Eggs and 1st instars

[tartandtiny]

Collected 25 eggs this morning.
Yesterday I found 3 1st instars and 6 eggs. One egg hatched this morning.
I still have a small section of milkweed at home I need to check on.
Tomorrow I plan to go to where I work where the milkweed is abundant to search.
Time to get out all the rearing gear

[Mona Miller]

Yes, master I will get you more milkweed. Some times with a flashlight in the 11 o'clock hour.

[tartandtiny]

Don't laugh. I have milkweed growing outside of my 7 year olds bedroom window. In a pinch, I have opened the window in the wee hours of the morning to grab a few leaves.

Which is better? Rearing indoors or outside?

[Mona Miller]

I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you. Sounds like a good idea.

Some years, outside; other years, not. I'm having a terrible time with flies in my tent this year. I'm rearing most of my Monarchs inside. Did you see my glad container setup?

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2358&start=0&hilit=glad

[tartandtiny]

I did see your set up and have adapted many of your ideas in my set up. You have so many great ideas.
All my cats are 1st instar so far. I now have approximately 45 cats and expect to find about 10 more hatched by the time I get home.

Not many compared to most on the forum but it is a lot of work for a mother of two little kids, not to mention I have three pets to care for.

It took me about 45 minutes to change out the leaves this morning. It is a tedious task when they are so tiny. It will go much quicker once they get bigger and I dont have to search every little curl of a leaf to find them.

[Mona Miller]

Some of my ideas are borrowed from other people. I started counting the caterpillars in a container and listing that on a small post it note. If you do that, then you can count them as you clean and make sure you have every one. My eye sight is not as good as it used to be and those caterpillars are just way too tiny.

I'm working on an outside set up where the plants are sleeved in a tote. I'll take some photos and post them later today.

I was raising caterpillars when my older son was 5 and the younger one was 3. Kids are not as demanding as caterpillars. My sons are now in college and mostly take care of themselves.

[tartandtiny]

I alway make sure to write down how many cats/eggs are in each container. It's the only way to be sure you get them all transfered to their new leaves. Wouldnt want to throw any away by mistake.

I would love to see the pictures once you have them available.

I stareted working with the Monarch's when my first daughter was two, she is now 7 and enjoys collecting the eggs and watching me feed them and helps with releases. It will be great when she is a little older and can help out more.

I also have a 20 month old little girl, she is facinated to see the "babies" and wants to help. Being that the small cats are so delicate I have to care for them while she is asleep. I wouldnt want any of the little ones hurt by a childs excitement.

[Mona Miller]

I had the gentlest 2 1/2 year old yesterday when I did my walk at park. His sister was 5. I took along an egg, caterpillars, and a pupa. Also, they helped me release 6 butterflies. I taught them to gently take their pincher fingers and hold the wings closed and then place the butterfly into their palm. It was amazing to watch. They put the butterfly into their palm and it opened its wings and sat there for a while. They stood still (for small kids that's a miracle) in amazement. Then the butterflies took flight.

[tartandtiny]

That's awsome. I cannot wait to release ours this year. It is so much fun to involve the children as much as possible. Creating future Monarch advocates.

I have already told my 7 year old that when she gets married we should plan a wedding in August/September so that we can release our Monarchs at her ceremony.

She is all for it as of right now I can only hope she will still want to do so in another 20 years. I think my chances are pretty good.

[dandjtaylor]

Tart

I find that it's pretty easy to keep track of numbers if you always keep the same number in each one. Any "partials" get set aside until they are full. For instance, eggs (20 per) 1st through 4th (4 per) and 5ths (2 per).

Anyway, that's how I keep track (over 850 right now)...

[tartandtiny]

Good advice. 850!! Unbelievably amazing . That's a full time job

[Mona Miller]

I don't have that many. I got started so late. But, I have been raising Pipevine, Spicebush, Giant, and Black ST and Mourning Cloaks, Pearl Crescents, Red Admirals so far this year.

[dandjtaylor]

Mona

I know this is off topic, but I have several cosmos in close proximity to bronze fennel. I have found more black swallowtail eggs on the cosmas than I have on the fennel. Are they confused or can they actually use cosmos as a host?

Thanks

[Mona Miller]

They may be going off the host plant to avoid predators. Using the Cosmos for pupation. They don't usually pupae on their host plant unless confined. Put one into a container and see if they will eat the Cosmos. I can't definitely say no because new host plants are being identified all the time. They usually use plants in the carrot family.