One finally showed up!

10 years ago

Monarch, that is. It was nectaring on the one butterfly bush, but I couldn't get close enough to it to tell if it was a male or female. I didn't think any would show up and I haven't been patrolling the milkweed for aphids until just this week and the plants are pretty full of them. I just hope that there's enough available milkweed out there to feed some cats if this Monarch or another one decides to lay eggs. I've been killing aphids the past couple of days for about two hours each day and it seems like a never-ending task. I'm just happy that I finally got to see a Monarch this year. It would be nice if it would find another one so they could mate. With there being so few this year, it makes me wonder how difficult it is for them to locate each other to pair up.
Cathy

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Comments (3)

KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
10 years ago
I saw my second one of the year on Saturday. She was nectaring on my Sullivant's milkweed. She showed zero interest in laying eggs.

I also had my first red admiral of the year on Saturday. Was flying around my back 40. I've been checking my nettles for the last week because my neighbor saw a comma flying around but no caterpillars.
bandjzmom
10 years ago
That's great news Cathy! Any Monarch sighting is a good one, especially this year.
Angie
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caterwallin
Original Author
10 years ago
KC, I hope that Monarch starts showing an interest in laying eggs at your place. If only we could just say, "Lay" and they'd lay. :) The one I posted about turned out to be a male and has been here nectaring on the butterfly bushes every day since.

Your saying that you saw a Red Admiral gives me hope yet for this year. My poor false nettles are just sitting up there not getting used. I'm glad that I got to raise some last year though. The butterflies I'm not seeing here this year that I usually see are Red Admirals, Common Buckeyes, and Monarchs (except for this male).

Angie, Thanks, and yes, a person is pretty lucky this year to even see a Monarch. To have one lay eggs would be a real special occasion. I'd be really surprised to be able to raise any here this year. I'd raise as many as I could now, knowing what bad shape they're in.

I brought in some Pipevine Swallowtails to raise and have about 30 now. I saw that the Giant Swallowtail that was here for awhile left me some eggs on the gas plants. I'm leaving them out there, though, because I always have trouble with the tiny cats dying when I bring in the eggs. They're the only species that I have trouble with that happening. So I figure they're better off outside until they at least grow a little and then I bring them in. The mama seems to have much preferred the gas plants this year over the rue. Just like when they lay on the rue, she laid mostly all of her eggs on the seed heads.

I still haven't seen any buckeyes this year, but the snapdragons are waiting for them in the garden if they decide to show up.

I'm glad that you've been having such a good butterfly year and got to raise Zebra Swallowtails and Spicebush Swallowtails. I haven't seen any zebras here at all yet (BAMONA doesn't have them as being reported for my county and I don't think the surrounding counties either, so my expectations aren't high), but the paw paw trees are growing nicely. I do a weekly check of the trees just in case one would show up and lay eggs. I finally got around to planting a wafer ash tree to replace the paw paw tree that had died. I still have a few more wafer ash to plant outside but not sure where to put them yet.

Although I've had spicebushes here for at least 5 years and have seen SBST here flying around every year, I have yet to find any cats on the spicebushes. Maybe they lay their eggs on the sassafras trees that are in the woods beside us. Some came up on their own along the edge and I've left them grow. The more host plants the better.

Cathy