Monarchs

[pugle1]

Glad I have milkweed in my yard. There was a Texas female fluttering around for about half an hour investigating. Link to "The Nature of Things - Great Butterfly Hunt" >>> http://www.canada.com/onlinetv/documentary/the-nature-of-things/9344820/video.html?o=20

 

[mrsclem]

I have tried to get milkweed growing in my garden with no luck. The monarch migration path runs very close to our house. We go to the park on the bay every year to watch them.

 

[sissy]

In Danville the raise and release hundreds of monarch butterflies every year .

 

[pugle1]

Sadly their numbers are diminishing. I love to watch them starting late July into September. There are usually quite a few to see, but the last few years, there haven't been many around.

 

[HARO]

We leave a patch of milkweed in a protected area on the south side of the house, and every year we saw butterflies, caterpillars and chrysalis on the plants. Last year, NOTHING! So far this year, NOTHING!! I've seen two Monarchs in the garden, but they didn't stay long enough to lay eggs. We know someone who has a property on the shore of Lake Ontario, where the Monarchs congregate every fall to await the right conditions for a lake crossing. I photographed them about five years ago, litterally tens of thousands of butterflies. Last year there was only a handful of them. It's so sad to think we may lose these beautiful creatures for good.
John

 

[R.Rose]

I encourage you to raise monarchs. Its easy and you may help save the species.
I could never find worms on my milkweed. 2012 I raised from eggs found on my milkweeds and released 45 monarchs. Last year a coldsnap in spring and Fall happened when they reached Texas on the way up north and back. The cold killed off flowers and milkweed. I was lucky to release only 5. Farmers and the Department of Transportation spray weed killer along the interstates killing milkweed. Mexicans are chopping down the trees that the monarchs hibernate on. Poor things are faced with a double whammy. Yeah I think they are doomed but hopefully not in our lifetime. I try to save them. As soon as I see a monarch laying an egg I pluck the leaf. I collect the worms as soon as I spot them because ants patrol the milkweed. The ants dont bother the eggs. The eggs hatch in 3 to 4 days. The ants will kill the baby worms and other insects eat them. My fingers feel so thick and clumsy when working with the tiny eggs and newby worms.
Do not use any chemicals around the milkweeds...the worms will die from chemicals absorbed by the weed.
This year I was lucky to spot a female laying eggs and collected them. I released a male and female at the end of June. They must have mated and I collected 18 eggs and found 5 worms. Sunday I released a male. Today another male emerged but I am keeping him in the house overnight due to stormy and cooler weather. 2 more chrysalis are becoming less opaque indicating monarchs will shortly emerge. So far if all goes well potentially 24 monarchs will be released.
I keep the eggs in the house in boxes with screens. Many things can go wrong outdoors. Tracnid flies will lay an egg on the worm and when the worm becomes a pupa the parasite larvae emerges from its body thru the casing and lowers itself down by a silk strand. After this happened 2 years ago eggs are raised to butterflies in my front room. The worms that I find are kept in the garage incase they are infected with a virus or parasite in screened boxes. I bring in rinsed milkweed leaves to feed them and clean out the bottom of the boxes daily the fras (droppings) are plentiful. I like the worms the best they are cute with those floppy tentacles. They are fun to watch and I like to pet them when they are full size. Raising monarchs is easy so dont be afraid to try it. Some things may go wrong.and a few can be fixed. Al and I have mended a broken wing. Some worms don't secure their tail ends well when they start to pupate and end up pupating on the table. I wait til the process is done and then tie a thread around the cremaster and to a stick. I use nontoxic white glue to make sure the thread is holding them firmly in place in the upside down position. The last male I released was secured to a stick.

 

[pugle1]

We leave a patch of milkweed in a protected area on the south side of the house, and every year we saw butterflies, caterpillars and chrysalis on the plants. Last year, NOTHING! So far this year, NOTHING!! I've seen two Monarchs in the garden, but they didn't stay long enough to lay eggs. We know someone who has a property on the shore of Lake Ontario, where the Monarchs congregate every fall to await the right conditions for a lake crossing. I photographed them about five years ago, litterally tens of thousands of butterflies. Last year there was only a handful of them. It's so sad to think we may lose these beautiful creatures for good.
John

Hi John, I've only seen that one adult so far this year, and I've investigated every leaf on all the plants in my yard ( about 20 or so) and so far, no eggs.

I encourage you to raise monarchs. Its easy and you may help save the species.
I could never find worms on my milkweed. 2012 I raised from eggs found on my milkweeds and released 45 monarchs. Last year a coldsnap in spring and Fall happened when they reached Texas on the way up north and back. The cold killed off flowers and milkweed. I was lucky to release only 5. Farmers and the Department of Transportation spray weed killer along the interstates killing milkweed. Mexicans are chopping down the trees that the monarchs hibernate on. Poor things are faced with a double whammy. Yeah I think they are doomed but hopefully not in our lifetime. I try to save them. As soon as I see a monarch laying an egg I pluck the leaf. I collect the worms as soon as I spot them because ants patrol the milkweed. The ants dont bother the eggs. The eggs hatch in 3 to 4 days. The ants will kill the baby worms and other insects eat them. My fingers feel so thick and clumsy when working with the tiny eggs and newby worms.
Do not use any chemicals around the milkweeds...the worms will die from chemicals absorbed by the weed.
This year I was lucky to spot a female laying eggs and collected them. I released a male and female at the end of June. They must have mated and I collected 18 eggs and found 5 worms. Sunday I released a male. Today another male emerged but I am keeping him in the house overnight due to stormy and cooler weather. 2 more chrysalis are becoming less opaque indicating monarchs will shortly emerge. So far if all goes well potentially 24 monarchs will be released.
I keep the eggs in the house in boxes with screens. Many things can go wrong outdoors. Tracnid flies will lay an egg on the worm and when the worm becomes a pupa the parasite larvae emerges from its body thru the casing and lowers itself down by a silk strand. After this happened 2 years ago eggs are raised to butterflies in my front room. The worms that I find are kept in the garage incase they are infected with a virus or parasite in screened boxes. I bring in rinsed milkweed leaves to feed them and clean out the bottom of the boxes daily the fras (droppings) are plentiful. I like the worms the best they are cute with those floppy tentacles. They are fun to watch and I like to pet them when they are full size. Raising monarchs is easy so dont be afraid to try it. Some things may go wrong.and a few can be fixed. Al and I have mended a broken wing. Some worms don't secure their tail ends well when they start to pupate and end up pupating on the table. I wait til the process is done and then tie a thread around the cremaster and to a stick. I use nontoxic white glue to make sure the thread is holding them firmly in place in the upside down position. The last male I released was secured to a stick.

R.Rose, I take my hat off to you. I'd never even thought about trying to raise them. I'd give it a shot if there were a lot of eggs to be found, but with so few around, I'd be scared that I was doing more harm than good.

I'll always try to keep some milkweed on my property though.

 

[pugle1]

I have tried to get milkweed growing in my garden with no luck. The monarch migration path runs very close to our house. We go to the park on the bay every year to watch them.

In the autumn when the seeds start to get airborne, collect a bunch from the pods, put them in a paper bag with a bit of sawdust, and stick the bag in your refrigerator over the winter. Just start them in some of those little egg carton type starters with a bit of rich soil near the end of March. By mid-May, just plant them in a sunny location in your yard. After that you should always have some the following seasons. I started with three plants about 5 years ago, and I always have a few each year. This year I have about 20. If they grow where you don't want them, just pull them out, or transplant them.

 

[sissy]

last year I had hundreds of them every where

 

[DrCase]

I saw a swarm or herd of them years ago heading south roosting in a small grove of trees

once in a life time view

 

[pugle1]

last year I had hundreds of them every where

They're beautiful sissy, but I'm sure those aren't monarchs. They almost look like some kind of swallowtail. Yours look like they have a yellow brown body, and the wings are to pale and have a serrated edge, where as the monarch has smooth trailing edges to its wings with very distinctive white spots on the body and wings. Hopefully someone here can tell me (us) what variety your photos are. I'd like to know. Very pretty!

 

[j.w]

Saw them one year swarming down in Santa Cruz. So cool. I got here late and the video is no longer available. I can envision them in my head tho

 

[pugle1]

Saw them one year swarming down in Santa Cruz. So cool. I got here late and the video is no longer available. I can envision them in my head tho

That link might only be good in Canada j.w ( it's the CBC... go figure! ). I tried to find another link to it that might work in the US / UK, but no luck so far, unless you're into downloading torrents. It's an interesting doc... wish you could see it.

 

[snoozer]

I have an old raised wood planter made of landscape timbers at the end of my driveway that the milkweed took over. I really would like to get rid of the planter but the milkweed needs to stay. I am afraid to disrupt the milkweed. Does anyone know if common milkweed transplants well? If it does, when is the best time to move it?

 

[pugle1]

I have an old raised wood planter made of landscape timbers at the end of my driveway that the milkweed took over. I really would like to get rid of the planter but the milkweed needs to stay. I am afraid to disrupt the milkweed. Does anyone know if common milkweed transplants well? If it does, when is the best time to move it?

I'd try in the fall after it's died off. It is a perennial, so it should transplant well. I think they like a sandy soil mix if you decide to try. Good luck ps, they send out rhizomes, so maybe try to contain them if you don't want them to spread.