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larry Bogan wrote on Sept. 3/06: "Not all chrysalises survive. I saw a Blue Jay take one off the side of the building. I don't know if it had a gagging response since it flew away immediately. A couple have had damage and a couple just darken and no Monarch emerges before it decays." I think I have mentioned before to this list that I read somewhere a long time ago that Nova Scotia's two species of milkweeds, namely common milkweed and swamp milkweed, are relatively non-toxic when compared with other species of milkweeds, especially more southern species? Also there is apparently quite a bit of variation among the remaining species and perhaps within species also? Can anyone shed any light on this? Of course there must be repercussions also on the mimicry relationship between viceroys and monarchs, even if it's true that viceroys are in turn somewhat or fairly toxic themselves. Perhaps the viceroy in Nova Scotia is the model, with the mild-tasting monarch the mimic?! Cheers from Jim in Wolfville ---------- From: Alison Bogan <alison@bogan.ca> Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Date: Sun, 03 Sep 2006 20:18:10 -0300 To: natureNS@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: [NatureNS] Monarch still emerging.. Valley I did a survey of the chrysalis cases attached to my buildings today. I had two emerge today but there are still many to come out. The process seems to take longer than mentioned in most sources (10-14 days). Some of the chrysalises have been hanging for over two weeks. Caterpillars are still climbing and attaching to overhangs. Many are rather smaller than the others that started earlier. Lately, we have been having about two every day emerge. Today, I counted: Green Chrysalises = 71 Empty Chrysalis shells = 29 Caterpillars attached = 11 Dead Chrysalises = 5 Not all chrysalises survive. I saw a Blue Jay take one off the side of the building. I don't know if it had a gagging response since it flew away immediately. A couple have had damage and a couple just darken and no Monarch emerges before it decays. We will continue to observe; it is fascinating. Larry Bogan -- Alison Bogan alison@bogan.ca RR#2, Cambridge Station, N.S. B0P1G0 902-678-0446
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