Joepyeweed, there isn't anything in the garden "more sturdy" than the milkweed stalks except for the stakes used to hold up the fencing which are about 3' from milkweed plants. Next time should I just leave the cat on the ground? Should I put some sticks in the ground around the milkweed for them to use? I've been searching all day for three 5th instar cats that were there last night and I can only find one. I'm so mad at myself but I didn't think the 5th instar would be a good time to bring them inside just to pupate. There's one very large 5th instar still eating. Should I bring him inside to pupate? I collected five 1st instar cats. Two look like they just came out of the egg. I've got them in one little container with holes punched towards outside and bridal netting under top. Three are still first instar but much larger than those tiny ones. I put them in round container about 5-6 inches across with 16 little air holes and a round of tulle under the top. The three larger ones are crawling all over the container. I got them onto clean milkweed before I put them in container. Assuming they'll just crawl around until they're hungry as they were on the milkweed in container already so they know it's there. Who am I kidding? I have no clue what they "know"...LOL. I panicked when I couldn't find the chrysalis I saw on one of the plants yesterday. It's hanging from the bottom of a milkweed leaf. It's at least 50% larger than the chrysalis of the one I raised inside from 3rd instar. Should I leave chrysalis on milkweed leaf or is it still in danger of being parastized and/or eaten by something? I'll defer to the more experienced on that one. I'm much more nervous about these guys than I was about the BSTs since there seems to be so many more things that can go wrong with the poor little things. I didn't collect all the cats yesterday because once my little "Bug" was in his chrysalis I knew I had about 2 weeks when I could go home for a couple days without worrying about him being cleaned and fed. I was somewhat selfish as I haven't gotten home to sleep but twice in couple months...I need some solitude...LOL. After not being able to find 2 of the 5th instars today I just had to bring in the five 1st instars I could find. There may be more but this is enough for now. At least I can easily bring the containers and milkweed in water home with me while these cats are still small. It's a window of opportunity I really need. I'll do my best to give these five a chance to make it into butterflies. That's all I can do. After getting dinner for my father I have to run out to the store and get a darn paintbrush to move them when I have to clean out the containers. It's the one thing I didn't have ready for this enterprise! Thought I could just have them transfer to new milkweed when change time comes but they're not as easy to move along as 3rd instars! This is WORSE than having a baby...at least the baby cries when something is wrong or they're twisted about something...LOL.

I agree with Martha. Color intensity varies in cats of all kinds and can even be induced by temperature! Disregard this part of the message if you are 100% sure that your pale cats are feeding on tropical milkweed (asclepias curassavica) and NOT asclepias tuberosa: Asclepias tuberosa has a lower amount of cardiac glycosides than it's true tropical (asclepias curassavica) counterpart, which can result in pale/muted color variations. Linked photo of asclepias tuberosa. Here is a link that might be useful: NOT tropical milkweed

Aren't they beautiful caterpillars? I just adore them. I am always astonished by how well they can hide, especially considering their coloration. You'd think a huge cat with those stripes would not be able to blend in! I do know of someone who has a butterfly sleeve that she uses on plants outside. Not sure how much luck she has with it tho. I'd say, bring it in. It would have the best chance with you, if it isn't already parasitized. Just be sure to provide plenty of fresh milkweed for it. Those little things eat a ton! Be careful with the handling of the milkweed. That sap is toxic and you don't want it in your eyes.

We found a black swallowtail cat on our parsley yesterday. My daughter built an entire habitat for the poor thing. It ignored it all and immediately started making a chrysalis. Now my kids are out poking around in the parsley every few minutes, looking for more. We had fun reading up on what they eat and how the various instars look. My kids can't believe that Queen Anne's Lace is in the carrot family (swallowtails like carrots). We pretty much squashed all bugs up until this year. But we spent this summer learning the difference between beneficials and pests. Now we let the hornets and spiders live, and watch the mud daubers make circles in the mud at the edges of puddles. We know why the paper wasps like our wood plant stakes, and talk to the preying mantis that lives in the iris patch. We were heroes at a birthday party when we were able to identify a cicada killer dragging a cicada carcass through the grass. My kids are getting a lot more than tomatoes out of the yard this year.