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To receive permission to use any of these copyright protected photos, please contact Edith at Shady Oak. |
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after the tape is removed. Check scales through the microscope before removing tape. |
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through a microscope. |
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Light colored spores are dead. |
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through your microscope! |
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gently rubbing a finger across eggs after they have dried for 24 hours. |
shows a butterfly scale. When a caterpillar hatches, the first thing it eats is its eggshell. If a scale with OE is on the shell, the caterpillar will ingest the spores and WILL have OE. |
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immediately started eating its eggshell. |
solution and eggs for the amount of time needed to soak the eggs. You can use any type plastic container for this purpose. |
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water to flow through. A smaller deli cup has the bottom cut out. A piece of sheer curtain material is cut to use as a strainer. |
ready for the sterilizing solution and eggs to be poured through. |
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solution and eggs for the amount of time needed to soak the eggs. You can use any type plastic container for this purpose. |
and laid on a paper towel to dry, a fresh milkweed cutting is used to pick up the sterile eggs and place them into a container to hatch. |
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to allow them to drip dry before sealing in a container. The tote is marked to indicate which Monarch laid the eggs being sterilized. |
detach from the leaves and will be caught by the net. |
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hatchling caterpillar to be contained! If you cannot find fine screening, a piece of sheer material will work fine. |
Shady Oak Butterfly Farm are placed on a shelf until the caterpillars have hatched and grown for a few days. |
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separation between white and black scales. |
appears 'blurry', often with a darker appearance than a healthy butterfly. |
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will often become stuck in its chrysalis shell and be unable to emerge. |
will darken along its back first instead of first showing color on its orange wings as is normal. |
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OE is present in wild Monarchs. Farmers and others who raise Monarchs, Queens, and Soldiers find themselves in a battle with nature. Rearing milkweed in a closed greenhouse or screenhouse will protect your milkweed from wild butterflies who may leave spores on the leaves. When caterpillars eat these spores, they contract the disease. If your milkweed is growing outdoors where wild butterflies are landing upon it, soak the leaves in a 5% bleach/95% water solution for 60 seconds or 100ppm oxine solution for several minutes. Rinse well and allow to drip dry but not dry out. Wet leaves are not healthy for your caterpillars. A good microscope and clear tape are essential to check adult Monarchs for OE. Simply touch the CLEAR tape to the abdomen of the adult butterfly. Scales will stick to the tape and the adult will not be hurt. Breeder adults should always be checked before rearing their eggs to adult. If you do not have a good microscope, please send us a microscope slide with scales on clear tape and we will be glad to check it for you. Sterilize your rearing containers, utensils, and tools between every set of caterpillars you rear! A dishwasher works fine. If your containers are too large for a dishwasher, use a 10% bleach/90% water solution or 500ppm oxine solution and soak your container for 10 minutes. Keep your countertops sterile! Sterilize them after use. If you wish to be extra careful, sterilize your Monarch eggs. Monarch Watch uses an oxine solution. Mix oxine (there is an activator needed for oxine) in a 100 ppm solution for egg sterilization and 500ppm solution for sterilizing containers and equipment. If you use bleach, be sure to use bleach which does not have soap added at the factory. There are several recipes to sterilize eggs: 1. Soak Monarch eggs in a solution of 2% bleach/98% water for two minutes. Rinse well immediately. 2. Soak Monarch eggs in a solution of 5% bleach/95% water for 60 seconds. Rinse immediately. 3. Monarch Watch recommends a 100ppm oxine solution to sterilize eggs. We watched this happen under a microscope with bleach. Less time, such as 50 seconds with 5% bleach solution, is not enough to kill OE spores. Be sure to leave them for a GOOD 60 seconds or a little bit longer with a 5% solution. (Bleach can dissolve the eggs. Be sure not to use too strong of a solution or too leave the eggs in the solution for too long. Do a trial with a few eggs before sterilizing a large amount of eggs.) This dissolves the chorion (outer waxy layer of the egg) which could be contaminated with butterfly scales and OE spores. There are two methods of bleaching eggs. One method is to simply cut the leaves and stems to fit into a small container. Add the bleach/water solution to the container with leaves and eggs already in it. The second method is to remove the eggs from the leaves. To do so, simply wait 24 hours after they are laid and gently rub the eggs with your finger. They will roll right off the leaves. Simply pour the bleach/water solution over the eggs in a container. After 60 seconds, we pour the solution through a piece of sheer curtian material. A net will often have holes much too large and the eggs will fall through. Some eggs will come off the leaves when you soak them, this is fine. Rinse well by placing the eggs into another container and soaking them a minute in clear water. Pour through your material again and allow the eggs and leaves to drip dry. Cover the eggs and leaves with a sterile paper towel to keep them clean until they are dry. Add fresh new growth leaves daily to the container in which you place the eggs. Removal of the chorion leaves the eggs succeptable to dehydration. Adding fresh leaves daily is a method of adding moisture without adding water. It also gives the babies fresh food to eat. If you are rearing butterflies as a hobby, it is good to do your best to fight nature as you help nature. Try to keep disease at bay for the butterfly's sake as well as for your sake! If you are having troubles, please email us. We will be glad to help all we can. A mailing list is available for gardeners and farmers. To read the archives or join, visit the Butterfly Market mailing list at www.butterflymarket.com/mailman/listinfo/butterflyfarming_butterflymarket.com. Often disease isn't noticed in the garden because caterpillars tend to be eaten when they are not as fast or able to react as much as normal. A chrysalis in the garden is rarely noticed. In people's rearing containers, they are always noticed! One of the first signs of disease is loss of appetite. We notice this in humans also, when a child doesn't want to eat his/her favorite meal or dessert, parents become immediately concerned. Signs of OE are brown chrysalises, Monarchs who have abdomens stuck in the chrysalis shell, Monarchs with wings which do not spread properly, caterpillars eating a bit slower than normal, chrysalises which do not 'color up' in the normal way, caterpillars which eat less or eat slower, and shorter life span of adult Monarchs. A great website about OE is If you are familiar with other websites with OE information, please share them with us. We are often asked about problems from OE or Melt. When we share what we have learned, so many breathe a sigh of relief and comment, "Oh, I'm so glad. I thought it was my fault." Once you learn about these diseases and start using the information to rear healthy caterpillars, you will enjoy rearing caterpillars in your home even more! If you bring caterpillars in from your gardens, just do your best to use sterile techniques. Remember, they may already be diseased. This is NOT your fault! Butterfly and moth disease is purchased by gardeners,vegetable farmers, forestry services, and more. Parasites and parasitiods are purchased by the hundreds and thousands and released in nature. Since none of us like to take a bite from an ear of corn and find half a caterpillar left, we can understand why farmers tend to use diseases and other sprays. In most cases these diseases are species specific and will not harm butterflies in your yard. If you do not own or have access to a microscope, please feel free to send a tape with scales from your Monarchs to our farm. We will be happy to use our microscope and email or snail mail you our findings. OE Tape Shady Oak Butterfly Farm 12876 SW CR 231 Brooker, FL 32622 Note; Monarch butterflies do have have a 'cocoon', the larva (caterpillar) will change into a pupa (chrysalis). |
Read First Coast Community
for Acticles writen by Edith.
All photographs on this site are copyright protected.
For permission to use any
photo, please contact Edith Smith at Shady Oak Butterfly Farm.
Butterfly Release companies located outside the
mainland United States.
Release Companies Outside the Mainland United
States
TO PURCHASE PLEASE CONTACT US edith@buyabutterfly.com
Shady Oak Butterfly Farm Toll free 877-485-2458
12876 SW CR 231 Brooker, Fl 32622 Stephen & Edith Smith
Located 45 minutes from the Butterfly Rainforest Exhibit at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
This butterfly website built with advice from Starting Dreams.
All photographs on this site are copyright protected.
For permission to use any photo, please contact Edith Smith at Shady Oak Butterfly Farm.
Butterfly Release companies located outside the mainland United States.
Release Companies Outside the Mainland United States
Shady Oak Butterfly Farm Toll free 877-485-2458 12876 SW CR 231 Brooker, Fl 32622 Stephen & Edith Smith
Located 45 minutes from the Butterfly Rainforest Exhibit at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
This butterfly website built with advice from Starting Dreams.
Member of the
Association for Butterflies: Research, Conservation, Farming, and Gardening. If you would like to join to; go to www.forbutterflies.org
Member of the
Association for Butterflies: Research, Conservation, Farming, and Gardening. If you would like to join to; go to www.forbutterflies.org