Mutated Monarch

Joseph G. Kunkel joe at bio.umass.edu
Fri Sep 3 10:26:00 EDT 1999


EE,

To be more correct you might rather call your 'mutant' a 'sport'. 
Sports are abnormal individuals about which one does not have enough
info to tell whether the cause of the abnormality is genetic or
embryological accident or physical/environmental damage.

Viruses and bacteria can certainly do in lep cultures.  Usually they are
difficult to get rid of when they infest your rearing area.  My
experience and that of colleagues has been to clean your rearing
chambers thoroughly if you have to reuse them.  Disposable containers
are best such as dixie cups with saran wrap or paper coffee cups with
lids.  These disposeables do not come with virus.  If a wooden cage gets
infected with virus it is best to make a new one rather than try to
clean it.

Viruses tend to be more host specific and might not jump between
families of leps.  Bacteria are able to infect between orders (or even
phyla).

Good luck!
Joe

EE wrote:
> 
> I've been raising Eastern Black Swallowtails in southern Ontario (to
> educate myself) for the past few years. I haven't had any problems with
> them.
> 
> This year I got some Monarch eggs from the vacant lot and raised them in
> a small meshed enclosure. Out of the 20+ eggs collected, I ended up with
> 10 surviving caterpillars. They all pupated successfully (or so I
> thought). Very exciting to raise the generation that will migrate!
> 
> The first of 10 emerged this morning. It's definitely mutated. The
> proboscis looks like a bifurcated corkscrew, and won't/can't uncoil, so
> the butterfly can't feed. A feathery bit near it's mouthpart is stuck in
> an upward postion on one side. Also, it was unable to pump fluid into
> its wings, which look like scrunched up dry curly translucent paper. By
> this afternoon, antennae drooping, it was clear that it was dying and
> wouldn't make it. I have stills of the mutated Monarch dumped down from
> Hi-8 that I can email to anyone who'd like to have a look.
> 
> Never having raised Monarch before, I don't know what's normal for them.
> For instance, I thought that this particular caterpillar might have a
> problem, as when it was resting it got really loose and kind of lolled
> around on the milkweed leaf. Is this normal for Monarchs? Swallowtails
> don't loll when they're resting. I know what kind of behavior to expect
> from them. Also, in their final instar as caterpillars, the Monarchs
> went through a period of striking the leaves they were feeding on with
> their heads in a kind of percussive action almost like communication.
> Does anyone know what that behavior is all about?
> 
> I've noticed  a few ants bearing aphids, which I've carefully picked off
> the Monarch chrysalides, and some very small flies that keep crawling on
> the jade jewels that I can't get at. Could these be a contributing
> factor? Or are they a 'normal' part of the process?
> 
> I've heard that butterflies are prone to viruses .... If this is a virus
> can it be transmitted to the neighbouring Swallowtails pillars or
> chyrsalides?
> 
> Any ideas on what went wrong? Is there anything I can do for the remaing
> chrysalides, other than wait and see? (probably not, huh)
> 
> I'd really appreciate any input as I don't want this to happen again.
> 
> Also, I'd be willing to mail my mutated Monarch to any entolmologist who
> can use it.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> EE

-- 
______________________________
Joe Kunkel, Professor
Biology Department, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
joe at bio.umass.edu  http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kunkel/


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