Wasp attack

[monarchlady]

I have been "raising" 13 cats/butterflies since May 26 - they have started to emerge--Saturday two new butterflies were ready to go out into the world. I usually time the release for four hours after emerging, but it was a beautiful sunny day and after two hours I decided to "release" them (one male, one female) onto the butterfly weed in my garden. I placed one on a flower and then the second--from no where, a wasp divebombed and landed on the second butterfly. It was viciously attacking the butterfly. I wacked at it and it flew away, but the butterly fell into the leaves of the plant. I went in to retrieve it and the wasp divebombed again into the leaves and landed in the butterfly's head. I repeated the attempted save and got the butterfly - minus its head!!
I did not know that wasps were butterfly killers (and have since been told that they lay their eggs in the butterflies body). I retrieved the other butterfly and released it in another area of the garden (were I hoped there were no wasps). The "headless" butterfly lived two days -was mobile and moved on my finger and in its container. I only hope that when we release these little creatures that they are resilient-they must be to get all the way to Mexico! But, it really upset me to lose one in this way.

[Pat]

They seem to be especially vicious this year. For many years we used praying mantises to control the yellowjacket and wasp populations around the patio. They would occasionally catch a silver-spotted skipper but didn't usually hang out where the monarchs were. A couple of years ago we ended up with no females or egg cases and didn't re-stock, and now we've got what appear to be whitefaced hornets attacking the butterflies at high speed. They always go for the head, leaving decapitated butterflies in the grass. Don't know about the egg-laying part, but the rest is just as you describe.

Grrrrr.

I've been keeping my reared butterflies inside longer, making sure they're thoroughly dry and flying strongly before letting them outside.

[Keith Petrosky]

By me it's those yellow jackets, they attack anything that gets too close to them. But wait, I thought monarchs were toxic, and anything that eats them will get sick, is the same true for insects too?

[Pat]

The cardenolides are poisonous to species with backbones, but not necessarily to invertebrates like other insects or lower forms like bacteria or viruses. So the wasps can get away with it, unfortunately.

[Pamela Moresby]

It was very upsetting to watch a paper wasp fly off with a very tiny caterpillar one day. If I see a nest of wasps around, I wait until dark and take a can of good insecticide and spray it.

As it is quite differcult to avoid wasps sometimes, the caterpillars get raised inside.

Pam
from Auckland NZ

[mary beth barr]

They are AWFUL!
I have to rescue caterpillars here in SE Houston because while they overwinter here, the wasps start craving meat in April and any caterpillar left outside is prey--
I have a rectangular box net that I put the cats and plants in but something seems not right about them not being raised naturally--however, if they can survive the wasps, it's that many more monarchs in the world--and that's a blessing!

[Pamela Moresby]

Most of the time the cats get raised inside, as not only are there wasps but praying mantis and other types of predators. Its a tough life for a monarch caterpillar!

So hence, many monarch butterflys get hatched here on my laundry window.

Pamela
from NZ

[bjorkboy81]

I have been taking action against every wasp I see. I have not had a successful herd this year because of them. I had no idea they were eating all the little caterpillars until I started watching them more closely. It seems they will take the egg and the little cats. I have been thinking of raising them inside as well, but I don't know if that will go over well.