I have only been raising butterflies for a couple of years but will try to help. Have you tried the Q&A forum for any of your answers? It is a great resource for commonly asked questions.

As for Michigan, I'm not sure but 1. There is no cut off date here for finding Monarch cats. The first hard freeze will determine that. I had M.Cats until almost Christmas this past year.

2. My milkweed grows quite fast and can come up from nothing and feed my cats in a single season. Mine here (southern Louisiana) usually does not freeze back. Yours will but will come right back up after spring has arrived. I have also cut pieces of the stem and put in water. Some make roots and are easily transplanted into the garden the same season. Might want to put a bit of fertilizer on it to help it along. Seeds, on the other hand, need to be outside on the ground over the winter and will come up the next spring.

3. Too late to plant this year (as it has to overwinter outside) but can be put out for next year.

4. a. BST lay eggs on the top of the plant. As we do not have much queen anns lace here, I use fennel and parsley. On the parsley they are quite visible but need to bring them in right away so that the wasp do not get them. b. I am not sure if they like younger or older, just be sure to plant their host plants as stated above. They will lay their eggs. c. Most of my eggs are laid out in the open or tops and sides as the butterfly can not get down into the thick plants. As the cats develope, they will go down into the plants to hide from the wasp. I find most of my BST cats in the A.M. Most of the Monarch cats in the a.m. and p.m. Wasp love them too. Bring them in as soon as you find them to protect them.

5. Look on the Q&A forum for a complete answer.

6. All of my CATS, monarch, bst, gst, move to the top of the cate to pupate. If you wish to move them to another receptical, rubberband a coffee filter over the top of the jar or container and you can just move the filter as they pupate on it. Just use a safety pin to attach to your netted cage.

Raising BF's is ADDICTING. My grandchildren help me and we have a great time. I also have a BF garden at school where I work and I provide all of the PRE-K and K classes with as many CATS as they want to raise. I bring home the rest or raise them in my classroom. The kids really get into it and LEARN.

Good luck and have fun raising your cats with the children and teaching them another great appreciation of nature.

Leubafr (Mary)

A few answers...but not in any particular order. :)

1. OE is a spore that is specific to the Monarch. The female passes it along to her offspring. It incubates within the larvae. If you check out Dr. Altizer's website (see link below) there is a FABULOUS explanation which is much better than what I can provide.

2. The majority of butterfly larvae prefer to eat young leaves of plants.

3. Never assume that a mama butterfly will oviposit on the TALLEST branches/leaves of a plant. I've found eggs on the shortest possible plants (as in those that are only about .25" from the ground!).

4. Sticks (i.e. chopsticks) shoved into florist's foam (Oasis is the brand I use) can be used for caterpillars when it is time for them to pupate. Monarchs and others will use this although, most of them will use whatever they feel like and pupate wherever they feel like! Chances are that you will provide the nicest place for them to pupate and they just won't use it. Don't stress out on this issue. It isn't worth it. :P

That's all the time I have for now...it is past dinner time and hubby is hungry. :)

tdogmom, you forgot the link ;D I did a search and found it though! Thanks!

Does "Q&A forum" mean this forum's FAQs page? I am not familiar with the term; there is a link near the top of the forum main page for "FAQ", but not for "Q&A forum".

Sorry kek,

I thought I'd given you my blog before which has Dr. Altizer's link...hubby was so hungry I was in a rush!

Here's my blog which has other info as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: tdogmom's Monarch blog

Wow tdogmom, your blog is very impressive!! It has the best lifecycle info (w/ pics) I've seen yet! I book marked it, Thanks!