Recycled plastic water bottles help Monarch Butterfly conservation

Although I have no garden but only a balcony, I have had a lot of success rearing Monarchs to their adult stage by growing their food plants in pots and making sure the fully-grown caterpillars have a safe place to transform into chrysalises.

When they are in their last stage of growth, if they have eaten all the leaves on the plant they are on, then they will wander about looking for more food. To stop them getting lost and dying of potential starvation I came up with an idea that would keep the caterpillars safe and allow me to make sure they had food until they were ready to change into the next stage of their lifecycle.

I am very concerned about the amount of plastic that goes to waste and pollutes the oceans and environment and have been pleased to find another use for empty plastic water bottles. The large 5 litre bottles make an ideal home for Monarch Butterfly chrysalises until they emerge as adults.

If you remove the label on the bottle so you can see inside a lot better and cut most of the way around the bottle you can easily get your hand inside to add leaves and caterpillars, clean the container out and so you can release the adult butterflies. Several strips of Sellotape will seal where you have cut the plastic and can be peeled back for easy access.

I have found that the fully grown caterpillars are happy to spin a pad of silk and then hang down and transform into chrysalises at the top part of these plastic water containers. I have had as many as 35 in just one of these bottles and all emerged as adult Monarchs.

It is easy to see when the chrysalises are about to emerge because the wingcases colour up with red and black. When you see them like this you can get ready for the butterflies to hatch out and after letting them dry their wings they can be released.