You probably are Monarch butterfly larvae. Milkweed is your favorite food but you will also be happy with parsley to snack on. Should be able to easily find parsley plants at all your local nurseries. It is considered an herb and probably has not been sprayed. Give the plant foliage a good rinsing before setting out.

Has to be milkweed...parsley is for members of the Eastern Black Swallowtail....they also use dill, fennell, Queene Anne's Lace, Rue etc. I'm doing well there. But I need Milkweed!

Strange...when I had my nursery the Monarchs were happy munching on both Asclepias var. and parsley. Made it difficult to keep the potted plants in 'for sale' condition. Would think that Butterfly weed would readily seed in your sandy soil. I collect the seed from roadside weed patches as it germinates best when sown in situ during the fall as fresh seed.

I wish I could help you. I have been moving caterpillars from one bunch of butterflyweed to another when the leaves are all gone. Good luck. I hope you find some.

Ginger

A chance encounter at Waccamaw Farms led me to a young lady who was happy to give up her perfectly un aphidised and un discovered A tuberosa. What a lifesaver..and it buys me 2 more days. But I'm still looking....

man, paul, i sympathise. been there, done that, though not with that quantity of cats. that's why i don't bring in all the cats i find (but i do with monarchs b/c so far we have so few). i guess nature thins them to the point they can succeed outside. anyhow, the times i flat ran out of food, if they were close in size, they will just go on and pupate a bit small after a day or 2 sans food. that must be what happens outside if they run out. if they're really little, there isn't much to be done. you probably know this, but they'll eat the pods, too.

just thinking aloud here- there are a couple of monarch web sites- i wonder if you could order stems of milkweed & have them shipped? i believe they sell the eggs to hatch & watch, so logically, they must also sell a food source. or, is there a zoo or butterfly garden close who may be able to help or point you in the right direction? i wish i could help. with this in mind plant more now for next yr (need tuberosum seeds? i got lots). or, try to plant one of the larger leaved kinds, like syrica, that last a lot longer. that's what i'm trying to get established.

nandina, i have to think that you were seeing black swallowtail cats on the parsley and monarchs on the asclepias. monarchs can't eat anything else but asclepias members- they can't digest other things. now, strangely, black swallowtails can eat most parsley family members and also rue of all things- odd. they do look similar, especially to someone just glancing or not into butterflies.

There are a couple of daylily farms down your way. When I have visited a few around the Charlotte area, I have spotted milkweed growing in the fields. Why don't you call them (the ones in your area) and see if they have any growing?

Tamelask....you're right....Nandina was probably confusing BST cats with Monarch cats...they're close enought to fool the casual gardener...

I have about 70 A Syriaca in pots...stripped....but under lights and recovering...a good 30 are going into beds soon to get a good start on next year.

Also moved my tuberosa to a better place...

Byrdlady...good idea..I never called the daylilly farms because I knew they had just daylillies...

The only Mw that I believe really occurs here is a bog MW and Sand MW

you didn't say if you were able to save the cats you have so far. i'd been wondering. glad you found out about the daylily farms. i know up north milkweed always grew along the roadside and around corn fields, but that was syriaca, and i haven't seen it wild around here. once in a blue moon, i'll see a small patch of tuberosum along the rd, but that's about it. well, except where the highway plants patches and i don't think they'd look kindly on someone raiding their spots. good luck!