WOW!! Sweet selection of Butterflies :-)>
I'm starting to pick up round here as well in So. WI. I have my butterfly feeder ready for my Mourning Cloaks and Red Admirals when they eclose and to attract any RSPs in the area (I saw one last week). I've also had a run of ALs on my now stripped Antennarias and Anaphalis, with a couple even using Centaurea! Adult Monarchs have been absent as of late, but I did raise a batch a while ago, and I still have a couple cats going.
There are six BST cats on my Fennel, five of which are 5th instar, one 4th. My fennel's holding up fine under the light load of BSTs this year. I also found five late 3rd instar cats on my SIL's Fennel.

John

That is so awesome. You get to raise butterflies I wish would visit my yard. I haven't seen any monarchs in 7 years, let alone a single Monarch. Question, how does your butterfly feeder work?

Butterfly feeders are for butterflies which don't normally visit flowers, but prefer fallen fruit and tree sap. I use bananas and mangoes in a raised platform (c drainage to prevent flooding or out of the rain).
Some of the butterflies in my area that visit the feeder are Red Spotted Purples, Red Admirals, and most commonly, the Commas. They seem to feed mostly in the morning, when the fruit is in the sun. Yummy.
Where are you located, and what is your home living condition (suburb, urban or rural)? I'm wondering why you're not getting Monarchs :(

John

Congrats on all those beautiful chrysalides!

Sherry

Hi John,

Sorry this is extremely late. I think I will try this method and see if I can attract morning cloaks. Morning cloaks are attracted to fruit right!?! I know they occur in my area but they seem to never venture too far from those lovely woods. However, as for my location, I live in between Zebulon and Rolesville, NC. But my zip code suggest that I live more so in Zebulon. My community is more rural than suburban. Just imagine two cul-de-sacs on 1 side of the road stuck in a tobacco field and across the street another cul-de-sac stuck in the woods with a corn field behind them. I have only raised monarchs once, and that was back in 2007. In 2012 I saw one monarch visit my garden, but it was a male. I don't understand why my garden has not attracted them. I have nectar plants galore and 3 species of milkweed: tropical, orange butterflyweed, and common milkweed. As a side note, I don't use any pesticides or herbicides or any "cides" for that matter lol.

Just a thought, but maybe the tobacco and/or the corn field are sprayed with pesticides and it's affecting your area also.

glad2garden,

That is a great observation. I didn't even think about that. When I first moved to this area, there were so many species of butterflies. But that has greatly decreased since then. I am sure the pesticides are a large factor in why monarchs don't seem to visit me lol.

So sad. My neighbor sprays a lot of pesticides, and puts out poison for the chipmunks.

I would certainly go into nosy neighbor mode and inform him or her that all that poison goes straight up the food chain or into the ground water. One of my neighbors wanted to spray the entire perimeter of the house until I gently objected. (She had an ant problem) She kindly relented and sprayed only her window perimeters and indoors. Sometimes, it doesn't take much to educate people in our neighborhoods.
Now if I could only get EPIC to stop spraying their property...

John

Very nice photo.