help!!! monarch cats keep dying!!!
imabirdnut
12 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (12)
ladobe
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agosusanlynne48
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
50% mortality of Monarch cats!
Comments (5)Monarchs are more prone to diseases than many other species of butterflies seem to be. It sounds like they are infected with a microscopic protozoan called Oe, or they may have a bacterial or viral infection. Sometimes the Monarchs live long enough to become a butterfly, but are too weak to expand their wings or feed. The most important thing you can do at this point is to sterilize everything that you use to raise your caterpillars, with a ten percent bleach - ninety percent water solution and then rinse well afterwards. Even your milkweed can be dunked in the bleach solution and then rinsed well and air dried before you feed it to your caterpillars. Unfortunately, you can easily spread these diseases yourself by touching a contaminated container or caterpillar and then handling their food source, etc. Also, once one caterpillar is sick it can easily spread its disease to any other caterpillars in the same container. Sometimes an infected adult butterfly can spread these diseases by contaminating milkweed that it touches as it feeds or lays eggs...then you run the risk of feeding otherwise healthy cats with contaminated leaves. Wow, this all sounds terrible doesn't it? Basically, Monarchs just need more TLC in order to ensure their health. I hope all this helps. Good Luck! ~ Judy...See MoreCan't keep up with Monarchs!
Comments (13)Runmede, that is a pretty sweet setup! I don't think I have the room for a big tent, but I really like those big tubs of milkweed that you can swap out. I may have to come up with a bigger enclosure so I can try tubs like that outside. The enclosure I have now has a curved zippered door and a little threshold that I have to lift the pot over and kind of tip it in at an angle, which is not too easy. I had tried using my enclosure inside to move the chrysalids to so that when they eclose I can just bring the whole thing outside and release them. The only problem was that it wouldn't fit through the doorway! I had to carry each butterfly outside in my hands. Here is a picture of the enclosure. From 2009_08 These enclosures get pretty nasty after being outside for even a short period of time unfortunately. Plus being exposed to the heat means the pots dry out very quickly. Last year I set it up outside without enough bricks in the bottom and the whole thing blew over! I'm wondering if I should get some smaller versions of this type of enclosure to use inside and have several extra smaller pots of milkweed growing outside that I can rotate inside for each fresh batch of cats. Does anyone do this? How long can a pot of tropical milkweed survive indoors with the lower light? Right now I am doing the floral foam wrapped in plastic wrap to hold cuttings in clear rubbermaid containers. Living plants are a lot easier than doing cuttings. It is hard to gauge how much they are going to eat before the next cleaning. Last week I found myself outside at midnight during a thunderstorm getting more milkweed :) Oh well, the neighbors already know I am a nutball after seeing me moving around my 200 milk jugs in the snow for my wintersowing!...See MoreMonarch Cats Ate Seed Pod
Comments (7)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....See MoreWe need some Monarch or Giant Swallowtail eggs/cats, anyone?
Comments (18)Hi KSOhio; I am in the Dayton, Ohio area. KC and I have had lots of conversations about butterflies. I also conduct a multitude of surveys down here. The literature states that swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) is the preference over three other native Asclepias species (Oviposition preference and larval performance of North American monarch butterflies on four Asclepias species Deborah T. Ladner & Sonia Altizer). In Florida A. curassavica is preferred over A. incarnata. (Malcolm SB & Brower LP (1986) Selective oviposition by monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.) in a mixed stand of Asclepias curassavica L. and A. incarnata). We find in practice that monarchs prefer A. incarnata to A. curassavica. It's just that currasavica is quick growing and can be managed easier at times because it is an annual. As to its preventing OE. Nope, we have fed it exclusively to Monarchs and gotten lots of OE. It might help the insect if a very low number of spores were consumed but I would not rely on it to prevent OE. Purchasing or importing Monarchs is a really bad idea. There are lots of reputable butterfly farms but some aren't. I volunteer at Cox Arboretum's butterfly house. We often get caterpillars from folks who have to go on vacation and "donate" their monarch caterpillar to us. The last batch was heavily infected with OE. Even so, your purchasing and raising Monarchs is not likely to help the population across the country or even in NW Ohio. The major issues for our monarchs in Ohio are as follows, 1) the condition and weather of the Mexican hibernation areas 2) the condition and weather of the first stopping over point along the gulf coast (the drought last year in Texas caused some of the lowest numbers yet) 3) the availability of nectar plants on migration (round-up ready crops have done a number on all butterflies as well as the suburbanization of farm lands). Be patient, get seed from local sources if possible and start plants this early spring and you will have all you need. In terms of the Giant Swallowtail. I would be interested in the citation for the white sapote. I have not found an article listing preferences for the GS. However, here is something to think about. You mentioned the hummingbird prefering local plants. This is very true of butterflies, with perhaps the exception of the Monarch (which makes sense since it migrates great distances). Sonia Altizer's study cites this; "Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies (Papilio glaucus) sampled along a latitudinal gradient showed greater oviposition preference and larval performance on tree species that were relatively more abundant at their collection sites (Bossart & Scriber, 1995)." On this board we have noted that a butterfly growing in Miss Sherry's backyard may prefer something different to mine. So, I would definately think that GS's here would prefer local plants. Can you tell me why you think the GS is "dwindling"? If anything we have seen an increase. The GS is not a hardy overwintering butterfly. It can take cold temps but not well. So, with the change in our weather patterns, we are actually seeing more of them (see The Role of Environmental Factors In the Northeastern Range Expansion of Papilio cresephontes. Susan D. Finkbeiner, 2011). So, if you plant the right plants, I suspect you will attract them. Good luck, Elisabeth...See Moreterrene
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoimabirdnut
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoladobe
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agosusanlynne48
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoladobe
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoladobe
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agosusanlynne48
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoperennialfan273
12 years agolast modified: 9 years agoericwi
12 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
Related Stories
GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIESBe a Butterfly Savior — Garden for the Monarchs
Keep hope, beauty and kindness alive in the landscape by providing a refuge for these threatened enchanters
Full StoryMOST POPULAR7 Ways Cats Help You Decorate
Furry felines add to our decor in so many ways. These just scratch the surface
Full StoryPETS10 Tips for Keeping Indoor Cats Healthy and Happy
It's National Cat Day: Ask not what your cat can do for you (because it will ignore you) but what you can do for your cat
Full StoryPETS6 Ways to Help Your Dog and Landscape Play Nicely Together
Keep your prized plantings intact and your dog happy too, with this wisdom from an expert gardener and dog guardian
Full StorySMALL SPACESDownsizing Help: Storage Solutions for Small Spaces
Look under, over and inside to find places for everything you need to keep
Full StoryPETSGarden Alert: 22 Plants to Keep Away From Pets
Avoid potential danger by keeping dogs and cats away from these landscaping and houseplant favorites
Full StoryLIFEHow to Keep Your Pets Safe During the Holidays
To avoid an unwanted trip to the vet, be aware of these holiday-related hazards for dogs and cats
Full StoryPETSHow to Help Your Dog Be a Good Neighbor
Good fences certainly help, but be sure to introduce your pup to the neighbors and check in from time to time
Full StoryGARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGBe a Citizen Scientist to Help Wildlife, Learn and Have Fun Too
Track butterflies, study birds, capture stars ... when you aid monitoring efforts, you’re lending Mother Nature a hand
Full StoryBATHROOM WORKBOOKStandard Fixture Dimensions and Measurements for a Primary Bath
Create a luxe bathroom that functions well with these key measurements and layout tips
Full StoryProfessional Remodelers in Franklin County Specializing Kitchen & Bath
imabirdnutOriginal Author