Anyone Near Union,NJ need eggs ?

[terrifly]

Hi everyone...I was wondering if anyone is close to Union, Nj. and would like some Monarch eggs.
I am having an overwelming response to my new waystation and seems that the females are loving my milkweed so much that I am getting at least 20 eggs every other day.
Today was a double header and I collected at least 52.
I already have 20 + 2nd instar cats and 20 + 1st instars. And also 5 3rd and 4th instars.

This is only my second year and this is my first year with any eggs in my waystation so I am just getting in my grove So I need to get a little system going before I can tackle so many numbers on my own and at the rate they are laying them ....I am just overwelmed.
Please let me know if anyone would like some eggs...I have collected them right after they were laid and I examined under microscope also to look for any tiny wasps clinging on ect....

Terri

[Sueinma]

Congrats on all your eggs! I am not near you, and couldn't raise them anyway right now, but I sounded like you last year. I had a 3 winged female come through in August and dump about 150 eggs over 3 days on the tropical milkweed. I did find another poster from Mass. who took some eggs.

How do you raise yours? Last year I found it easier to deal with a larger quantity when I raised them in an inexpensive mesh pop-up enclosure rather than smaller containers. I collected large stalks of milkweed from wild sources and put them plastic yogurt containers filled with water (punched holes in the shape of an X in the container top and inserted the milkweed through). Then I put the containers in the enclosure. You can also use potted plants. Last year I raised about 50 in that configuration at one time.

Right now I'm raising them in smaller shoe box sized containers but may have to use the pop-up enclosure soon because I've collected about 18 eggs in the past couple days and see a female flitting through my Waystation almost every day! Just wait till the tropical milkweed gets bigger (it's only 6 inches now).

[terrifly]

I use containers when they are small and mesh enclosures when they are bigger usually with milkweed in water bottles and they feed on the plants freely. I have one tent out side right now with potted tropical wilkweed with what I had thought had two babies on the one plant ended up having eggs hidden in the flowers and ended up with 4 healthy cats altogther. I ended up putting another plant in there after they stripped the one down and all have turned into to chrysalis except one little guy who must of hatched at one point and been hiding out somewhere. Sneaky little guys

The eggs that I had so many of did not fare so weel and I ended up loosing many of the cats when they pupated. I have been trying to rear them inside this year and I have been having very bad luck. I have had 14 turn to chrysalis out of over 70.

The ones outside did wonderful. If I do anymore, I going to do what I did last year and go back to outside with the tent mesh enclosure.