Monarch eggs & cats - first in 3 years

9 years ago

I always cut my Asclepias Syriaca down in mid summer when the pods start to get big (so I don't have to deal with all the seeds) and they would quickly re-sprout new shoots which would be 2-3 feet tall with many new leaves for the southbound migration. This year I cut them late, as I hadn't seen a single Monarch in two years. I put some powdered diatomaceous earth on them to see if it would kill all the flies that seemed to love to hang out on the milkweed, or the aphids or whatever. I had cut 9 of the 10 canes, and when I went back for the last one, and there was a Monarch!
I watched as she laid an egg then found another the next day, which I took into the house to raise. I washed the DE off the remaining stem as best I could. Since that day, I've seen Monarchs almost daily!

I now have a 3rd instar, a 2nd, 3-1st instars and 3 eggs. The only problem is I cut my milkweed late, and the 2 older cats have devoured the only shoot that came up, and the one I didn't cut is yellowing and nasty looking. I went to the field where I used to collect milkweed leaves before I transplanted some in my yard, and it is all yellowing and nasty looking. I have one small voulinteer from an Asclepias Curassavica, and I'm afraid I wont have enough food for all the little dearies I have in my enclosures.

I'm hoping to find some decent milkweed to get the little dearies to butterflys and send them Southward, but I may have to go back and forth from field grown common milkweed to nursery bought tropical, wherever I can find it.

Can the caterpillars be switched from A. Syriaca to A. Curassavica and vice versa without problems?

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Comments (3)

Leafhead
9 years ago
Monarch cats have problems switching from a lower toxicity to a higher one. I would look up the toxicities of both plants and go from there. As far as southbound Monarchs, it's better to let the milkweed go to seed and concentrate on nectar for the well fueled trip to Mexico. Since you're Zone 6, you may have time for one more brood, but soon the plants will begin entering dormancy and any raised cats at this point will starve s the nectar they need.
I'm Zone 4 to 5, and my last brood just crawled off. They fed on young plants, as my mature plants are all going to seed already and are tough. Now the butterflies in my area are interested in nectar only and soon will be heading your way.
Here they come :)

John
molanic
9 years ago
I'm in a similar situation. I have about 36 cats in various stages left to raise. The most recent 9 just hatched yesterday. They were laid on my new this year and still very small a. speciosa. There will not be enough leaves of it to support them even if they ate it to the ground.

I am hoping they will eat a. syriaca since I still have a lot of that. It looks rough but the other cats still eat it. I make sure and give the young ones the newest growth. The bigger cats get the older tough leaves after a good rinse and wipe down to remove aphids and their sticky honeydew.

I looked up the different toxicity levels on monarchwatch for the milkweeds I have. Speciosa is one of the lowest, tuberosa is low, syriaca is moderate, incarnata is high, and currasivica is the highest. Just based on that I maybe should try switching them to tuberosa, but experience tells me that is usually their last choice for milkweed.

I put a little sprig of the youngest tender syriaca in with them and moved one of the 1st instar cats onto it to see if it will eat it. I never have any problems moving the tiny cats with a very small fine paintbrush and have been doing it for years. I seem to recall someone saying you can actually move the eggs carefully with your fingernail, but I am afraid I would damage the egg. I would think that would be one way to make sure they will eat a different food. If they never even taste another milkweed they won't know what they are missing!
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Tony G
9 years ago
monarchs will easily switch between species...supposedly tuberosa is an exception but I never feed mine tuberosa so I can't say for sure.

I usually feed ours syriaca early in the season, and at this point offer them swamp/tropical cuttings.

John, I am in Minneapolis and we generally get eggs through the last week of August. I just found 6 in our garden today on swamp milkweed.

Good luck with your cats, Tony