Tag Archives: bugs

raising monarch butterflies

I decided to single-handedly save the monarch population in a single season; you can now refer to me as Monarch Mommy™

This, of course, is a joke (the saving the species part, not the Monarch Mommy™ part), and since raising monarchs indoors can be quite a hot top on the internet (who knew, right?), I’m going to start this post with a clear disclaimer: apparently it’s not been proven that indoor rearing of monarchs has done much — if anything — to help the general monarch population.

Some studies say that, if done improperly, the indoor raising of monarch butterflies can actually have an adverse effect on the general monarch population.

*steps onto my soapbox*

Let me just say that I completely agree with some reasonings (like it can make spreading disease easier), while other reasonings I completely disagree with. For instance, believing that nature successfully “picks off the weak” and that we’re interfering with that process by protecting them?? Um, here’s my hot take: having a wasp lay eggs in a caterpillar doesn’t mean that a caterpillar is weak, it just means that it was one unlucky little dude who now has to endure a horrific death!

I believe that my butterflies were part of the migratory generation (also known as the “super generation”), and they were much larger than other monarchs that I’ve seen around

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a girl and her bug collection

When I first started pinning butterflies in June (you can see my how to pin butterflies post here), I was well-aware that this was going to be a slow-going hobby for me. I only ever pin bugs that have been found dead, and I think we all know how rare it is to find a beautiful dead butterfly in the wild.

All the Redditors can defend their bug-catching methods all they want, but I’ll never be okay with catching and killing a bug for the sole purpose of owning its beauty. Imagine you’re enjoying your life one day, out in the big wide world, and a giant alien sees you, thinks you’re pretty, scoops you up, and sticks you in their freezer, just so that they can pin you in a box.

Y’all, that’s insane, and there’s not one ounce of me that approves of that selfish barbarianism ☝🏼🤨

the colors and pattern on the Ornate Tiger moth’s wings (bottom left) are pretty crazy

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mushroom cardigan (ootd #4)

It’s been a while since I’ve done a #fitcheck, but it seems that I’m quite deeply entrenched in my natural-world-aesthetic era, and so this vintage Talbot cardigan was a Christmas gift to myself 🍄

When I fall in love with something online that is either a) expensive, or b) not easy to return (or sometimes both), I do a good ol’ Google search on the product.

I paste the picture of the item into the search bar and I scan the world wide web to find other retailers, product pics, or pictures from other people who’ve purchased it.

a.k.a. I do my research.

I bought this cute tote bag for my and my family’s vacation down to the coast last September. It’s super cute, a great size, and it zips on the top, so it was perfect to bring along on most of our adventures!

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