Help 30 eggs found today in Michigan!

[Schmetterling]

I really need some advise on this one. As I posted earlier this month, I fount 13 eggs on Sept. 2nd. And brought them in. As I collected some milkweed from my garden and was washing it off, I found another egg. Went to check my other milkweed plants and I have 30 plus eggs out there. I live in Michigan 42.7 lat. And we should have time before a hard frost. My question is do I let nature take it's course, or do I help the population and hope we have enough milkweed to feed 30 hungry cats. Is anyone else finding eggs out there this far north?

[Mona Miller]

There were a couple of posts to the Monarch Watch Dplex list serve about keeping milkweed in the frig for 10 days. If you put some leaves in the frig, you'd have enough for them to finish their cycle. I've mailed or taken butterflies further south in Virginia when it started getting too cold for them to travel on their own.

"Cut you a stem of milkweed about the length of a paper towel ... keep the milkweed damp, leave the
leaves on the stems as they will stay fresh longer ... roll out about eight to ten of your paper towels
(you got VIVA didn't you?) on a flat surface ... you'll learn how many as you do it ... place the
stems of leaves side by side on the paper towels ... roll the paper towels up pretty tightly to fit in
the ziplock ... I'd even sprinkle this cylinder you've got with a bit of water to moisten ... then place the
rolled up leaves into the ziplock bag ... and place on a bottom shelf of the fridge ... take out a stems
of leaves as you need them ... they stayed fresh for us for at least ten days ... but we kept what we cut in cool water and got quickly into the fridge ... we worked with curassavica, asperula, and viridis ... you might be able to get a couple or three cylingers in the ziplock ... don't make the cylinder too big that it is hard to handle stuffing it into the ziplock ... if you go out and gather milkweed, take a cheap foam cooler with some ice in it to hold your harvested milkweed and it will stay fresher for you ... keep this 99cent cooler as a dedicated cooler for that purpose as you may not want to use it for anything else ... be sure and take a jug of water along and wash your hands when you are out there, not a good time to rub your eyes! If you don't want to put milkweed in your fridge, a small bag of ice in the cooler will keep your milkweed good for almost three days but four might be pushing it.
Harlen"

"Ba Rea writes:
Back when I was keeping monarchs in a tent and dealing with 1000s of caterpillars, and keeping them in separate containers, I used to process Common Milkweed (A. syriaca) leaves to have a steady supply of ready food:
Take the leaves off of the stems, rinse them to remove any other bugs etc, set them in a drainer to dry a little and then dry them off completely with bounty paper towels. Don't tear the paper towels into sections leave them as a long strip. Fold the leaves into the damp paper towels so that there is a layer of damp paper towel between each leaf. The fold was a "Z" fold with a leaf inside each fold. It is easy once you get started. leaf, fold, leaf, fold etc. Processed that way, put into zip lock baggies (choose the size that fits the size leaves you are dealing with) and refrigerated, I could keep milkweed fresh to feed my caterpillars for up to 2 weeks. It is important not to have the leaves touching each other or the plastic and that there is no standing water anywhere. The very thin leaves of common milkweed plants that grow in shade won't hold up as long as the tougher leaves of plants growing in full sun. I doubt that it would work with tropical milkweed leaves or even swamp milkweed-those leaves are too thin and soft...but probably would work with A. speciosa, A. exaltata, A. viridis, A. sullivantii, and A. amplexicaulis. Ba Rea, Knobs, WV"

[Schmetterling]

Thanks, Mona. I will watch the weather and gather and refrigerate if necessary. Fortunately I live next to natural wetlands where supply is not a problem. May even consider now that school is back, to take a some to my sons former second grade teacher and see if she'd like to house them. She takes the kids every year to point peeley for a field trip during migration, would make a nice addition the the segment.

[skates4marty]

Yes, bring some to the school! In our group, we count number of butterflies released, and number of student-contacts. This year, one parent is maintaining caterpillars in 17 classrooms. (She always wins the most-student-contacts award.)

[Mona Miller]

If you get a hard frost before the caterpillars finish their cycle, then the milkweed in the frig would help feed them. Adult Monarchs can withstand temps down to 25 degrees, if they don't last more than 3 days and if they don't get wet.

[David Calhoun]

Found my last eggs 1 week ago. Charlestown,IN 38.5 degrees N

[Mona Miller]

Are you sure they are your last? Or, are they the last you want to raise. I've been battling the wasp and allowing the caterpillars to eat outside. I figure if I can get rid of most of the European Hornets and Wasp, then the caterpillars will have a better chance of surviving outside. At some point, I've got to take a break when it cools down.

[David Calhoun]

No, I've been checking every day-no eggs. Also, my milkweed is drying up. If I were a female monarch, I wouldn't lay on those leaves,either. Our weather has been dry, and I don't water my native plant garden. Do you think I should have?

[Mona Miller]

If you have enough water and every thing is drying up, then water. The nectar plants are probably dying, too and the Monarchs in diapause will need those during their migration. Lot of other wildlife would appreciate the water, too.

[Schmetterling]

What are the problems with European wasps and hornets?

[Schmetterling]

Well, brought the 30 eggs in. Have calls out to the teachers at our local elementary school. The eggs don't appear as white as they did at the beginning of the season. A few look clear, as if they already hatched, but they didn't. Since this is my first year rearing, do the eggs colors vary during different parts of the seasons.

[Mona Miller]

If they look clear, that could mean that the shell is still there, but the tiny caterpillar got sucked out by a predator. Assassin bugs, spiders,.... Let us know.

[Wyvern]

What are the problems with European wasps and hornets?

Not sure why they are considered a problem????. If anything, the plants I have at work that are being patrolled by paper wasps have been doing VERY well in terms of monarchs...tons of cats surviving to 3rd-5th instar on their own without me have to collect them at smaller sizes. Have at least one European hornet that zips through the middle of the patch too somewhat regularly when I am out checking the plants... he ignores me on his fly bys. The wasps ignore me too as they stake out their spots on leaves to watch... I check the plants without the wasps then later the wasps rotate their watch to the checked plants and then I go back to check the plants I skipped earlier LOL. I honestly have not seen any wasp or hornet going after the cats nor have they been aggressive towards me either. I only have cat problems when the ants are out of control... though ladybugs have been pretty high in numbers too this year as well...not really sure how much damage they have done to eggs/1st instars...probably not too much since they prefer the aphids more that are on the milkweed.

[Mona Miller]

Maybe its not in the wild, but in my yard they are a major problem. I've had to resort to netting and stumping them. I could not get any Pipevine Swallowtails past the egg stage last year. I saw them chopping up a young Pipevine caterpillar. My Baltimore Checkerspots that were on the outside of the tent were being chopped up and eaten. I saw the European Paper Wasp chop them before I could do anything. I've seen way too much.

At the park where I do walks, the European Hornets attack the butterflies. I've personally seen this and my photographer friends has photographed them attaching Monarchs and other butterflies. I saw one chasing a Red Spotted Purple the other day in my yard. I've seen way too much.

[Schmetterling]

Wow, nature is amazing! Circle of life

[Mona Miller]

The European Paper Wasp and European Hornet are invasive species that are killing natives of all insect species. There's even a Japanese Ladybug that's doing great damage, too. It's eating eggs and up to a 3rd instar larva of the Monarch. Nature unbalanced by invasives.

[Wyvern]

Maybe its not in the wild, but in my yard they are a major problem.

The garden I am talking about is at work.. it's a cultivated garden next to the building... not a roadside/wild area.

[Mona Miller]

Okay, but I'm in a different state. This is happening in my yard and it is happening at the park in Vienna, Virginia. European Paper Wasp and Hornets are having a Smorgasbord and my butterflies and moths are on the menu. I must kill as least a dozen a day and still more come. I'm out several hours a day observing what is happening.

BTW, native yellow jackets are out now, too and they are meat eaters.

[Schmetterling]

Whoo Hooo!!!!! The last one from my 30eggs that I collected Sept. 8th is now in it's J form. Had plenty of good milkweed. The refrigerated milkweed tip was helpful for the group I donated to our local kindergarten class as well as for the remainder I had at home. Now hoping the weather cooperates so they will have good weather to release in.

[pjvanee]

I am located in western NY state, and have over 60 monarch chrysalis waiting to eclose. The last cat went into chrysalis a week ago. The temperatures have ranged between 47 and 87, so these poor chrysalises do not know if they are coming or going, though I do bring them inside if it gets below 60. I have never had chrysalises this late in the season, but so far everyone looks nice and healthy, and I am hoping for some nice warm and sunny weather from here to Mexico when they finally do emerge!

[Schmetterling]

WOW 60! That was some work. Good luck with them all. Keep our fingers crossed for the good weather.

[Mona Miller]

It was 58 this morning and windy, Monarch adults still flying and nectaring, caterpillars still eating, aphids still mutiplying, and I saw several pupae hanging in here and there. Hurry, hurry cold weather is coming...

[Schmetterling]

When I brought the 30 eggs in over 4 weeks ago, I never thought we would have 80 degree weather to release in. Have released nearly half and the rest will be within the next few days and the forecast is promising. Since this is my first year, what I noticed with this last bunch, seems they take off straight up, very high and catch the wind and their off. My earlier releases seems to meander around the garden, flittering around flower to flower. Am very excited for the 7 I took to the kindergarten class to eclose. I have offered to tag them and share my experience with them.