Congrats, those are indeed Monarch cats! You must not have many predators in your garden, because having 9 large cats chowing down out in the "wild" is just amazing. In my gardens, the eggs can be laid one day, and most are gone the next. Same with hatchlings and 1st instar.

Are you the poster with the really tall Tithonia that has been so slow to bloom? Mine is blooming heavily now, also about 8-9 feet tall, almost as tall of the Mammoth Russian sunslowers! It is attracting SO many bees, butterflies, and I see the hummers on it regularly too. Such a great plant.

You are soooo right about the predators, Terrene! They are the worst I've ever seen them this year. I have Gulf Frits laying eggs like mad every day and I cannot find a single egg or cat. Same with Monarchs the last few days. I did manage to find 5 cats so far, but that's all. The butterflies are working hard to reproduce, but the predators are working harder to feed themselves. Argh.......

Congrats, Sandy, on your Tithonia. I didn't get any planted this year, sigh...... Just ran out of time and room. I grew some veggies instead. But my annual Sunflowers and my perennial Sunflower, Helianthus maximilianii have filled in the gaps. Also, Lantana, Cosmos, Zinnias, Ironweeed, Butterfly Bushes, Golden Crownbeard, Porterweed. Won't be long before the Asters and Mistflower kick in.

Susan

@terrene, yes, that was me with the huge non-blooming tithonia! It has grown about another 2 feet since I posted weeks ago, and that one bloom is just starting to open today...wow, what a fiery orange! I wish I could see it better.

Another reason I never expected to see cats around is the fact that I have had so many birds in my yard this year. (My neighbor is a bird lady and feeds them.) That seems to have died down and as lovely as some of them are, I hope they stay away for a while. THis is also in my "side garden" which is next to my driveway and my other neighbor's yappy dog so I don't usually get too many birds in that spot.

The cats are 2 different sizes. 7 of the 9 are a little over 2" long, and the other 2 are just about 1". Would this mean that the eggs were laid at different times, or would it be a matter of some hatching at different rates?

Sandy.

Generally speaking, birds are not a major predator of Monarchs. Vertebrates don't find Monarchs palatable because of the toxins they ingest in the milkweeds. They have many insect predators however. I have TONS of insects in my yard, and have been patrolling the milkweed all season to remove them. Nevertheless they still get most of the eggs and small cats.

Your cats are 2 different ages. So you have had a female lay eggs on at least 2 occasions in your garden. Isn't that amazing? You probably didn't notice.

The big ones are going to be ready to pupate soon. You could bring a few inside and let them pupate in a container. You will protect the chrysalises that way, because they can still be preyed on as well, and likely observe them emerge - so amazing!

You're right, I never saw a thing!

I've been doing some reading and I might bring one or 2 inside so I can see what happens, but I don't think I have enough milkweed to support bringing all of them in as long as they are eating the way that they are. One part of the plant has been stripped completely of leaves and pods already.

I watched 2 of the larger cats get pretty territorial with each other while munching on the same pod. They reared up and head=butted each other for a few seconds until one gave up and crawled further down. So very cool!

That is exciting! I too, have noticed that there are alot more of my monarch catepillars parasited than I have ever had before. I have raised 453 Monarchs but have lost about 75 catepillars mostly to parasites!

I just found 2 more out there. I now have 4 different sizes. On my only milkweed. This is nuts! Guess who's going to plant so much more next year...

I just noticed this...are these eggs? Just to the right of the blurry cat?

Hi Monkeybelle, that is frass, the caterpillar poop. Eggs are tiny cream color dots about the size of a head of a pin that are usually laid on the underside of the leaf.

It is a bit nerve wracking to raise your first one or two, but in no time you will have the hang of it. What first gave me the courage 5 years ago was Tdogmom's blog (see link below). I read her website and thought to myself "It doesn't sound so hard." And the rest is history.

If you run out of milkweed, you can check some nearby wild areas and might find some. In my area, Asclepias syriaca -common milkweed - grows plentifully in a few wild areas.

Eggs look like this picture, which was taken last year, although usually there is only one at a time. Last year, I had a female dump about 150 eggs on my tropical milkweed and she sometimes laid 2 and even 3!

Here is a link that might be useful: My Monarch Guide

Thank you for that link! Great info.

I noticed yesterday the larger cats were leaving the plant, so I rounded up the ones I could find and brought them in. One is already hanging upside down in that J-formation, and the others seem pretty happy as well.

Looking forward to watching the whole process!