalises that have been hanging for a few days now also looks like it has a hole in it – almost like something bore into him, but nothing did. He’s got the same kind of lines as the chrysalis in the above photo, but they are brown. He has not deflated and seems to still be viable… It’s a waiting game.

     Oh… the first cat I found, instar 1. He made it to instar 2 and then just stopped eating, rolled over, turned black. He was no larger than a partial fingernail clipping.

     I had no issues like this last year! I had one cat succumb to the “Black Death” but the others were fine. I’m just shocked and sad for them. It’s surely the hardest part of rearing monarchs, but it is so worth it. Hoping at least 4 of mine make it to adulthood. I have photos on my Instagram as well, should anyone be interested: https://www.instagram.com/k80dixon/

114. Hi, I’m wondering if this chrysalis is having problems. The Caterpillar seemed so active and healthy, and a few days after pupating it looks like this:

     https://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/ec32266907ec2c6f_8-5674/home-design.jpg

     Do you think this is OE or a virus? Or could it possibly turn out ok?

     Thank you for the tips and the great web site.

     1. Hi Kit, maybe tachinid flies? If it’s a virus, the chrysalis will turn completely dark. OE is typically more spotted. I would separate and monitor…good luck!

115. Hi Tony!
     First, THANK YOU for sharing all of your knowledge! Your information has been ever so helpful in my families effort to help the Monarchs! So far we have released 4 healthy, strong butterflies. We will be releasing 5 more tomorrow and have 16 more chrysalids. Our success rate this year has been fantastic as we have been rigorous about washing food and cleaning out the cage daily. We have only lost two cats- one after emerging from his eg and the other made his J but failed to make his chrysalis. We seem to have a “pet”. One of our monarchs formed a “bubble” on his wing about an hour after emerging. The bubble was gone the next day but his wing looks a little crimped where the bubble was and he is having trouble flying. We have tried to release him twice and he always lands on the grass after trying to fly and my kids are terrified to leave him outside. Any ideas? Do you think his wing could get better? Or do we have a pet? 😉

     1. Hi Yvonne, congrats on all your success this season. You can try feeding your grounded buytterfly fruit,gatorade, or honey water to see if that makes a difference before the next release. Otherwise, you could keep him as a pet…he will probably live for a few weeks, but less if he is sick. Here’s more info:

        Feeding Adult Butterflies

116. Is it safe for Monarch Cats to eat Trooical MW immature seed pods? They seem to enjoy them. I’ve collected so many seeds this season.

     1. Hi Elizabeth, caterpillars often feast on immature tropical milkweed pods, swamp pods, and even common milkweed. Let them eat…good luck!

117. I’m in Houston, TX and have raised several dozen cats now into butterflyhood. I’ve read up on problems and issues as I’ve gone along and learned a ton about this. But this last round has me stumped.

     I had about 16 seemingly healthy cats go into their chrysalises. The first 2 emerged normally and I released them. I had to go out of town and left the remaining chrysalises with a friend. The third emerged normally and my friend released it. The next 9ish have all turned black (my friend keeps updating me) but there are obviously problems. The first 3 oozed black and smelled, and she removed them. Several others look fine but didn’t emerge after 4 days. At least one chrysalis had white-looking wing areas, and another had a white abdomen area. Thankfully, another one darkened and then emerged normally yesterday. The remaining 4 or so were later to chrysalis and are still green.

     Some background–I have several milkweed plants that I believe are pesticide-free. I had to cut them all back to stalks earlier this summer after a nasty aphid infestation took over when we were out of town. So everything these cats ate was new growth. I found most of them as first instars, a couple second, and one fourth instar (kept him segregated because he had a funny black diagonal line). I’ve lost several to wasps in the past, so now I raise cats inside. These cats lived in our bathroom in sanitized plastic tubs on paper towels which I changed at least once a day, which I’ve done successfully with other cats. I didn’t notice anything odd with these cats while they were growing. I used a cardboard shipping box as their chrysalis site, tipped on its side to provide overhang, which they seem to gravitate toward naturally. They spaced themselves out about an inch apart. The bathroom is probably 78-82 degrees at any given time, and the shower provides some humidity. The bathroom also gets a lot of natural, indirect light.

     I know some details about the chrysalises at my friend’s house. The area where she keeps them is a little darker, her house is a little cooler (between 75-78 degrees), and she covers the box at night to keep them safe from her house cat and AC drafts. When a few chrysalises had been black for 2 days, she put the box in the backyard to see if that helped (temp was probably 92+ degrees) and she also misted them. The next day she put the box with the remaining ones in her garage (probably 88+ degrees) and that’s about when the last successful butterfly darkened and it also later emerged in the garage.

     We are both sad and perplexed at the disastrous outcome of a cool process that she and I and our kids all enjoy. There has been mosquito spraying in my area recently, so I thought maybe that could be why the early ones made it and the later ones are dying. OE and temperature change are other guesses, but we have no idea, and it could be something else entirely. Any insight or suggestions would be helpful! Thanks!

     1. Hi Christy, sorry to hear you are having issues. ‘Turning black, oozing, and unpleasant odor’ are common signs of NPV, a monarch virus:

        Monarch Diseases and Prevention

118. One of my monarch chrysalises turned black three days ago and looked normal (I have everything documented on Instagram).

     Here’s a photo of it on day 1 after turning black: https://www.instagram.com/p/BKqbR3NDqYp/).

     It’s neighbor had just emerged that morning and everything was okay. Into the afternoon of day 1 it did start to crack open, but nothing else: https://www.instagram.com/p/BKrdgMgjBIp/ so I waited. I read about waiting 3 days before calling it. I also read that they have about a minute to come out before the shell starts to harden, especially if it gets hit with a full blast of sunlight (and we’re in Florida) and started to wonder if maybe that’s what had happened.

     So when there was still nothing by the middle of the afternoon of day 3 and the edges of the crack were started to look dry and flakey I assumed the butterfly was dead inside and decided to pull the shell off so I could study how the butterfly is folded up inside: https://www.instagram.com/p/BKv4ilvjk3t/

     I left the body on my desk and a few hours later I discovered it moving, wiggling around!: https://www.instagram.com/p/BKwDXmpjkrX/

     And now I am overcome with guilt! Did I do something wrong by pulling it’s chrysalises off? Would this butterfly have had a chance if I had just been a bit more patient?

     Thank you for all the info provided on your site! It has been very helpful!

     1. Hi Lesley, sorry to hear about your butterfly.

        You did nothing wrong by trying to help it out on day 3. The butterfly should have hatched within 24 hours after the chrysalis started to darken. If it was stuck inside, there was an issue like heavy OE infection. OE is a common problem in your region. Here’s more info:

        8 Common Monarch Diseases

119. This has been a mixed year for raising monarchs. Typically I see two “waves” of cats, and each one this year’s been about 20-ish or so. Lost four monarchs from the first–two eclosed deformed, possibly with OE, one refused to eat, and one acted like it had been poisoned–but my entire second wave got sick. I have a few milkweed patches to draw from (and absolutely not treated with pesticides.), and they’d been feeding from one for a few days, so I swapped to another to give that patch a break from the hungry 4-5 instars…And they all became sluggish, fell off their leaves, and started spitting up, just like before! What is going on?!

     I’ve been changing their leaves and washing them, but only three really did anything in the way of recovering/ trying to pupate. One only made it halfway, one made it almost completely but was still deformed and eventually deflated, and the third seems to be okay for now. Since it pupated on the bottom of its jar I hung it up…but it also has a big black line across the top, like it didn’t quite close. Do you think it’ll be okay? This has been absolutely horrible to watch, especially because nothing really seems to be working and the cats just lie there before dying and turning dark. If this one survives, it means that he/she can resist whatever happened to its hatchmates, and the population could really use that genetic boost.

     1. Hi Kitt, if it happened right when you switched out the milkweed is it possible there was mosquito spraying in your area? this has been a major issue this season. Or perhaps there was some type of bacteria/virus on the new milkweed. Here’s more info:

        8 Common Monarch Diseases and Caterpillar Killers

        1. After looking into the issue in order to prevent it with this year’s cats, I have come to the conclusion it was probably NPV (although one of them turned bright red after it died, so I have NO idea what was going on with him), especially since as far as I know they don’t spray for mosquitoes where I live. This year, I’ve bleached/replaced everything I use, and am treating the eggs and leaves with a 5% bleach solution (One minute in the solution, and a little over one minute in a water rinse, and if you can see the outline of the head or it’s darkened, it doesn’t get treated for fear of harming the egg) . So far, it seems to be working.

120. Help… This is my first year trying to help the caterpillars. I currently have 20. 10 in crysallis and several in the process. One of which is halfway formed but came off its attachment while I was cleaning its cage. I am devistated. From what I read, I need to wait til it is completely formed and then try and hang it? One other is really having difficulty. I am a mess about this one. I don’t know if he fell or just if he was wondering to find a sturdy hanging site but he has been on the ground for at least 18 hours and won’t attach to anything. I can see him breathing and move his head ever so slightly. I don’t know what to do. Please advise….

     1. Hi Nicole, there’s nothing you can do but wait to see if the caterpillar will pupate. If it does, you can try rehanging the chrysalis after it hardens in 24-48 hours. good luck!

        1. Thanks for your help!

121. Hi Tony This is our first time raising Monarchs , we had 4 turn into Chrystals today we got them in 5th in star stage (boy it was amazing ) but we have one little cat who has stopped eating and is on the side of a leaf , he/she has had a fresh supply of milkweed . Do they rest between moulting ?

     1. Hi Dianne, congrats on your 4 chrysalises! Yes, when monarchs are getting ready to molt they won’t eat for about 24 hours.

122. Hi! My kids and I “captured” a caterpillar (along with the potted milkweed) to take to our nature class today for show and tell. We planned to “release” it (ie: put the plant back on the porch) when we got home a few hours later. It was a torrential downpour when we got home, so kept the plant inside with a mesh liner on top. The next morning the caterpillar had started making its chrysalis on the plant. Later this afternoon, however, it stopped…and doesn’t seem to have progressed any farther. We have chrysalises all over the house and plants outside, but typically they are in the shade. Since we live in Florida, I hesitate to put the plant back where we picked it up because it is REALLY hot out still (late September). Is it too late to help this little guy along? How long does it take to make the chrysalis? Thanks!

     1. Hi Lisa, once the skin starts splitting the chrysalis is formed within a few minutes…sorry, but this caterpillar didn’t make it.

123. My monarch emerged while I was gone for about half an hour. I came home to find it on its side on the bottom of the butterfly habitat. The left wings are not extended and it seems to have a difficult time with balance. It walked on my hand for awhile without trying to straighten its left wings. I put it outside in the sun. Is there something else I should do?

     1. Hi Phyllis, if it fell there may be a disease issue like heavy OE infection. If it can’t fly and is weak, probably best to euthanize. You could also keep it as a pet and feed it gatorade or honey water:

        Feeding and Releasing butterflies

124. Hi Tony

     A Monarch butterfly emerged from the chrysalis about 8:15 am today. (I’ve had it inside since I found it as a cat. ) Once it came out of the chrysalis, I put it outside in next to my house and window box full of zinnias. It was able to hang. When I got home about 5:30pm, it was in the same spot. I startled it and it flew across the street but never more than a foot off the ground. I got it and put it in an enclosure on top of the flowers with an opening so it could get out if it wants. Can it take an extended time for a new butterfly to get the strength to fly? Usually it takes them a few hours but it’s been about 11 hours since it came out. The wings look OK but seem like they may not be flapping correctly.

     Thank you –

     Jill

     1. Hi Jill, if the butterfly was out in the sun it should have been in great shape for flying. Hopefully tomorrow…

        1. Hi Tony

           This is a follow-up after my original question to you asking if there could be an extended delay before a Monarch could fly correctly since the one I had could only fly close to the ground. I brought the butterfly in for the night and took it back out in the morning again. I put it out in the enclosure and draped a piece of zinnia from my window box into it along with some cut butterfly bush flowers in a vase. The butterfly started to take nectar from the flowers and I left it there with the top of the enclosure open. When I came home later that day, the butterfly was gone. I looked everywhere in my yard and didn’t see it, so I’m assuming it was able to fly to normal heights and left. I will add that the first day it came out of the chrysalis, it wasn’t really sunny out and it was also sheltered by the plants nearby. It was in the sun the 2nd day, so maybe that’s what made the difference. Thanks again for your help!

125. I received my CSA with what looked like a monarch caterpillar on my parsley. It was munching away, so I put it in a mesh cage with the parsley. It eventually turned into a chrysalis, but it is not a pretty green like all of the pictures, it is a tan/brown color. I was wondering if this is normal? Is this maybe due to region (NJ) or another type of butterfly?

     1. Hi Jennifer, congratulations on finding an eastern black swallowtail. You will have to keep it over winter.

        How to Overwinter Swallowtails

126. My butterfly’s pupa has a sinewy thread on it and a section near the top has discoloration… please help! Where can I send a pic to show? I don’t want this monarch to suffer.

     1. Hi BG, if there is a thread hanging from the chrysalis and there is discoloration, your monarch could be parasitized by tachinid flies. Here’s more info to verify:

        Monarch Diseases and Parasites

127. Have 7 cats. One went into “j” last night. I expected it to pupate by this morning. My others have not moved since last night either vi keep fresh milkweed on the cage Any thoughts please

     1. Continuing, now, this evening, the “J” cat ceveloped a cap, starting the pupa, then stopped. I believe it is dead. Had same problem last year. Sterilize, clean, feed etc. I wonder what might be the problem

        1. If they are dying during pupation this could be a sign of pesticide exposure. They can also die before pupating if they have tachinid fly parasites. If this were the case maggots or pupae would emerge from the caterpillar. Here’s more info:

           Monarch Diseases

           1. Thanks. I’ll check it out. List the pupating cat.

128. Hi
     I was wondering if you know what triggers a monarch to pupate. I always thought it was age. I raise monarchs, and breed them so end up with a lot of caterpillars of the same age. They always pupate and emerge in sync. However, my daughter saw a post online saying monarchs would eat pumpkin in the last instar, and is now doing a science fair project on the topic. To my surprise the pumpkin fed caterpillars are delayed by at least two days and counting. So do they have a drive to eat to a certain body mass before pupating? I searched for this info, but haven’t seen anything yet.
     Thanks!

     1. Hi Alison, there’s not any research data about feeding monarch caterpillars butternut squash (or pumpkin)…all we know is that it’s an alternative food source for large instar 4-5 caterpillars. Keep in mind that squash doesn’t contain any of the milkweed ‘cardenolides’ that keep monarchs safe from some predators, and we also don’t know if it negatively impacts monarch development.

129. My son just accidentally knocked down our chrysalis and the black piece is still hanging without it should we still try and rehang them? Will they survive with out the black part?

     1. Hi Michelle, I would lie them down on a paper towel. If you have a mesh cage, place them by the wall so they can climb the wall to hang when they emerge. You’ll have to wait and see if they survive…good luck!

130. My chrysalis has been black for two days. Is that too long to be a normal butterfly? This is my first year raising them and usually after 24 hours they are a butterfly. I am wondering if it is dead.

     1. Hi Bonnie, if it’s not out by tomorrow morning, I would get rid of it. good luck!

        PS…they usually start getting dark the afternoon before they emerge (so less than 24 hours)

131. Our little caterpillar decided to form a chrysalis side laying… I didn’t realize it until it was too late and was “stuck” to the bottom. I was worried about trying to move it but now realize I should have while it was still wet. now that it is harden it is slightly flatten on one side. Otherwise looks fine. Chances it will develop normal? Thanks for your help!

     1. Hi Julie, when I had one fall (it was a caterpillar about to pupate) I left it on a paper towel until it formed the chrysalis and dried. It was a little misshapen on the bottom, but the butterfly came out perfect…good luck!

132. I have 2 monarch chrysalis’s. First time for me. One emerged overnight, so I didn’t get to watch. I have released it and it quickly flew up into a maple tree. Yeah. The other one has been stuck in its chrysalis… It started emerging yesterday like at 2pm, very active, struggling for 20 to 30 minutes, then rest, then try again, rest, etc. Almost looked like a dancing pepper (outstretched antennas were legs and 2 feet were hands moving all over the place). Later, I noticed his one antenna kinked up. I kept googling for “time” takes to emerge, but all I can find is time from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly (and timelapsed videos for emerge, but no “real” time). I assumed he was not alive this morning because he wasn’t moving, but now I noticed he is still moving. I didn’t want to interrupt nature’s process so I haven’t helped, but not sure what to do… Chrysalis coloring & such moved along the same as the other one. Please advise. Thanks!

     1. Hi Christina, they emerge quickly within a couple minutes. If the butterfly is still stuck in the chrysalis it will probably be badly deformed if you do get it out. It may have OE parasites and be diseased. If the butterfly seems weak, I would euthanize. Your other option would be keeping it as a pet and feeding it gatorade or honey water:

        Feeding Adult Butterflies Info

        1. It did not do well at all. Euthanize it was. 🙁
           Thanks tremendously for your response.

133. Sorry for the long post.
     My wife and I are building a house on 8 acres of hayfield in Northeastern CT. We have a lot of milkweed in the fields. About 3 or more weeks ago we went out and counted the monarch caterpillars in the milkweed. We stopped counting once we hit fifty. Some plants had multiple caterpillars on them. So now this past week we went out to see how many chrysalis we could find. Unfortunately we could only spot three total. And there were only a handful of caterpillars left on the milkweed. Any ideas where all the caterpillars went? Did something eat them? Anything we can do next season to prevent this kind of loss?
     Thanks again.

     1. Hi Stiggs, unfortunately less than 5% survive outdoors so it’s not uncommon to have a bunch on your plants, and then find them gone the next day.

        You can give them a better chance outdoors by planting several types of milkweed and spreading out your patches so they’re not all concentrated in one tiny area. Bringing a few indoors to raise can make a huge difference and can boost their survival rate above 90%.

        1. Thanks Tony! I think next year we will bring some indoors and then release them outside. Is it true they will keep coming back to where they were released?

           1. Hi Stiggs, if the descendants of monarchs return to their overwintering grounds, it would seem like a good possibility that monarch descendants could return to the same milkweed patches on their northern journey. We have lots of monarch activity in our established garden, even during the ‘slow’ seasons, so I’m a believer…

134. Is oe contagious?

     1. OE is spread to caterpillars when they ingest OE spores on their egg shell or milkweed

135. Hello ok so basically I don’t have to much experience with monarch raiseing but I’ve got both of them to the pupa stage one of them is perfectly fine but the other one is like a tan color and it looks like thers dark brown blobs outside of the pupa I’ve done a bit of research and I couldn’t find anything about this problem help

     1. Hi Dragon, it sounds like it could be a bacterial/viral issue, or the caterpillar might have been parasitized by tachinid flies…maggots and/or pupae would emerge from the chrysalis. Here’s more info:

        Monarch Diseases and Caterpillar Killers

136. Hi Tony,

     this is my first time raising caterpillars and I got 5 little ones.
     At first everything seemed to be great but when they started forming into crysalis there was this one cat that started disturbing them and even trying to (at least to me it looked like that) eat one that was nearly done transforming. So I tried to be as fast as possible to separate them but it looks like it got a piece from the poor thing.
     So the current situation is that it hangs for the third day now and moves sometimes a little but it has this huge crack on one side where it looks just black now – kinda like there is no protection anymore. I’m so worried that it can’t transform properly or is suffering now.
     Any advice? Anything I can do?

     Thanks and kind regards,
     Sabrina

     1. Hi Sabrina, at this point all you can do is monitor. If the chrysalis turns completely dark (with no butterfly markings) the monarch didn’t make it. good luck!

137. I am still worried

138. My chrysalis fell super early and leaked 3 drops of green fluid will he be all right?????????

     1. Hi Mac, all you can do is rehang the chrysalis and monitor its progress…good luck!

139. my butterfly had a problem hatching;
     I found the butterfly halfway in its chrysalis when I got back to it. It was supposed to hatch a few hours earlier. The corners of its wings were the only things out of the chrysalis. I had pried it out of its chrysalis, and it refused to hang from the top of the cage. And when I placed it upside down in my hands, it didn’t pump blood to its wings. I think it’s because the corners of its wings were already dried when I pried it out. Is this a disease, and is there a way to save it? And how come it didn’t hatch regularly?

     1. Hi Julia, if a butterfly is stuck in its chrysalis and too weak to hang from the cage it probably has OE and should be euthanized. Here’s more info:

        Monarch Diseases and Prevention

140. Hi I’ve been waiting all day for my 2 butterflies to emerge. Today is day 11 and the wings were starting to be visible yesterday afternoon. This morning both chrysalises were nice and dark, but the orange wings, etc. were very visible in the sunshine. How late is too late for the to emerge for me to release them today? It’s almost 5:00 but it’s beautiful outside 82 degrees. It will be dark by 8:00 though. I can’t afford to take another day off of work – help!

     1. Hi Judy, butterflies typically emerge in the morning hours if they are in natural light. If they haven’t emerged yet, they have succumbed to disease or predator…I hope things worked out!

141. Hi! Thank you so much for this site. I’ve raised many monarchs over the years, but seem to be having some really bad luck this year. Approximately 2 weeks ago we found and brought in 8 cats and 1 egg. The egg turned out to be empty. One by one the cats have been dying and now I’m down to 2 – (1 is a chrysalis). The caterpillar formed a chrysalis on a low lying leaf and knocked himself off while shedding. I’ve reattached him to the top of the cage, but worry that he’s damaged himself from the fall. The other cat seems to be doing well – he should be turning into a chrysalis in the very near future. My question is why did I lose so many caterpillars this year!? I have only lost a small handful over the years, but this year I’ve lost so many! Most of them would just stop moving and turn dark. Is this some kind of parasite?

     1. The butterfly emerged from the chrysalis today. As suspected, her wings did not form correctly (probably from falling off while trying to shed skin). What do I do with her now?

        1. Hi Courtney, sorry to hear this. You could either keep her as a pet, but if she is weak I would euthanize. Here’s more info on feeding adult butterflies:

           Feeding adult butterflies and safe release info

     2. Hi Courtney, it sounds like you could be dealing with a virus. Here are some common monarch diseases and how to prevent them:

        8 Monarch Diseases

142. Hi,
     We were doing some outdoor cleanup and setting the electrical up (digging a ditch) for a pool. Out pops a chrysalis. It oozed a small amount, so I reattached it to a twig and brought it inside. It has a crack in the chrysalis. It looks to be developing, but this morning I see a very small black thing hanging outside the chrysalis. I’m afraid it will crack open before it’s ready! Or maybe a wing will dry out not being on the inside. What do I do? Do I wait it out?

     1. Hi Angela, all you can do at this point is wait and see what happens…good luck!

        1. Thank you. That’s what I’m doing. It’s changed completely from this morning. I don’t think the black dot was actually something sticking out. But now the bottom is very black. I can now seem some small areas or orange and darkness in the rest. It looks like it’s getting ready to go translucent, but I haven’t seen these black areas on any chrysalis pictures I’ve seen. The part on the back where the crack and then at the bottom of one side. I hope he or she will be ok! This is my first time! And I can’t get over how much change its gone through just from this morning!

143. Good Morning Tony, I hope I am not too early for you. I have a monarch trying to emerge, but is stuck. Anyway I can help him. We have had great success raising them after reading your website. Over forty into chrysalis stage and released over 20 yesterday. Lost 3. Hope you can help. Thanks, Sandy

     1. Hi Sandy, if the butterfly is stuck in its chrysalis, it could be heavily infected with OE. you can try to help it out by peeling back the chrysalis, but if it’s weak and can’t dry its wings properly, it’s probably best to euthanize. congrats on a successful season and good luck with your butterfly!

144. I have a caterpillar which has attached itself to a twig, a single silk strand from both sides of it’s neck up to the twig.
     From everything I am reading, my caterpillar should be hanging “upside” down and is not doing so. It has not moved in 24 hours now and I am not sure what is happening. I have two Grandchildren who are anxiously awaiting the spinning of the cocoon. Is my caterpillar confused and going to die?

     Thank you,
     Karen

     1. Hi Karen, do you have a monarch caterpillar or some type of swallowtail? This might not be the swallowtail species you have, but check out the photo of the caterpillar before it forms the chrysalis:

        Giant Swallowtail

145. Hi, we had a monarch emerge from it’s chrysalis this morning. It looked healthy at 8:30am had stick to climb up and fly off when necessary (it was in an empty 5 gallon aquarium tank). We came home from at 4pm to find it dead in the tank still but with it’s wings outstretched. Any idea what could have happened? Thanks!

     1. That’s very strange Kelly…did you examine the butterfly? could it have been attacked by a predator?

146. Good morning.
     I planted some butterfly flowers early this year which have bloomed and brought us caterpillars! The first round was only about 4 and they all were healthy butterflies in the end. This final round of the year, I’ve been lucky to have brought in 10! This morning though, one of them was no longer alive and surrounded by orangeish liquid. It was a tiny one, probably instar 2. Should I be worried about the others?!

     1. Hi Alyssa, it’s a good idea to clean out your cage and replace milkweed when there are unexplained deaths. Here’s more info:

        Monarch Diseases and caterpillar Killers

147. Hi Tony, I have a chrysilis that formed yesterday that has a black spot on the bottom which looks to me like it never sealed up. Any thoughts? Thanks

     1. Hi Brad, just separate from other monarchs and monitor its development. good luck!

148. This is my first time raising monarch butterfly’s. I have one 5 instar I’ve raised from an egg and another 5 instar I brought in this week from the garden. They’re in separate kritter keeper cages. They should both pupate in the next 3 to 5 days. Should I keep both in them in separate cages or move them to the 1 mesh cage I have? I’m worried the one from the garden might spread a disease to my egg-reared one, so I’m reluctant to move them. Would it be okay just to keep both of them in their own kritter keepers to form their chrysalis? What is the advantage of the mesh cage at this stage? Sorry for all the questions. Just want to get this right.

     1. Hi Cindy if you have multiple cages and would feel better you can separate them. Another option is placing them on separate cuttings/plants in the mesh cage so they don’t interact. the mesh cage makes it easier to observe the chrysalides and the butterflies can climb up mesh walls if they fall. They can also climb up the kitter keeper if you close a paper towel in the lid that hangs to the cage floor. good luck, Tony

149. Hi Tony and Monarch Fans,
     I purchased a batch of cats from a reputable site. I had a great deal of trouble getting the 1st instar cats to transfer to leaves–I tried 3 types of milkweed leaves (swamp, hairy balls and tropical) for all the cats. The majority of the cats would not eat any of the leaves and died. I have about 10% left–some are eating well and growing, some are not eating as well. I separated all the remaining cats into their own containers when they crawled onto leaves. The ones that remain are all on tropical milkweed. I have seen no sign of fly larva or obvious disease. If there is a poison issue it would have to have drifted from a long way away. I rinsed all the leaves well before offering them. It was very hot when they were shipped but they looked okay and were moving okay when they arrived. None of the cats have turned black. None have vomited anything that I have seen.

     Is this possibly OE? I will keep the cats fed and separated. If any adults make it and look healthy and act normally I will release them unless you advise me otherwise. I do not want to spread disease. Thank you for your thoughts on this.

     1. Hi Jessica, it’s definitely not OE as this doesn’t kill caterpillars. For 90% to die there is a serious issue going on with disease or pesticides. I would at least ask the vendor if anyone else has reported issues. As for the other caterpillars, continue to monitor their progress and hopefully some will survive the issue. so sorry this happened…

150. Hi Tony,

     I am brand new to raising Monarchs. I found 4 Caterpillars from a nursery, and brought them home. All went fine, and they became a chrysalis. One morning about a week ago, I heard a crash, and found my feline cat had climbed atop of the enclosure. I quickly removed her, and saw the chrysalises were in a corner, and unharmed. This was around 2 a.m. I then put the enclosure into the bathtub and closed the bathroom door. I covered it with a sheet. Around 6 a.m. I smell strong hairspray odor, and raced to the bathroom and removed the enclosure. So, now the enclosure is outside under my table umbrella vectors to the metal. I am worried sick that something is wrong with these chrysalises now. It’s been a week, and zero change. Still green and healthy looking. I am devastated, since these are my very first.

     1. hi Trish, as long as they still look green and healthy I wouldn’t worry too much. It sounds like your butterflies should be emerging any day…good luck!

151. Hello, My cage has a plastic roof. I have 3 chrysalises on it and two cats who look like they are tangled in their “web”. Can I or should I do anything about this?

     I rescued 14 cats and so far so good. 4 chrysalises-one in a separate cage that I hope with emerge this weekend. This is my first experience doing this.

     1. Hi Pam, they should be able to maneuver around the chrysalides. As long as they are on the roof looking to pupate (and not looking for food) they’re pretty good at working things out. If chrysalides are “touching” you can always rehang after the chrysalis dries.

152. Hi! My 6yr old son found a Chrysalis of a Monarch butterfly in a plastic snow sled we had in the yard (he even knew the proper name & what he had found ?). As it was hanging sideways, and looked as if it may have been attacked by insects (we really do not know, & wish I could add a photo here to get your input; this was our 1st time finding one in the wild), we attached a paper towel to the lid of a plastic container, and the attached the Chrysalis to the paper towel, so it could hang upside down.

     Is there a way to send a photo to you? I am really hoping that the butterfly will emerge healthy. My son has really taken to bug, insects, anything creepy crawly to flying, & is super excited over watching his butterfly emerge. Thanks!

     1. Hi Heather, you can always post photos on the facebook page. I hope your chrysalis story has a happy ending:

        https://www.facebook.com/MonarchButterflyGarden/

153. Hey Tony,

     First, just want to thank you and the group for all of your helpful advise. The first egg I had died this season, but then more eggs showed up, and now I have 10 chrysalides atop my mesh cage!! Very Awesome!
     Second, the chrysalides are pretty close, like you said, they like the company. You mention about moving the butterflies- How do I do this? Will they just hang out on another part of the mesh cage’s ceiling and keep away from the unhatched chrysalides??

     1. Hi Kevin, a freshly hatched butterfly is not a danger to the other chrysalides in the cage..they will hang somewhere on the cage roof if they venture away from their own chrysalis

154. Hello!
     I just have a quick question about one of my caterpillars. I have raised monarchs ever since I was 5, and have never had one pupate on its side before. He hasn’t pupated yet, but his head is becoming that greenish color the cats get when they go into a J. I can also see his mouth moving a little bit. He’s not hanging on to anything and he never made that white, silly ball. So my questions are, do you think this caterpillar is going to pupate on the ground? And if he does, should I hang the chrysalis up right at the top of his cage? Thank you!

     1. Hi Aubrey, there is probably something wrong with the caterpillar if it made no attempt to pupate, but you can still isolate and monitor. If the caterpillar does pupate, you can either leave it on the ground by a mesh wall of your cage or try rehanging…good luck!

155. We have been raising a caterpillar for almost a week now. We came home to find it hanging upside down getting ready to form its chrysalis. This morning right in front of our eyes it was doing that. When it was almost all enclosed, it fell from the top of our butterfly habitat. I rehung it by using a piece of gauze and piece of tape. I
     noticed it was leaking some green stuff. Should I be worried? I am hoping it is okay because it has been amazing watching it’s transformation. Please advise. Thank you so much!

     1. Hi Brenda, sometimes they survive falls, but healthy butterflies don’t often fall. I applaud your efforts for rehanging the caterpillar. The caterpillar was likely bleeding from the fall, hopefully it will be ok…

     2. Hi! So I had a cat hang and form his chrysalis on the side of my plastic container. I decided to move him and rehang. I noticed he’s a bit flat on the top part that was leaning up against the plastic. I believe the chrysalis I hardened this way. What are the chances a healthy butterfly will emerge?

        1. Hi Jill, if it’s just a little flat, the butterfly has a chance to emerge healthy…good luck!

           1. Update-my chrysalis that had the small dent produced a beautiful, healthy female!!!

156. We had two caterpillars start to pupate this morning and they both fell back into our enclosure. It’s a small netting type enclosure and they both fell softly back onto the milkweed leaves…but I was wondering what will they do now? Will they climb back up and try pupating again or do we need to help them out in some way.

     1. They had tachnid flies.

        1. so sorry to hear this Cathy…it happens to most of us sooner or later, but it’s still worth bringing in caterpillars since tachinid larvae/pupae can be easily disposed of…good luck with the rest of your monarchs!

     2. Hi Cathy, falling during pupation is not normal and could be a sign of parasites or disease. I hope they prove me wrong…

        PS…if the caterpillars can’t climb, they could still pupate laying on their sides if they are healthy

157. I just started using the baby cubes I bought on your site and LOVE THEM!!! thank you and thank you for all the valuable information on your site.

     I’m a second season raiser and up until now haven’t had any problems but I have a chrysalis that has a top that is chrysalis colored but didn’t smooth out – – the gold band is very wide, indented and irregular while the bottom of the chrysalis looks fine… this chrysalis formed on the 11th and I’ve been watching it anxiously since then… I’ve kept it segregated from the rest of the chrysalides but wonder if I should euthanize this one now or wait a while longer to see if it does eclose – do you think this poor creature has a chance?
     Thank you,
     Gerrie

     1. Hi Gerrie, unless it looks really bad, I always give them a chance. Even if things don’t turn out the way you hoped, you might learn something valuable from the experience…good luck!

158. Hi
     I recently began raising monarch butterflies. About a week ago I released 10 butterflies and just after that discovered lots of caterpillars. My milkweed didn´t have enough leaves so I feed the big ones with pumpkin, cucumber and squash.
     Most of them made it and became chrysalis, but after a few days they turned brown. I don´t know if they have a disease or they became brown because of the food that I gave them instead of milkweed. What do you think?

     1. Hi Maria, I’m not sure how alternative food resources affect monarch health…there’s not a lot of information about this. If the chrysalis turned brown it’s more likely because of parasites or disease:

        Monarch Chrysalis Problems

159. I have a mesh cage of 5 caterpillars and 2 went into their chrysalises today. Both chrysalises have brown stripes on them (which were there since the chrysalis was formed), and I’m not sure why. The stripes are mostly towards the top and a little on the side. I’ve looked everywhere for an answer and I can’t seem to find anything. Do you think the caterpillars were infected with a disease?

     1. It’s possible the caterpillars were heavily infected with OE parasites, or a virus, or tachinid flies. Here’s more info:

        Monarch Diseases

160. I had 3 caterpillars in a mesh cage. For some reason they kept irritating each other since they got into the 4th instar. One would “kick” the other with it’s back legs. No matter how many leaves were in there, all 3 wanted the same leaf at the same time which ended up in a sword fight with their feelers. They wouldn’t leave each other alone. One was in a J-hang, and one caterpillar kept going there poking it with his feelers which made the J-hanging guy jump and curl up. Then along came the second caterpillar heading over to the same spot. No matter how much I redirected them, they’d always go and want the same spot as the J-hanger. After an hour of monitoring and redirecting them, I ended up opening the mesh cage and let them wander. Finally one formed its chrysalis on the zipper and another on a metal sign I had placed below. They weren’t overcrowded by any means and there was plenty of food. Is this common? I’ve never seen it happen before.

     1. Hi Suzie, they do like to congregate in corners but they typically work out their differences without intervention. The exception is if the milkweed is going bad (drying out) and caterpillars are wandering the cage before they’re ready to pupate. Then chrysalises can be damaged by nosy caterpillars. If you raise on cuttings that are fully hydrated this is typically not an issue.

161. I have one chrysalis that didn’t form properly, it has it’s skin attached to the side of the chrysalis and at the bottom of the chrysalis there is some black goo, it is also oozing a bit of light green goo. I separated it from the rest and taped it to its own container. There was one large cat who was looking for his place to pupate at the top of the mesh cage and kept bugging this one after he had made his J, would that cause this? Or is this disease? I did not see signs of a parasite but this is my first year raising monarchs and I am not very experienced. Most I am raising have come from eggs from my own garden. What is this? I have a picture of it if that would help.

     1. Hi Shannon, it’s possible the chrysalis could have been damaged by the other caterpillar when it was soft. You did the right thing by moving and now monitoring it. You can always post photos on my facebook page:

        Monarch Butterfly Garden FB

162. Thanks so much for your website. I tried for the first time to raise monarchs from eggs given to me from a lovely butterfly farm nearby…for free!! I am so sad that so many died. I have common milkweed in my garden and followed your instructions carefully. One day there would be 20 2 and three in stars and the next…10. And so it went, with chrysalades forming and dying. I’ll be lucky to send off 10 all told, out of maybe 70 or so. What’s wrong??

     1. Hi Janet, so sorry to hear this…if you didn’t see any sign of parasites/disease, mass death is often a symptom of pesticide or chemical exposure. I would also check with your friend to see if others have reported similar issues. good luck!

163. My caterpillar has been hanging for over 12 hours and still not changed into a chrysalis. What is wrong or do some take longer than normal. His buddy turned so fast that we walked away for a moment and he was a chrysalis.

     1. Hi Pat, this is normal…they can take up to 24 hours. good luck with your monarchs!

        1. Hello. My caterpillar has been hanging upside down and hasn’t shed his skin or turned into a chrysalis. It’s been 3 days. This morning there was a black liquid underneath. It appears to be shaking on occasion. I feel so bad for the poor creature! There is another caterpillar in there also. Should I remove him?

           1. Hi Melissa, it sounds like you may be dealing with disease or parasites…if your caterpillar was parasitized, you’ll find tachinid fly larvae or maggots on the cage floor. Yes, the caterpillar should be removed and the cage disinfected. good luck with the rest of your monarchs…

164. Hello! You have a lovely page! I just wanted to ask you about a chrysalis of mine. The skin of the caterpillar is still on the chrysalis! Its on the top part, where the chrysalis comes to the silk pad. It looks like its on the surface of it, but im afraid that the skin will leave tbe chrysalis vulnerable to disease! Should i just watch it?
     Also, other than the patch of skin, the chrysalis looks just fine.
     Thank you!!

     1. Hi Lulie, every once in a while the caterpillar’s skin will stick to the top of the chrysalis. It’s fine if you leave it there. As long as the full chrysalis was formed, your monarch should be fine…good luck!

        1. Hi again. I looked at the chrysalis again and it seems that the skin wasn’t just on the surface. While the rest of the chrysalis formed, the part where the skin was seems to be caving in a little bit. Can I post photos on facebook of it so you could look at it?
           Thanks again!

           1. sure Lulie, post here:

              Monarch Butterfly Garden FB

165. Hi Tony,
     More questions…I have a chrysalis that looks like it did not completely pupate…do you think I should euthanize? Do you think it is infected? Also, on two of my chrysalides (one is the chrysalis that appears deformed) there is something odd at the top near the cremaster…it looks like 2 whitish/clear bubbles on the black dots. When I zoomed in with my camera, it appeared to be pulsating! Ideas? (I have pictures I’d like to show you to see what you think but don’t know how to attach). Appreciate any thoughts/ideas you have based on your experience!

     1. Hi Jennifer you can always post a photo on our facebook page:

        Monarch Butterfly Garden FB

        1. I just posted a few pictures on your FB page…let me know what you think if you can &, if you’ve ever seen this before. Thanks so much!

166. Hello,
     My cat (raised from an egg I found) started wandering around looking to pupate last night(right on schedule) & ended up sideways on the mesh. Can it pupate in this position? Should I attempt to move it before it goes into a J? I left it alone last night figuring it knew what to do but now I’m worried it won’t be able to pupate without damaging itself!

     1. Hi Jennifer, sometimes they sit on the side wall for a bit before moving up to the roof of the cage. I would wait to see what happens. If it’s in a problem area, you can always move it after the chrysalis hardens.

        1. Thank you Tony! You were right, it has moved to the mesh roof of the cage! They sure do teach us patience! I appreciate the advice! ☺️

167. Hello, my daughter received a mesh habitat and three cats as a gift. She’s been so excited throughout the entire experience. Two bigger cats formed into a chrysalis right away. The smaller one kept going in the J shape then he’d move and go in the J shape again. One morning we went to look and it looked like it exploded then shriveled up. Is this common?

     The first monarch emerged from the chrysalis just fine and was beautiful! We let it go the following morning. The other monarch appears to be stuck. We noticed yesterday it started emerging. It looked wet and beautiful coming out but now it’s hardly moving and looks like it’s shriveling up. Is there anything I can do to help get it out?

     1. Hi Julie, when a monarch can’t emerge from its chrysalis, it is often heavily infected with OE. It is probably best to euthanize by putting in a plastic baggie in the freezer. Sorry about this butterfly, but congrats on your release!

        Monarch Diseases and Prevention

168. Hello. I have been searching website and I cannot find any answers. This is all new to me, I was given 3 Chrysalis’s and I was able to rehang 2 using dental floss. They emerged beautifully and have been released.
     The third one emerged on the bottom of tank while I was at work today. I was able to get him to hang from a pin to attempt to dry wings, however, it looks like it’s wings are dry and crumpled. It can not spread it’s wings. Is there any hope?

     1. Hi Shannon, if their wings dry crumpled, they will not be able to fly. You can keep the butterfly as a pet or euthanize. Mesh cages work better for raising because a fallen butterfly can climb up the side of the cage:

        Caterpillar Cage Ideas

169. I had a chrysalis form on the rim of a pot and it was slightly pressed against the pot causing the top of the chrysalis to have a small flat spot. Will it be ok? The chrysalis seems otherwise healthy

     1. Hi Jo, all you can do at this point is monitor and hope for the best. Good luck!

        1. Great news! Monarch emerged today and looks to be healthy!

170. Hello!
     So I was given a chrysalis by a friend, hanging from some mesh. It hatched this afternoon, but it fell from its shell before it could dry out. I wish I had thought to hang him up again, but I just put him in a glass container with a paper towel and some orange slices, hoping he’d dry out. But his wings seem to have something wrong with them. His left ones are kind of folded up and one of his right ones is bent over the left. He keeps trying to fly, but his wings stay curled up. I tried taking some tweezers and carefully unbending the right one, but I’m worried I accidentally took some film off in the process.

     1. Hi Rose, sorry to hear about your butterfly. Butterflies need to hang down so their wings can dry properly. however, if the butterfly fell, it might have been sick. Butterflies that have OE parasites often fall from their chrysalides. Here’s some more info:

        Monarch Diseases and Prevention

171. When would be a good time to move the chrysalides if they form while there are still smaller cats in the same cage. I’m new to raising and was not aware that they should not emerge over the munching cats below.

     Thank you!

     1. Hi Mia, I let the chrysalides dry for about 48 hours before moving them.

172. Hi,

     I had a couple more questions. If a soft chrysalis falls and begins oozing, how much of the green liquid can be lost before the pupa dies? Also, what causes splits to occur in a chrysalis?

     Thank you for your help!

     1. Hi Reka, the more deflated the chrysalis gets, the less chance of a healthy butterfly. All you can do is wait and see what happens. As for a splitting chrysalis, I’ve seen them in photos, but never had it happen before. I’m not sure what causes it, ands it could potentially be several factors including disease, dehydration, predators, etc…

173. Hello,

     We had a caterpillar pupate last night into a beautiful large chrysalis, but it looks like its head capsule remained stuck onto the poor thing. There is also a large split in the front of the chrysalis. Will the butterfly survive, if it isn’t already dead? What type of deformities might it have? Would it be best to euthanize? If so, what way would you suggest?

     See attached image of the chrysalis:
     https://imgur.com/l6zsjwG

     1. Hi Reka, that’s just the face cap of the caterpillar which is shed during pupation along with the skin. My guess is that there might be an issue with the adult butterfly, but you can give it a chance and see how it develops. If the butterfly is deformed and not viable, you can place it in a plastic baggie in the freezer to euthanize. Good luck!

174. I live in Florida and this year my monarch chrysalis turn an olive green color not the beautiful green I usually have. Butterflies never emerge. My daughter is having the same problem and we thought it was the milkweed we purchased. The last batch was fed with milkweed that I grew myself and I am having the same problem… Any ideas why this is happening I have been raising and releasing butterflies for about 5 years now and never have had this problem.

     1. Hi Grace, I know a lot of people in Florida are having issues because of all the mosquito spraying this season. if nothing else in your raising process has changed, my guess is that could have something to do with it. Wash milkweed thoroughly before serving it to caterpillars and hopefully that can make a difference…good luck!

175. Newbie butterfly gardener here and it seems we’ve been hit with just about everything possible all at once. Our first two milkweeds gave us lots of caterpillars but not a single one made it to form a proper chrysalis. Some tried but they’d go into a loose J shape and then just turn black eventually. We even tried raising from eggs in our jars and always the same thing. It’s really hot here (South Florida) so we picked up 3 new milkweed plants and tried indoors where the temp is always between 70 – 80. That seemed to help a bit with this new batch that we’re raising from totally different plants. Buuuuut we are fighting a losing battle against aphids with the biggest milkweed right now.

     At this point we have 3 of 12 who have formed a chrysalis but its looking like some are doing the loose J shape thing again. I’ve figured out what tachinid fly death looks like and have also lost a few to OE but these look different. These aren’t black when they “give up” and die, I can see the green just under the skin. Someone told me it’s possible that the milkweed was hit with pesticides and these caterpillars are just dying of a slow sort of poisoning or maybe it was just too hot for them? They’re also significantly bigger than the caterpillars who formed their chrysalis were when they formed them. Can monarch caterpillars just get too big for their own good? That sounds stupid but the size difference is really notable.

     1. Hi Erica, sorry to hear you are having problems with your caterpillars. If they are dying before pupating and it’s not tachinid flies, my guess would be pesticides too. I have never heard of/seen a monarch caterpillar die from eating too much. It’s probably that your tachinid-infected caterpillars from before were too small. Here’s more info on monarch disease:

        7 Monarch Diseases and Parasites + Prevention

176. Hi, our monarch went into chrysalis but fell off of the silk and so there is only the small black part popping out of the top. How do we hang it without the silk?

     Thanks!

     1. Hi Lori, if you can’t tie dental floss around the remaining cremaster (black stem above chrysalis) you can just lay the chrysalis on the cage floor by a mesh wall. If it’s healthy, the butterfly will be able to climb the wall to hang when it emerges. good luck!

        1. I have arthritis in my hands and can’t tie the floss around the cremaster. However, I learned several years ago that GEL superglue can be applied to the end of the dental floss (crochet thread is a good substitute for the floss), and then lightly touch the glued end to the cremaster. The glue does not harm the chrysalis, and I’ve always had healthy butterflies emerge.

177. First time trying to raise monarchs and have had little success…we’ve been hit with tachnid flies and disease. Out of over 10 cats we’ve only been able to get one successful butterfly and hopeful for this newly formed chrysalis to be healthy. A bit discouraged but will keep on trying!! Your site has been very informative.

     1. Hi Jo, sorry to hear of your tachinid fly woes…they’re a common problem for many raising monarchs. You can eliminate the issue by raising from eggs or greatly reduce the risk by bringing in small instar 1-2 caterpillars. Diseases can be prevented with regular cleaning and rinsing of milkweed:

        Monarch Disease Prevention

178. I have been raising Monarchs in a Lepidtarium for about a year. I recently moved it outside near my greenhouse. I move the caterpillars when they are in the 5th instar & ready to chrysalize. My only concern is the heat. I live in Florida & it gets quite hot. Some begin to chrysalize and don’t finish. I don’t know if that’s an anomaly or from the heat. Any insight? Thank you.

     1. Hi Crystal, dying during pupation is a symptom of pesticide exposure. It can also happen if the caterpillars have been parasitized by tachinid flies….this would be obvious because you would find tachinid maggots or pupae on the cage floor.

179. Hello! I was out in the garden this morning and I saw one of my caterpillars. It seemed darker than it usually was, with dark stuff between its stripes. It twitched a little but then stopped. Since its outside, would it just be dirt or could it be OE? What should I do with it? I’m not allowed to bring caterpillars inside or anything of that sort. Is there a way to ensure the safety of caterpillars from outside in the garden?

     1. Hi Anissa, you could always put 5 gallon paint strainers over the milkweed to deter wasps, birds. Otherwise, if you can’t bring them in, there’s not a lot you can do besides monitor and hope for the best.

        If the caterpillar turns black and starts oozing black fluid, I would remove it from the milkweed and euthanize so it doesn’t spread disease to other monarchs. good luck!

180. Hi,

     I just put a catterpillar i found on a tree in a small terarrium jar that I had with some of the leaves from the tree.. the caterpillar ate alot for a couple of days but two days ago it was making the silk end to start turning into a chrysalis.. I accidentaly seperated the caterpilar from the silk.. then it dug in into the moss .. I cant get a clear view of it.. do you think it is dead ? I dont want to move and poke it around before I get some professional advice. Could that caterpillar create a chrysalis without hanging on a solid surface ?

     1. Hello Zainab, monarch caterpillars can form a chrysalis laying on the ground and other butterfly species can too. You’ll just have to see what happens. good luck!

181. So what happens if I break the cremaster accidentally to the point where I cannot tie anything to it and I notice a small amount of embrionic fluid seepage if squeezed lightly. Chrysalis has been formed for 3 days.

     1. Hi Scott, just keep the chrysalis on a paper towel on the cage floor. If it’s by a mesh wall, a healthy butterfly will be able to climb up to the cage ceiling to dry its wings after it ecloses. good luck!

182. I have approx. 30 chrysalis in a 4 x 4 x 4 foot mesh cage and I believe they are dead since they are black. Wish I could post a picture. There are lots of no see ums on them now. I did find a wasp in the cage and think this is the problem. Can a wasp harm a chrysalis? It has also been very hot. Can this affect the caterpillar or chrysalis?

     1. Hi Eloise, sorry to hear you are having issues with your chrysalides. It sounds like you could be having an issue with chalcid wasps. They lay eggs inside a soft monarch chrysalis and their larvae feed on the developing monarch. Wasps will emerge instead of a monarch. If it was a larger wasp, it may be coincidence. Chrysalides can also turn black due to virus/bacteria. Here’s some more info on monarch diseases:

        7 Monarch Diseases and Caterpillar Killers

        Monarchs chrysalises should be fine with heat into the 90’s as long as they aren’t in direct sunlight.

183. Hi there, I successfully moved our painted lady Chrysalis today to its habit for when it emerges. Does lighting matter for when they are in this state? I saw several mentions of temperature above, however no mention of light vs dark, etc…Any pointers?? Many thanks!

     1. Hi Anna, if they are in darkness, they could eclose at all hours of the day. Our monarch chrysalides are kept in a room where there are windows. The natural lighting insures they eclose in the morning. I’m not sure about painted ladies, but I would try to keep their environment as natural as possible, including light. good luck!

184. Hello, My caterpillar looks like it has expelled meconium before making the chrysalis… is this normal?

     1. Hi Mary, the caterpillar should not be expelling any fluids before forming the chrysalis. All you can do now is monitor the chrysalis…good luck!

185. Help! I think I might have killed my crystalist. I had relocated it from an unsafe area and taped it to hang from its silk. I noticed this morning that it fell during the night. I immediately picked it up and tied it with dental floss to a stick but two drops of yellow liquid dropped from the bottom of the chrysalis. Have I hurt or even killed the poor little thing? I feel terrible for even relocating it in the first place.

     1. Hi Elizabeth, sorry this happened. I accidentally dropped my first transfer but have transferred hundreds since without issue. It’s like anything you do in life…you get better as you do it. At this point, all you can do is monitor the chrysalis and see what happens. Good luck!

        For future reference, you can also place chrysalides on the floor of a cage. If it’s by a mesh wall or paper towel, the butterfly can climb up to the cage roof and hang itself when it emerges.

        1. Tony,
           Thanks for the reassurance. My butterfly did emerge, but I’m concerned because one of it’s wings is longer than the other, and it’s emitting small drops of blood. He just emerged so I’m not sure if the wing will stop bleeding, but I’m worried about the wing size difference. Should I euthanize him or will he be ok with different sized wings?

           1. Hi Elizabeth,

              the adult butterfly releases metabolic waste after it emerges…a reddish substance called meconium. This is normal. Give the butterfly a chance to fully dry its wings (3 hours) before making any decisions. good luck!

              1. Thanks Tony. It was actually butterfly blood (the lime green color), but it looks like he might make it after all. One wing is still a bit bigger than the other, but I’m giving him 24 hours to relax and will release him at a way station tomorrow. Thanks for being so quick to respond and for helping all us new butterfly parents along the way.

186. We had 3 open this morning. One can not get the film off his wings. Can we assist or will that harm the butterfly? He finally fell to the ground and is still stuck 🙁

     1. Hi Kristy, when this happens there is likely an issue like severe OE. You can try to help him out, but it’s probably best to euthanize by placing the butterfly in a plastic baggie and place in the freezer.

        Monarch Diseases and Prevention

187. Hi Tony, thank you for you response to my question about the new born spinning on silk. I do have another question if that is alright. I have a chrysalis but the cat is not entirely in it. (The head a little bit of the body sticking out). Not sure how that happens. Thank you

     1. Hi Mona, the caterpillar sheds its entire skin and the chrysalis is underneath. It sounds like the caterpillars skin might be stuck at the top of the chrysalis? If that’s the case, there is nothing to worry about.

188. Hi Tony,
     Thank you so much for all your help and information. I have noticed from time to time that a new born caterpillar is hanging by a piece of silk from the bottom of the milkweed leaf, It is just spinning. Not sure what is happening. I have tried to attach it back to the leaf without touching the cat. Wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do and it doesn’t always work. Just afraid that it won’t eat. What is causing that to happen.. Thanks so much.

     1. Hi Mona, that sometimes happens with small caterpillars when I spray their milkweed…if they are healthy, they should be able to crawl up the silk strand back to the milkweed.

189. Hello. My first monarch hatched this morning. It has been drying whole day on a plant, inside my room. But his wings are still not straighten up, still mostly rolled. He cant fly, its trying to flap wings but they not working. Is he injured? Will the wings fix themselves?

     I forgot to mention, that I wasn’t home when it hatched. I found him on the floor, lying, and I gently picked him up and it crawled around slowly, then crawled on a plant. Do you think he could damage his wings permanently when fell off?

     1. Hi Kiwuska,

        if a butterfly falls before its wings dry, it has a short window before the wings are permanently damaged. It must either climb up the side of its cage so it can hang or you have to move it. Once the wings are dried, there’s nothing you can do to fix them. When butterflies fall, there’s is also a good chance it’s disease related and the butterfly may have OE parasites. Here is more info about monarch diseases:

        OE and Monarch Diseases

        For future raising, consider a cage that allows the butterfly to climb up on its own when falling:

        Monarch Caterpillar Cages good luck!

190. I wondered if you knew if a butterfly will only open up when it is dark (ie overnight) or if they only open up when there is light?

     Thanks!

     1. Hi Anna, the only time I have ever seen a butterfly eclose in the dark is early morning before the sun rises. If you have them in a dark room, that doesn’t get natural night, you might have some strange hatching times.

191. Hi Tony!
     We’ve got a lovely big swan plant in our garden and have had many many eggs laid on it the last few weeks and lots of little caterpillars but it’s been over come with little bugs. Like aphids? And the caterpillars seem to just disappear or die. We’ve tried removing them but they just come back. We’ve had one successful monarch which was raised inside. Is there anyway to protect the caterpillars and swan plant from invasion?? Thank you 🙂

     1. Hi Eleni, sorry to hear this…do you also have whiteflies in NZ? Check them out on this page that also shares a couple solutions

        Whiteflies and other Milkweed Pests

        PS…whiteflies can affect the health of your milkweed, but the caterpillars are likely dying for other reasons

        1. Hi again tony 🙂 thank you so much for the reply. I don’t think I’ve ever seen whiteflies around? The aphids that have covered my plant are mostly orange. I’ll have a look at that link. Thanks again!

192. Oh dear God, please help me know what to do. I was just moving my toddler’s little plastic swimming pool when my finger hit something. I thought for sure it was a spider or something so I dropped the pool pretty hard. I turned on my flashlight and looked and it was a chrysalis. At first I thought it was ok. I was so happy to have found it, but then when I went to look closer I noticed it was dripping green “blood”. I’m assuming I damaged it irreparably. I am so upset. I don’t know what to do. Should I let it be and hope that my some miracle it can survive or should I euthanize it?

     I am so sorry little guy…

     1. Hi Joanne, you can bring it inside and put if on a paper towel at the bottom of a mesh cage if you have one. if it stopped oozing and hasn’t deflated, it should have a chance to emerge as a healthy butterfly. good luck!

        1. Tony, thank you so much for your reply! It has stopped oozing and hasn’t deflated last I looked. It is still attached and we aren’t using the pool so it wouldn’t be further disturbed. Does it have a better chance if I bring him in or leave him be?

           I just want to say how much I appreciate the time you took to respond. It looks like you actually take the time to respond to everyone which I know can be a monumental task. As I am new to raising Monarchs your response was SO helpful and encouraging.

           I have 3 “normal” chrysalides I’m hoping will eclose in a week or so! The other two I have, including the one I wrote to you about, are malformed/damaged, but will hopefully survive. Last nights whole experience made me realize their can be a “dark” side to raising these beautiful creatures. I know death is all part of life, but it is quite painful to think I would have to make that decision at some point. Do you ever get used to that part?

           1. Hi Joanne, they always have a better survival rate indoors, but if the pool edge looks like a safe place to eclose, you could leave it there and see what happens.

              Unfortunately, we can’t save them all. But, consider that only about 5% survive outdoors once predators find your garden. So, if you follow a good raising system and 90% survive indoors it really makes a difference. good luck!

              1. I ended up bringing him in and he looked ready to eclose 2 days ago, but he has still not done so. Assuming he is dead. 🙁

                 Is there anything else I can do in the future to “help” a butterfly eclose? Just want to make sure I’m giving it my all.

                 On a more positive note, in the last 2 days we’ve released 3 beautiful male Monarchs and have another 9 chrysalises and 24 caterpillars and counting!

              2. Hi Joanne, if they are stuck in their chrysalis, it’s highly likely they have severe OE infection, so probably best to euthanize. congrats on your healthy releases!

193. Hi Tony,

     I am in Florida raising monarchs on tropical milkweed. For some reason, right after winter, I got a ton of caterpillars on my plants and they all were defoliated within a couple weeks of the warmer weather. All 10 of my plants are chewed all the way down.

     I am afraid many of my caterpillars were malnourished however. They went off and made their chrysalis, but I am worried as some of the cocoons look a little smaller than usual. Only about 70% of my caterpillars were “plump” when they were hanging upside down. The others just looked a bit too small. The cocoons look pretty much normal, just a bit small.

     Do you think healthy butterflies will emerge from the cocoons that are a bit smaller than the rest? Will monarch caterpillars make cocoons if food depletes, even if they aren’t ready? I heard somewhere that they won’t make cocoons if malnourished and will wander until they find more milkweed. I am hoping that’s the case as I really don’t want weak butterflies. I couldn’t find anything about this online.

     Thanks,
     Adam

     1. Hi Adam, it’s been a busy winter in Florida from what I hear. Congrats on all your activity, but sorry to hear of your milkweed shortages. If the caterpillars run out of milkweed, they will pupate early. This can negatively affect health, but how much depends on how malnourished they were. You can feed caterpillars slices of butternut squash in an emergency, but this should only be done with large (instar 4-5) caterpillars. It’s always a good idea to focus on growing enough milkweed before you start raising, but I know this is not so easy in Florida because of the continuous monarch season.

194. Hi! I love this site it’s been so helpful. So I’m kinda new to the whole raising monarchs thing but I really wanna do it. It’s a great cause. I had this one cat (affectionately named Bug) from an egg I found on my milkweed outside that grew beautifully and perfectly. It started to wander around at the end of the fifth instar but I had him in my room and I just had an area with milkweed for him, not a mesh cage, and since I have a dog, I didn’t want him wandering who knows where so I moved him to my enclosed patio. It has an area surrounded by mesh and with basically outdoors conditions so I thought it would be perfect. I live in Florida, the weather’s never cold. Anyway I came to check on him and he was spinning his pad under this bench. I came back the next day and he wasn’t there. I could still see the bit of silk he had just left there. I didn’t see a body or a fallen chrysalis anywhere nearby. Maybe he just moved somewhere else? I think at this poing I just have to let nature take its course and hope Bug knew what he was doing. Thanks!

     1. Hi Dani, welcome to the exciting world of raising/releasing monarchs. It’s always good to raise inside a cage that is escape proof and predator-entry proof. Keeping a cage inside your porch should work well. Here are a couple options that we use:

        Caterpillar and Butterfly Cages good luck!

        1. I found a caterpillar hanging onto the one chrysalis that formed this morning. I encouraged it off, but now chrysalis is shrinking and liquid dripping from. Not stringy like oe. Do you think the catt bit into chrysalis? Thank you!
           -ReluctantMonarchRancher

           1. Hi Saundra, hopefully the damage isn’t too bad and the chrysalis will fully harden and the butterfly will develop. At this point, all you can do is monitor and make sure other caterpillars won’t be able to damage it further…good luck!

195. What a great informative page! In in Auckland New Zealand, and I have a cats just stop eating and shrivel up and eventually die. I ran out of food for them, but sourced some milkweed from where I had got previously, but all my cats just stopped eating. slowly a few have started again and 2 are now hanging, but its distressing watching them shrivel up and die. What could it be? I gave them more food (from my existing plants that had grown back) and still only a few have chose to eat again?

     1. Hi Gwen, so sorry to hear about this. Is it possible the new milkweed was treated with pesticides? Does the place you purchase from grow their own milkweed or buy from another source? Unfortunately, pesticide issues are still common in the US…I’m not sure about your country. If you think it’s the plants, it might be a good idea to take a raising break and let your garden plants recover. good luck!

        1. Thank You! It was self seeded milkweed in a community garden but I guess it could have received residual spray. I’ll will go back to another trusty source! Its always an issue finding enough plant to feed all those hungry hungry caterpillars 🙂 I’ve read that some garden centres have sold sprayed milkweed, but I either grow my own, or get locally. This is only my 2nd year raising butterflies, it never ceases to amaze me how amazing nature is 🙂

196. I have been having great luck with monarchs this year. Most of the time the chrysalis do fine outside (in California) on various plants in the backyard that they crawl to from the milkweed. I only took some inside when we had lots of rain.

     My question is a weird one, I have never seen this before. A chrysalis just opened this morning and a few hours later before it was even ready to fly a monarch, female, picked up the just hatched monarch and flew away with it. I did not even get a chance to see if it was a male or female. Why would the female monarch do that? I’m thinking it would not hurt it but why fly off with it especially since it was not ready to fly yet.

     Thanks for your time on this question.

     Mary Lou

     1. Hi Mary Lou, not a weird question. It’s common for males to swoop in to mate with newborn females, or harass newborn males. That’s one reason we always let the butterflies dry outside in a mesh cage. Females don’t exhibit aggressive behavior like this that I’ve ever seen or heard of.

197. Hi Tony, one of our butterflies is having real trouble getting free of it’s chrysalis. It appears that it’s ‘bottom’ is stuck inside the end of the chrysalis. The wings are fully formed and dry, the butterfly is even flapping them to try to get out.

     any thoughts? Cheers Dave

     1. Hi Dave, when a butterfly is stuck inside its chrysalis, this is often a sign of heavy OE infection. Here’s more info about OE

        What is OE and how does it affect monarchs?

198. I’ve raised monarchs here in Hawaii for some years now. They eat crownflower leaves, grow year around, and don’t migrate. I notice that in any batch I have the last 4 or so will stop eating and eventually just die . I’m not sure if they are just the ones in the batch that were sick to start with or if they become sick as the others go to chrysalises. Any ideas? I bleach the cages between batches, and even rince my leaves in a mild bleach solution before feeding them, and I clean the frass daily. It looks like OE but I don’t know.

     1. Hi Phyl, sorry to hear about this issue. Is it possible the caterpillars are ingesting bleach? I realize in warm regions there are more issues with disease so these precautions are necessary. But, if you bleach, rinse well.

        BT is a bacterial disease that kills caterpillars. Farmers use it to spray crops (powder or spray). Caterpillars stop eating and die in about 3 days.

        This doesn’t sound like OE because symptoms don’t usually start to appear until chrysalis. Even heavily infected monarchs survive OE to adulthood…but they emerge completely deformed, or get stuck in their chrysalides.

        Here’s more info on diseases:

        Monarch Diseases and Caterpillar Killers

        1. Thanks so much for the reply. I do rinse leaves and cages twice after bleaching. The last few cats will stop eating and amazingly live for days afterward, even until the chrysalises in the same cage open up with butterflies! They stop moving but will react to touch and are still alive. Sometimes I euthanize them, as it seems cruel to let them shrink away. Would the BT bacteria be on trees not near farms? I guess they could be carried by birds and insects.
           Whatever this is, it can kill a quarter to a third of the cats in my cages.

           1. That is a high number to succumb to disease. It’s hard to believe if your plants aren’t being directly treated with BT that this would occur. Is it possible pesticides are being used by neighbors? spraying for mosquitoes?

              If you don’t think pesticides are the issue try an experiment and rinse with water (no bleach) and see if that makes a difference. good luck!

199. Hello,
     This year has been my first time having milk weed in the garden and I am absolutely loving it! I love monarchs and am fascinated by the transformations they go through – starting so small and turning into such a beautiful butterfly!
     I do have some concerns though, this summer has had extremely unpredictable weather and it is currently pouring down, and it seems it is only going to get worse. I currently have 2 caterpillars hanging upside down, ready to turn into a chrysalis and a further 7 caterpillars on the 3 plants I have. My question is, will they still turn into a chrysalis in the rain? I do not really want to bring them inside as we have a problem with spiders and feel that would be a death sentence for them.
     Thanks!

     1. Hi Helen, congrats on all your monarch success. I can’t really tell you if the chrysalides will survive downpours. It depends on where the chrysalises are located and how hard it rains.

        a chrysalis can always be set in the bottom of a mesh cage. When the butterfly emerges, a healthy adult should be able to climb up the mesh to dry its wings. If you have a secure cage, spiders won’t be an issue.

        Keep in mind that less than 5% of monarchs survive outdoors because of predation. If you ever want to raise indoors, check out the raising resources page for more info:

        Raising Resources

200. Hiya – This is my first time with swan plants – my 4yo daughter was given some plants so thought we’d give it a go. All seemed to be going well, we watched a lil baby catapillar grow into a big fat one (hehe) and then watched form into its chrysalis -10/02/16 (amazing to see). It attached it’s self underneath a leaf at the bottom of the plant – now that leaf has turned yellow and it’s snapped, barely hanging on. I’m worried bout our chrysalis – can it be moved? Thanks

     1. Hi Adrienne, I would either remove the leaf with the chrysalis and rehang the leaf with tape under a cupboard or remove the chrysalis and put it in the bottom of a raising cage with mesh walls, so the butterfly can climb up when it ecloses. good luck!

201. Hi Tony! Your website has been so helpful!
     I’m from New Zealand so it is summer at the moment and I’m raising a few cats. I’ve had 3 turn into chrysalises successfully but 2 cats have had issues.
     One of them only just the head of the cat split and the chrysalis is only out slightly.. I can see the golden chrysalis markings through his skin though?? I wasn’t sure if he was dead or not? No signs of anything black or strange except the skin not shedding off! He’s just hanging straight with the small green part sticking out.
     The other was very slow at shedding its skin to form the chrysalis and the skin made it to the top but never fell off. I checked back on it a few hours later and the green chrysalis had split, like the outside part, and it’s still hanging there as I don’t know what to do! It seems to pulsate every now and then but I don’t know how it is supposed to survive. It’s still bright green after 4 days.
     What do you think I do with them? Leave to see what happens or euthanise?
     Thank you!

     1. Hi Simone, and happy summer in NZ!

        If a caterpillar stops pupating mid-way, it could have parasites…I am not sure if tachinid flies are a new zealand monarch predator, but check out the info on my disease page to see if that could be the answer. If there aren’t any parasites, dying during pupation is also a symptom of pesticide exposure. You can always monitor the chrysalis that split to see how it develops, but the caterpillar hanging down did not survive. Here’s more tachinid fly info:

        Monarch Diseases and Caterpillar Killers

202. Hello Tony, great site and your info is really helpful. My daughter is growing a butterfly garden at one of the local elementary schools in town and when we purchased our plants there was a small caterpillar on one of he leaves. We decided to bring that one inside and watch the transformation. Yesterday in hatched into a beautiful butterfly. We have it in a mesh habitat. When should we release it? We are in Southern California. What are the chances of survival?

     1. Hi Dan, congrats to you and your daughter on raising your first butterfly. If you’ve had it since yesterday it should be ready to release if it’s healthy. Check out this post on releasing adult butterflies:

        How To Release Monarch Butterflies

203. We had a caterpillar that overnight had begun hanging and was in a J shape but my three year old pulled it off. I used a strand of cotton and think I’ve got it rehung. Is there any way to know if I’ve done it right and it’ll be ok?

     1. Hi Larissa, at this point all you can do is watch and hope for the best. If the caterpillar is still able to form its chrysalis, it has a chance to complete its butterfly transformation. good luck!

204. Hi Tony, I’ve been caring for 11 Monarch caterpillars, so far so good, 1 beautiful butterfly, 5 good chrysalides, 4 still munching caterpillars and 1 concerning chrysalis – it seems from to have small hole in the chrysalis, the chrysalis is still green but slightly misshapen in the top section on opposite side of the gold dots, just below / around the rim area. I’m worried what might have caused this or if there is something which can be done? I can actually peer right into the hole [1mm round] and around that hole is where the chrysalis is oddly formed.

     Actually on closer inspection the puncture or gap in the problem chrysalis is around 3mm wide 1.5mm high – it’s bigger than I thought. There is a kind of puckering in the surface of chrysalis above the gap. The chrysalis is still green, but there are some darker markings around the gap also. I didn’t see any threads or any other thing exiting the gap. Hope to hear from you soon, thanks!

     1. Hi Brydee, at this point, all you can do is monitor the chrysalis and see how things develop. If the dark spots continue to grow, there is definitely an issue like NPV, or perhaps parasitism? I’m not familiar with all the monarch parasites/predators in your region, so I would suggest contacting a local monarch resource to see if they have specific ideas:

        New Zealand Monarch Resources

205. Hi Tony,
     Amazing website and full of great info and questions.
     I rescued 5 cats from my yard when we had a downpour in Southern California. They have all formed into perfect chrysalis but according to my calendar the first one should have emerged on 1/24. I kept them inside at night and would move them outside in the day. Do you think they are still okay? Now I have another cat on my milkweed that I’m going to bring inside to keep it safe.
     Thank you!
     Karen

     1. Hi Karen, colder temperatures slow down metamorphosis. In the summer 9-14 days is average before the butterfly emerges. I have heard winter monarchs taking as long as 5 weeks. If they are kept inside, they should emerge closer to the summer avg unless you are keeping them in a dark room, which also slows down the process. As long as the chrysalis is still green and looks healthy, I would not be worried. If the monarch dies, the chrysalis will turn brown/black but you won’t see butterfly markings. Hope this helps and good luck!

        Monarch Disease Info

206. Hi, Tony – I’m new to this and released my first beautiful Monarch to the world two weeks ago. Last week I took in a cat that was making its way to nowhere from the Milkweed and was just laying on the garden’s walkway. It did great and ate like a pig for a few days, then started showing clear signs of looking to attach. But it kept going up to the mesh cover, then coming back down, over and over. It finally stopped moving frantically and has been laying there near the top (I devised a wood bridge from the floor of the container to the mesh cover to help my cats get up there which worked great for the previous one). Antennas are moving slightly but looks like it just couldn’t take the next step of attaching to start forming the chrysalis. Anything I can do or is this a lost cause?

     1. Hi Nurit, are you sure the caterpillar was ready to pupate? Perhaps it was just climbing to molt (shed its skin). They do this 4 other times before forming their chrysalis. At this point, all you can do is make sure there is fresh milkweed in the cage and wait to see what happens…good luck!

        1. Thanks! It formed a chrysalis a couple of days later and emerged a beautiful butterfly and went out into the world last week. Another question: I have a couple more that are ready to eclose. Do they ever eclose at night, or only during daylight?

           1. Hi Nurit, pretty much only in the morning unless you are keeping them in dark or cool conditions. I have had a few eclose early morning before sunrise, but never at night.

              1. Hi, Tony and thanks for your answers.

                 The chrysalis that did not open for two days finally did, and out emerged a very crumpled butterfly who fell to the floor of the container. I offered it a piece of mesh to hang on to and raised it back into a hanging position but it’s obvious that the delayed eclosing caused permanent damage to the wings and they are totally misshapen. What’s the best thing to do? I can’t bear to kill it…

              2. Hi Nurit, if your butterfly is weak with crumpled wings it could have OE and should be euthanized. I suggest putting it in a plastic baggie and placing in the freezer. You are doing the best thing for the butterfly, and making sure it won’t spread disease to future generations.

                 I suggest disinfecting your cage with a 10% bleach solution before raising anymore because there could be pathogens in your cage. Once the cage is disinfected, you should have more success…good luck.

                 Cage Cleaning for Monarchs

207. one of my cats attached themselves to top of my tank and never went further. just hung there and died. has anyone seen this occur

     1. Hi Paul, sorry to hear this. There are typically two reasons this happens: 1. Potential pesticide exposure 2. tachninid fly parasitism

        get more info here:

        Monarch Diseases and caterpillar Killers

208. I have about 15 chrysalis’s in my backyard. The cats did fine with all the rain we had here in southern California but my concern is the chrysalis’s some have been in that state now for about 30 days. The chrysalis looks fine but why have the butterflies not emerged? Our first few chrysalis had that god awful string hanging from them and that’s when I researched and found out about that terrible fly, I found their eggs down in the bottom of the planter and destroyed them, the cats did not make it. Is it too late in the season for the butterflies to emerge from my current healthy looking chrysalis?

     Thanks, Mary Lou Ross

     1. Hi Mary Lou, sorry to hear about your tachinid experience, but happy you came across the site so you can learn how to raise healthier monarchs. In southern cal, there is a year round monarch population because of your mild climate, so your chrysalises still have a chance. good luck!

        1. The monarch finally came out after about 30 days but it just hung around for days. It was flapping it wings a lot and finally broke one wing and then started going down hill so I put it in a baggie and put it in the freezer per your previous suggestion. I have other monarchs coming out of the chrysalises and they are oozing brown fluid is this normal?

           Thanking you in advance for your time with my questions.

           Mary Lou Ross

           1. Hi Mary Lou,

              butterflies expel meconium (metabolic waste) after emerging from their chrysalis and this is normal. As for the monarch you had to euthanize, sometimes that’s the kindest (and necessary) option. Good luck with your future raising…

209. Hi Tony! Amazingly we had 3 chrysalises form late this winter (I’m in Southern California) and now the rain has hit and they should be ready to emerge soon! Should I intervene and find them a dry place to finish up? Or perhaps just try to shield them from the water where they are? It is currently raining and expected to rain off and on for another week. (Please note that I desperately want to help the butterflies but in my experience my past interventions have more often led to demise than prosper – I’m afraid I am dangerous to my caterpillar friends!) Thank you for your help!

     1. Hi Eli, I would probably bring them indoors where they will be safe from extreme weather…congrats on the rain by the way. I know you guys are in desperate need!

210. I have a 4 foot milkweed plant out side planted in the ground. I have about 12 caterpillars on the plant and the temperatures will be dropping into the lows 40′ and 30’s. I can’t move the plant inside, so what can I do, cover it? This is our first year and caterpillar. Also , where will there be a safe place to form a chrysalis since the plant is by a wire fence? Thank-you, Sandy

     1. Hi Sandy, 30’s is cutting it close for survival, but they can survive those temps in my experience. Personally, I would set up some cuttings containers and raise them indoors. Check up cuttings set-ups here:

        Raising Caterpillars on Milkweed Stem Cuttings

        Also, here are some places that caterpillars will form their chrysalides outside:

        Where to find a Monarch Chrysalis Outdoors

        Good Luck!

211. The weather here is in the 40’s and lower most nights and mid 50’s high most days. One of mine emerged yesterday early morning. Seems not interested in nectar. Should I let her chance the cold or keep her a bit longer to see if weather conditions get warmer. La porte, TX

     1. Hi Melanie, that is too cold for release, but you can keep them until the weather improves. Mid 60’s or up is preferable. Here’s more info that should help:

        Releasing Butterflies and Feeding Adult Butterflies

212. I have 3 chrysalises and 2 more ‘about to be’ in an enclosure. It’s been in the 70s for a while but as of tomorrow will only be in 50s daytime and low 30 to mid 30s at night. What to do with the chrysalises? Bring into house ? Bring into garage? Will they ‘freeze’/die if left outside? I know swallowtails can overwinter but Monarchs?
     I want to do what will give them the best chance of survival.

     1. Hi Cindy, monarchs don’t overwinter like swallowtails. 30’s is probably too cold to leave chrysalides outside. I would bring them indoors. I’m not sure where you live, but if you’re in a region that will still have some warm weather, I would release the butterflies during a window where the hight temps are in the mid-sixties for at least a few days. There is some info on this post about feeding adult butterflies if you need to keep them more than a couple days. Good luck!

        Feeding and Releasing Adult Butterflies

213. Hello! I have one monarch that has been very healthy until this morning. Today should’ve been enclose day, but when we woke up, our little guy was shriveled like a raisin. He was able to poke his body out of the bottom, but hasn’t started with his wings, then he broke off of his cremaster and landed on a soft towel at the bottom of the enclosure! It almost looks like his “shell” is stuck to him so he can’t wiggle out. Any suggestions??

     1. Hi Lydia, it sounds like your butterfly may have OE. You can try to remove the shell from his abdomen, but this usually is not successful. If his wings stay shriveled, the best course of action is to euthanize in a plastic baggie in the freezer to prevent spreading disease to other monarchs. Here is more info on monarch diseases and prevention:

        7 Common Monarch Diseases and Prevention

214. a beautiful butterfly emerged today!! First one out 12 that was not attacked by that nasty fly!

     Sue DeMille

     1. Sorry you have had such a problem with tachinid flies. Hopefully, you are able to find more caterpillars before they are parasitized…good luck!

        1. Hello, I will tell you the signs of a Polybacterium Solka infection, the caterpillar will be too big and will have black splotches on it, it may die while inside the chrysalis, if that happens the chrysalis will shrivel up and than rip and a yellow-green liquid will ooze out.

215. I’ve released a record 20+ monarchs in the past few weeks,m with several remaining to emerge. I was ready to cut back my milkweed when I discovered two new cats. Should I let them stay outside with the cool/cold nights?

     1. Hi Gary, it’s really up to you. Even if you raise just a few each year, you are helping the population. If you have the time and are worried about them in cool temps, why not bring them in?

        You can always stagger cuttings so there will always be a few plants in the garden. You can also cut it all back and refrigerate some leaves for your final two cats. You can also take stem cuttings. Check out photos on this page:

        Milkweed Stem Cuttings

216. My crysalis has been hanging for two weeks now – is there something wrong?

     1. Hi Sue, as long as the chrysalis is still green (no unusual dark spots) I wouldn’t worry yet. Cooler temps under 65° F can slow down metamorphosis. 70s-80’s is typically prime temperatures for normal development of chrysalis 9-14 days.

217. Hi Tony,

     I’ve got 5 cats in the same enclosure with 5 chrysalis and plants. 2 of them are in their J formation while the other three are still eating, most likely will pupate within the next two days. I just discovered two of my chrysalis with silk hanging from the sides of them. One of them does look like it’s been compromised, There’s a dark spot where this silk (could have been fluid but dried to silk) is hanging from. Seemed to have happened overnight. Is this the beginning of NPV?

     1. Hi Candace, unfortunately, this sounds like a tachinid fly problem. You should find maggots or red tachinid pupae in the bottom of your enclosure. Remove them. Here is more info about tachinid flies and how to avoid them:

        7 Monarch Diseases and Caterpillar Killers

        1. Hi! I am Emma, and I have recently captured 10 tortoiseshell caterpillars, and they went into their chrysalids perfectly fine, but I have found that 2 of them have some white string type thing hanging from the sides. However, there are not any signs of any other life than the chrysalids and butterflies in the enclosure. Any help? I do know that tortoiseshells are prone to tachinid flies, but there are no larvae in the bottom of the enclosure… Please!

           1. Hi Emma, have you found any red tachinid fly pupae? I would check again…

218. My chrysalis produced a beautiful butterfly this morning, Nov 25, 2015. A Boy.

     I was worried about it because when chrysalis formed, on the outside of chrysalis, the larvae head was still on chrysalis where head of butterfly is in chrysalis. Now that he is out, the larvae head is still on the butterfly’s head.

     Should I try to remove it or just let it be? I plan on leaving him inside, not releasing him. Too cold now in the panhandle of Texas (Fritch)

     1. Congratulations Jane! So, just to clarify, the shed caterpillar skin and face cap is stuck to the butterfly’s head? I’ve never heard of this happening before…just the skin stuck on the chrysalis. If it is the shed skin, it should come off pretty easily. What is it stuck to exactly?

219. Hi Tony,

     Thank you for the information. There has not been any additional substance since the first sighting. Will be monitoring closely.

     Thanks again for your help.

220. Hi Tony,

     I have 5 chrysalises on my milkweed. 3 look great, but two of them have a small amount of black substance coming out the top where they are attached. The chrysalises look ok except for the small amount of substance at the top. Would this qualify as abnormal.

     Thank you.

     1. Hi John, a liquid black substance emerging from caterpillars or chrysalides is a common symptom of NPV. Continue to monitor the situation, but if the problem gets worse I would euthanize by putting the chrysalides in a plastic baggie and placing them in the freezer. Here’s more info on NPV:

        7 Common Monarch Diseases and Prevention

221. My chrysalis has turned black. My son was showing it to his grandparents (it’s in a mesh butterfly net) and he left of where the sun would hit it for a few hours. Did our butterfly get cooked?

     1. Hi Jaime, they are usually ok in sun unless the clear plastic side of the cage is facing the sun. This can melt the chrysalis. When the chrysalis turns black, that often indicates a bacterial or viral infection. Here’s more Info:

        7 Common Monarch Diseases and Prevention

        1. The black chrysalis sounds like it might be the case. The clear plastic is the top of the container, but the sun never directly hit that. Your site is wonderful, wish we’d found it sooner!!!

222. Tony,
     I’ve had hundreds of chrysalises form in front of me. They all form in their clear emerald green color. But yesterday the one the formed I could instantly see what I thought was something comparable to a yolk in the top 1/4 of the chrysalis. Now 2 days later its still there. Have you ever seen this in your history? Any disease you can think of with such a thing? There’s no spots on the chrysalis as of yet associated with Oe. The larva ate on tropical milkweed here in CA known for it. Let me know what you think.

     Bernie Dennis

     1. Hi Bernie, my best advice for when you see something abnormal in monarch development is to isolate and observe. It might not turn out they way you had hoped, but you could learn something valuable going forward. Here’s more info on monarch diseases:

        Monarch Diseases and Caterpillar Killers

        1. Tony,

           That’s how I was thinking too. If by chance it is a diseased chrysalis I will film it as I always do and it will become a learning experience. A happy or sad day is yet to be seen. I had 2 more caterpillars form chrysalises today and they were both perfectly clear upon shedding their skin. Thanks.

           Bernie

223. There is a chrysalis (sp?) hanging from my milkweek plant in New Orleans. Yesterday it started to emerge. We see antenae and front legs but it began about noon and by dusk that’s as far as it got. It seemed to stop for the night. Today it’s cool (58F) and raining. Butterfly is not progressing. Should I bring it inside???

     1. Hi Kathi, if the butterfly started to emerge and never finished, there is probably an issue like OE and it’s not going to survive. You could try to help it out, but if that doesn’t work I would put it in a bag in the freezer to euthanize. Sorry this happened, but there are mountain of obstacles monarchs need to overcome to survive outdoors. Here’s more info on monarch diseases:

        7 Common Monarch Diseases and Caterpillar Killers

224. Where can I purchase mesh cages?

     1. Hi Leslie, there are some links to purchase them on this page:

        Monarch Caterpillar Cages

        1. Tony- I have a question about Monarchs from our flower garden here in Charleston SC. We rescued 23 large Monarch cats from our milkweed plants several weeks ago when temperatures were dipping into the high 20s. Within several days all went into J formation and then to chrysalis. Our first chrysalis has just hatched tonight and temperatures are supposed to be in the 70s tomorrow and sunny. We plan to release it tomorrow. Any suggestions for this late season release? Also- are these cats of the generation that will migrate to Mexico or not?

           We have had several generations of cats on our milkweed earlier this year but they disappeared due to predators. In November is when we found the 23 large cats devouring what was left of the milkweed in the garden. Also, due to it being December, what is the likelihood that the eclosed Monarch butterflies will be able to find suitable flowers for nectaring? Should we provide them with orange slices or Gatorade within the mesh cage before releasing them in case they don’t immediately find nectar in the wild? Thanks for your outstanding blog and for all you do to help these magnificent little creatures thrive!

           1. Hi Jaime, 70’s is great weather conditions for release. This is a strange season with warm weather extremes. I can’t tell you what your monarchs will do for sure, but you are giving them what they never would have had without your help…a chance! Butterflies don’t always like to feed for a day or two after emerging, especially in captivity. If they are strong, and want to fly free, I would let them go. Good luck!

              Here’s info about releasing:

              Releasing Monarch Butterflies

              1. Hi Tony, I’ve had a pretty successful summer raising monarchs in my butterfly garden and currently have 25 crystalis’ ‘in waiting’ and expecting releases every few days. I’m having a couple of problems.

                 1. A few days ago we had a cat j’ing and starting to form a crystalis, but then stopped. I waited a few days and nothing. I ended up euthanizing the cat since it was obvious it had died. I have no idea why.

                 2. We had a monarch emerge today while we were out for the day. when we came back home, our neighbor told us that the monarch made it out of the crystalis but it was obvious there was a problem possibly with a wing? Our neighbor took a picture then removed the monarch and crystalis . I have the picture but was not able to attach here.

                 How can I send a picture?
                 My garden is organic, I do not use pesticides and concerned this could spread to other crystalis.

                 Thanks,
                 Joanne

              2. Hi Joanne, the first problem sounds like potential exposure to insect growth regulator (pesticides) while the second sounds like possible heavy OE infection. I recommend these facebook groups for posting pictures:

                 Facebook Groups for Monarch Enthusiasts

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