congrats on your find Christie! I'm glad you have some alternative MW sources.

as much as I love Tropical milkweed, the common milkweed is much better for feeding the cats and it stays fresh longer (after you pick it) than other popular species like tropical, butterfly weed, and swamp....

Happy raising! Tony

I haven't had any trouble so far getting them to switch to my common milkweed. The one I planted in my yard only has two stalks but they're over five feet tall and have huge leaves. Tropical Milkweed seems to be doing a better job at attracting them though. I found two more little cats on it this evening so I have a total of 15. I don't know where those two were hiding out yesterday.

Glad you have found some wild milkweed to supplement! I've been making mental notes of all the wild A. syriaca I come across, and this year found a nice little patch in a wet meadow about 1 mile away. It has pretty decent fresh growth, because it's a low lying area and we had a very wet August. I've been using whole stalks of it in the pop up enclosure - much easier way to feed a lot of cats at one time.

I have a theory that A. syriaca and A. curassavica are superior cat foods. Both of these appear to have very high glycoside content - because of the profuse milk that flows when they are cut. A syriaca is easiest to use because of the big leaves and as you say Tony it stays fresher a bit longer. I always fatten up my cats with plenty of these two species so they are nice and poisonous (that sounds weird, doesn't it?).

In the past, I've driven around looking for a. syriaca growing in fencerows along the road, stop car, jump out, quickly cut some milkweed, jump back in car, only to find out it already has more eggs or cats on it. lol It's much easier to walk back in our little field to get some so I'm glad to find it there. And what I planted at the corner of our yard will spread.

I took a picture of some of my babies. These are the lightest ones I've ever found. We've had a record hot summer and I assume that's why.
{{gwi:537889}}
About half of them are as light as the two on the right.

Wow, those are practically white! They're cool looking (pun intended?). Mine have much more black in them. I am imagine we have much cooler summer temps here though.

Just a follow-up on the light colored cats in case anyone is interested:
Some have darkened a little as they've grown and look more normal now. I had two deaths of the five largest ones. Both attached to the top of the container, deflated, and left behind two little brown capsules in the bottom of the container. I'm not keeping them around to see what crawls out, some kind of tachinid fly I assume.
One of the littlest cats stayed small, wouldn't eat and finally died so that leaves 12.
I have five chrysalises already and one J. The remaining six are still munching away.
I believe there is a disease that can make them look lighter so I still don't have high hopes that the rest will all make it. We'll see. I hope it was just the heat that made them so light.

Christie, I've had those chrysalides too! At the beginning and middle of the season it seemed all the larger cats I brought in fell victim to this.(think I've had about 5?) Most of the latter ones have been OK though. And now, if there are any suspicious looking marks on the caterpillars I just leave them outside.

I currently have one cat that is on the top of the cage who just keeps getting thinner and thinner after being full size.

Looks like another two chrysalises or maggots will be popping out soon :(

BTW- I have had "light" cats in the past and they've all survived. Hopefully yours will too...

I have had light catepillars and they survived too.