Michigan

[kat_langan]

Anyone else here in Michigan having a hard time finding cats? and seeing Monarchs in general?

I have found quite a few cats, but I can only find them in one place....I have looked at other places with tons of milkweed but no such luck and I check on them spots daily....The places where I go have beautiful milkweed and I am shocked there are no eggs or cats munching away!

[goshawks00]

We are experiencing the same thing here,which is south of Ann Arbor... We have logged 6 hours of actually leg time checking hundreds of milkweed.. So far we have 4 cats 2 eggs and have seen a total of 4 Monarchs so far THIS SEASON...
Now we aren't real die-hards and know next to nothing about the biology and predators of Monarchs but one common bug we see over and over and these red and black jobs that when you go to touch or catch them , they fall off into the weeds...
Anyone... what are they and are they harmful to the cats?
Thanks,
Barry

[kat_langan]

I am in Northern Michigan, Oscoda, and I have seen those too, I tend to skip over those milkweeds when I am cat hunting her is a link to what they are...


http://insected.arizona.edu/milkinfo.htm

With more and more of development of new buildings and housing, lawn mowers and people not educated on what milkweed is for (and not just another weed)...Monarchs are becoming more rare, so sad:( Hope you have more luck finding them!

[texas butterfly]

If the bugs look similar but have a long orange neck and head, then they are orange assassin bugs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthur_chapman/3406630594/

http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane ... engren.htm

[Mona Miller]

[quote="kat_langan"]
http://insected.arizona.edu/milkinfo.htm[/quote]

These are just milkweed beetles. They are after the milkweed seeds, not the Monarchs.

[goshawks00]

These pictures are not the bugs we are seeing... and I mis-qouted... these bugs are actually orangish red colored with four or five black dots on their back... they also have black antenna... Any ideas?
Barry & Karen

[kat_langan]

This is what is sounds like you are describing to me, but it also seems like you are describing the milkweed bug lol oh well I tried to guess:)


http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef105.asp

[Mona Miller]

If you put the word "milkweed" into the bug guide, you get pages and pages of species that use the milkweed:
http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search& ... rch=Search

Pick one and let us know, which one is bugging you.

[goshawks00]

Thanks Mona... after looking at all the bugs , I've ID'd it as a milk weed beetle. So now we know...
It was a happy day here on the farm... we actually saw 2 adult Monarchs, I'd get drunk if I drank, but will suffice it to give a hardy toast to one of our lone survivors...
Thanks,
Barry

[Mona Miller]

If it is the milkweed beetle, then this won't make you happy.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/2966
Info on the Milkweed Beetle

They eat the milkweed leaves and lay in the stem. The larvae bore down into the rhizomes and eat the roots. I'd suspect that is why some of our milkweed doesn't reappear in the spring.

[goshawks00]

Oh No!!!!
Thanks for the info and yes probably 60/70% or more of our milkweed plants have those ugly scars from the stems being destroyed... Is there any way to help eliminate them? We squish all we see but that is like putting your finger in the dike while the wall around you crumbles...
Barry&Karen

[Mona Miller]

I am also squishing. I've started wearing rubber gloves out to the garden. I don't know what else to do because I don't want to use any pesticides.

[donnap27]

i'm in the Kalamazoo area, checking in ...
have seen very few monarchs this year
trying to find eggs and cats has been very time consuming and unrewarding
this being said, i've been able to release 20; and hoping for another 25, if they all make it
it's been a tough year though, kinda sad

[Mona Miller]

At least two females out in the yard laying. We've had bad years, too, but this has not been one of them. Thank goodness. Hope things pick up for you.

[Monarch MaMa]

Hello All & Thanks for helping to raise more monarchs -they need all the help they can get.

I live between Flint & Pontiac, near Clarkston in a teeny town you wouldn't recognize the name.. but I've only seen 10 mature monarchs in the wild in the last 3 months here. I've found about 200-250 cats and eggs tho. Good news is I'm going to release about 150 butterflies if all these chrysalis' hatch ok! Are other Michiganders seeing more monarchs? Please note your location.

and a quick note to the person leaving the little cats on the plant - I've seen dozens of small chew holes in the milkweed leaves where 1st or 2nd instars were eating, but found no cat! They were probably eaten by an ant or other predator.. so you may want to bring in even the littlest guys to allow them to survive.

[Mona Miller]

Sigh, if I brought in all the caterpillars, my husband would divorce me. The mother monarchs that are out there now in my yard are dumping eggs left and right. I wish I would bring them all in.

[beanmama524]

I'm bummed out too that I haven't seen a single Monarch. I'm in Ortonville (near Clarkston as well). I'm going to start looking on some Milkweeds over the next couple of days. I heard that the overwintering population was zapped by 60%, so we are all going to have to work super hard this year!

[Monarch MaMa]

In the Clarkston/Holly/Milford area I've found perhaps 20 eggs and young cats, largest at 2nd instar since 5/27/10. The largest cat is approaching 5th instar & just picked up 3 more eggs in a field to be 'cut & hayed' an hour ago.

If anyone is looking, I've only seen ONE monarch, sex undetermined as is was hastily flying over my car while I was in Milford. The milkweeds are growing profusely this year so we have lots of food for them, as long as they are protected from the natural predators.

-Debbie (Davisburg)

[Monarch MaMa]

Monarch adults, cats & eggs are plentiful is SE MI in July & August. Robust year for milkweeds of all kinds since the rain & temps are cooperating. Its a banner year for growing anything green/flora.

Monarch was ovipositing in my field this morning, a hot humid 88 today. Everywhere I look I find eggs and young cats, more eggs tho because apparently the young cats are delicious & get eaten. Have eclosed 40 female, 42 males as of today 8/3/10. Ten - twelve will eclose tomorrow.

Friends are helping to rear the broods, at least 400 monarchs have been reared before the Mexican-migrating generation developed. Perhaps we're able to help assist the monarch numbers, we'll never really know though.