The Monarch Butterfly and T-Fly

Recorded live on my Facebook page Solitary Coventry. 9-9-22

Today I was not prepared for what I had discovered and what I had to deal with. I do my videos for educational purposes, although I am still learning. Here, I become very emotional and you will catch me at a very vulnerable, emotional moment(s). I was not in any way prepared spiritually for what I discovered.

T-fly short for tachinid fly is not only a predator for the Monarch caterpillar but also for other species. T-fly is not our typical housefly. The eggs are laid on the caterpillar and they hatch almost instantly. The larva then will feed off of the caterpillars blood, and death is always the end result for the caterpillar and chrysalis if it makes it to that stage at all. This is why we harvest the eggs whenever possible. Please do not let this discourage you from bringing in the caterpillar. I am on season 3 and this is my first time with this experience. By leaving the caterpillar out in the wild, they have a lot less chance of survival. The important thing to keep in mind is that if this happens to you, is to check the cage thoroughly to ensure that the larva and pupa are removed and destroyed. It was recommended that I freeze them but then someone said they can survive the freeze. So what I did was pour bleach into a small baby jar and closed it tightly. I also read to pour boiling water over them but it will take more than once to succussed. I said screw it and went the bleach route. It is my hope that I never have to deal with this situation in the future but it is common for t-fly to do this.