Previous Sightings - 2004 to 2008

[neily42go]

Sunpaee NH- Saw 2 butterflies yesterday and found 4 cats in final stage. Two were hanging upside down this morning. Also found 9 in stage 1. All were found in a field that only had about a dozen plants and they were all spread out.

I visited a very large milkweed patch with over 100 plants and did not find one single one. Very interesting.....

Groton MA - I have 4 plants in my yard in Groton. I found 7 eggs this AM. I left these as I have enough for rearing right now.

[mommalepapillon]

Sunpaee NH- Saw 2 butterflies yesterday and found 4 cats in final stage. Two were hanging upside down this morning. Also found 9 in stage 1. All were found in a field that only had about a dozen plants and they were all spread out.

I visited a very large milkweed patch with over 100 plants and did not find one single one. Very interesting.....

Groton MA - I have 4 plants in my yard in Groton. I found 7 eggs this AM. I left these as I have enough for rearing right now.

Good job! I have one attached to my house in "j" right now found another 5th instar and 5 1st instar... eggs everywhere... and tachnid flies have lost 3 of their members as I squished them!
Wish I didn't have to work tonight and all day tomorrow... I believe that is when the first cat will make the chrysallis and i wanted to video it.. oh well
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[img][img]http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s32/chrisbudnelson_2007/Monarchs%202007/1stJof207.jpg[/img][/img]

[tartandtiny]

I was outside gardening on Saturday, July 21st when my 4 year old daughter said "Look mommy there's a butterfly" Sure enough she had spotted our first Monarch of the year. The butterfly was actively flying around our milkweed patch. She stayed for quite some time and we even got to see her lay two eggs. Afterwards, we counted 13 eggs (although I would imagine there were many more we didn’t spot). I took in 3 eggs just to watch the process from egg to caterpillar. I will then release them in our milkweed patch to ensure they have enough to eat. Last year we raised two cats until they became butterflies but I found it to be a tad stressful so I will let Mother Nature handle the cat to butterfly transformation this year. It is an amazing experience though and if it weren’t for the fact that we were lucky enough to witness the cat pupate and then emerge from its chrysalis, I would have given it another shot this year.

[neily42go]

Have so many cats at least 3 dozen in different instar stages. Let a female butterfly go yesteray. She sat on purple cone flower for several hours.

Found 10 eggs, 2 instar 1 and 2 instar 2 this afternoon on a very small patch of milkweed at a gas station.

I received my Monarch Watch Kit Friday. I've not had a chance yet to read the materials but hope to tomorrow.

[mommabear]

So far so good in the Western Mountains of Maine.

We've been lucky enough to find 8 cats so far, 5 are already in chrysilis form, 3 are happily munching away.

We are having a difficult time this year finding milkweed available, certainly not due to plentiful amounts, just silly people with private property.

[neily42go]

Sorry I've been out of touch. It's been pretty busy in Sunapee over the last few weeks.

I currently have 14 in chrysalis stage. Two should emerge today
One female this AM.
6 in 5th instar
1 in 4th instar
2 in 3rd instar
8 in 1st instar
14 eggs

It's been pretty active in the last couple of weeks.
One strange thing I saw last week was a female laying eggs on a seed pod. I've never seen that happen before.... but then again I've never looked on a seed pod for eggs.

[Bugsy]

I saw my first monarch of the season today! It was nectaring on some heliotrope. It was a big very bright female! I had a feeling this was going to be the weekend I'd see my 1st monarch!

[neily42go]

I spotted by first Monarch of the 2008 season today in Sunapee. Not sure if it was male or female as I was stopped at a stop sign and it passed in front of me.

I've been checking all my milkweed sources and have not found any eggs or larva yet.

[Bugsy]

I found some eggs on June 9, on the little patch of milkweed where I work. The few plants there are LOADED with eggs! some leaves have four eggs on them! There's probably 20-plus eggs on six plants! That's always the first place I see them every year without fail.