Monarch Problems are Everywhere

16 years ago

To all of you who raise monarchs, I found that the Monarchlab is not sending out live larva this year because of problems they are having with diseases. I have included the information in the link below. It looks like it is a major problem. I know that I purchased monarch eggs from Shady Oaks and the larva died at early instars. If I remember correctly, someone else had bad luck with their larva. It might be a good idea not to purchase any larva or eggs this year.

As I posted yesterday, I am just now getting larva to maturity. It has taken super meticulous conditions, as well as a drying out of my garden. I believe one of the causes of problems in my setting was the 30 days of rain we had earlier this summer.

Good luck to everyone. Hang in there.

Cathy, you have been fortunate to have the over abundance problem.

OKSandy

Here is a link that might be useful: No live sales this year

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

butterflymomok
Original Author
16 years ago
You oldtimers on the forum have probably been through all this before. But, for a newcomer, this has been a challenging situation. It just shows that you can do something over and over again and never have a problem. Then one day, it all blows up! Sorry if I'm belaboring the monarch issue.

OKSandy
aggscott
16 years ago
So far I've been lucky but, here in NEPA we have had normal rain and some above average high temp's. Nothing seems to be out of the normal range here, and I am very lucky for that I know.

I have so far this year ,counting the eggs I ordered from Shady Oaks in June, let go 37 healthy Monarch's. I have so many more left to go and I just found 12 eggs yesterday on some Milkweed near my house.

I wait for the day when it all go crazy but, so far it's been pretty smooth.

Aggie
Related Discussions
Problems with two monarchs elosed today
Q
Comments (5)
Here's what I think happened. This is my first time, and I am learning the hard way. I used the shoe boxes, and put twigs inside. What happened was that the animal eclosed, fell to the bottom, and was on a slick surface coated with "butterfly juice," or whatever that bit of moisture is. The healthy butterfly couldn't get up from the surface, and that is why they had the wing problems. If they would have had a paper towel or gauze, they could have gotten their footing. As it is, they couldn't get up to dry off :-( The shoe boxes were great for raising cats, but my first experience is that they are not tall enough for a butterfly to eclose properly. Solution in future - will transfer chrysalises to hang high on the spokes of the picnic food containers. This has been my best experience. I have raised whoppers this way. As for the chrysalis that fell that contained a monarch ready to eclose - well, he got knocked down accidently by me. Don't ask :-( I suppose he got injured so badly that he died. I still have 4 more to go. I made adjustments in their habitats that took into consideration the problems I had with the unfortunate others. I have no reason to believe that in either case any pathogen was involved. The problems were caused by the incompetence of someone who is doing this for the first time and got some details wrong, and is learning the hard way. I have one girl I have to euthanize tomorrow, and I feel so sad. But I must. We've come such a long way together, and I am sorry that not all of my little buddies made it.
...See More
Monarch problem
Q
Comments (4)
Here in Madison, Wisconsin, I find it difficult to impossible to actually observe a monarch caterpillar go all the way from egg to adult, out in the yard. If I want to see a healthy adult eclose, I have to find a milkweed leaf with an egg, and hand-rear, done with a glass mason jar, covered with a piece of fiberglass screen, held down with a rubber band. There are many monarch predators here: ants take the eggs and also smaller caterpillars, wasps take larger caterpillars, and there is a parasite fly that uses monarch caterpillars as a host for its young. Monarch cats can get infected with various microscopic predators, including viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. If you are growing considerable milkweed, my guess is that sooner or later the monarch predators will find your yard. If you decide to hand-rear, its best to bring the monarchs inside as eggs, because they will have had the smallest chance of being infected at that point in the life cycle. Milkweed leaves should be thoroughly washed in cold water, and dried, before being given to monarch cats as food. I'm happy for you that you were able to see adult monarchs emerge and fly off. I don't get to see that very often.
...See More
monarch catepillars everywhere.....should I..
Q
Comments (3)
Personally? I bring 'em in... tdogmom's Monarch guide The only thing is...if they've been outside all this time, you do have a higher risk of some of them being parasitized by the nasty Tachinid Fly or Braconid Wasp. I am more leery of those that are 'older' when I find 'em but I do bring 'em in anyway. I just keep them segregated so that I can keep a closer watch on what is going on, health-wise.
...See More
SOS; Monarch cat problem!
Q
Comments (10)
Tracey & Birdgardner, First of all, Monarchs do not 'discharge' any liquid prior to pupating. The discharging is something swallowtails do when they purge their systems prior to pupating. Monarchs do not do this and you should definitely isolate any caterpillar that has any unusual liquids coming out of either end. Green, runny liquid 'diarrhea' (scree) can indicate a variety of things: infection, poisoned/contaminated food, etc. Isolating the caterpillar, sterilizing all surfaces, and changing the food source are all advisable means to possibly saving the caterpillar. The reason you want to keep the caterpillar AWAY from others is that IF the larva does have an infection, the others can become infected if they eat leaves that have been touched by the scree (think about it: it is a way that the infection is spread). Personally? I euthanize all sick caterpillars. But, that's me. If you want to learn how to ID your caterpillar according to its instar, I do have some info on this on my butterfly blog. Good luck with you babies. CalSherry aka tdogmom Here is a link that might be useful: Scroll to June's 'The Life Stages' post for instar info
...See More
sandwhy
16 years ago
Interesting.... I had some issue inside in one container AND outside in my reptarium (this was with larvae from my own garden). Took a break to sterilize and re-sterilize everything and all is looking good at the moment.

Guess even the "pros" have their share of problems with monarchs! They are so fussy... amazing that they survive at all....

(the other) Sandy :)
caterwallin
16 years ago
Sandy (butterflymomok), Yes, I am fortunate, I guess. I hadn't realized that diseases are a problem this year with various people raising the Monarchs. Now I'm wondering if it was a disease that cause five of ours to fall and die. My daughter and I can't watch them 24/7, of course, and have a lot in individual plastic containers with a stick to crawl back up to the top in case they fall. Last year any that fell would crawl back up. This year we seem to be having a little bad luck with them either being too dumb to crawl back up or else they're deformed in the first place and because of disease can't crawl back up. By the time we got to them, they were already on the bottom deformed. I absolutely hate when something like that happens. We also have a few that started to pupate and they hadn't even hung in a 'J' yet. Their head turns the green color, it stopped there, and the caterpillars died. It can get discouraging at times. Right now I'm taking a break and not collecting any eggs or cats because of it being too much and I'm afraid the food will run out, so I guess if some get eaten by predators, that might solve the food shortage problem with less caterpillars. I had wanted to try to raise at least 200 cats, and I'm sure I'll reach that point, but for now I'm just enjoying the few cats that I still have inside and the pupas. It might sound callous to not be collecting eggs and cats, but I don't see the sense in collecting them and then possibly have some starve from lack of food. One goes through an awful lot of leaves. I'll start up again sometime though. I feel more relaxed already without that pressure to find every single egg out there. I really do enjoy raising Monarchs but within reason. I hope the disease problems that people are experiencing won't last all summer.
Cathy

Monarch Problems are Everywhere

Comments (4)

butterflymomok
Original Author

aggscott

Related Discussions

sandwhy

caterwallin

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Monarch Problems are Everywhere

Comments (4)

butterflymomokOriginal Author

aggscott

Related Discussions

sandwhy

caterwallin

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

butterflymomok
Original Author