While the beetles have been the bane of the garden, the delight has been these guys.
The monarch caterpillars had a bit of a rough start. When the Common Milkweed was in bloom, the flowers attracted ants. And the ants killed all the caterpillars that had hatched at that time. I didn’t have the same problem with the swamp milkweed, which is interesting.
However, after the the flowers died away, the ants disappeared and new hatchlings have fared better.
I’ve seen several start to leave the milkweed, which they only do when they are getting ready to build their coccoons. I haven’t been lucky enough to find any of those yet… but I hope that maybe one of two of the dozens of monarchs that have flitted through my garden…
… are from the caterpillars that hatched and fed on my milkweed.
Apparently, only 10% of monarch eggs survive to become monarchs. There are lot of hazards out there, from ants to parasitic wasps, birds to toads to….
Lemmy!!!!!
I’ve talked to Dave, and next year, we’re going to build a butterfly enclosure so I can raise them in a more controlled environment to give them a better chance. It won’t protect them from Lemmy… but it should help with everything else!
Wandering Cat Studio 
Wow – you sure had a lot of the caterpillars! The Monarchs are so beautiful.
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I had to rescue a Luna Moth the other morning. I put it in an upside down milk crate contraption to give it a chance to survive the cats on the deck. It must have flown away over night because it was gone and I don’t see moth pieces all over the deck. I used to have lots of them on the deck this time of year-until we got the cats. I miss them. They are so beautiful.
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What a wonderful microcosm of life! I hope you find some chrysalis soon!
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Am envious of your Monarch hatchery!
We’ve had our milkweed patch going for years, and yet no caterpillars.
I’ve added cup plants and various other flowers to the patch, hoping to attract everyone and every thing…it’s a puzzlement, however.
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As usual, your photographs are just wonderful! I hope you do see some chrysalis. Your plans for next year sound great.
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Love all of your monarchs. In my opinion, they are one of the prettiest butterflies. Lemmy looks sorry.
Blessings,
Betsy
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Naughty Lemmy, just doing what comes naturally. Oops!
I love your caterpillar pix; they give me a good idea of how big those caterpillars are. Not as big as I would have thought, based on textbook pictures! Cute.
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You can buy a small enclosure, or use an old aquarium to raise the larvae, just feed them milkweed and they will make chrystalis’es and be butterflies:)
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