Randy, that's a good many monarchs. No one around here (that I know) has found eggs on the milkweed in the pastures. Are you seeing any other butterflies? I'm wondering if the rains caused us to lose a generation. Last night several of the released Monarchs roosted in the Willow Oak by the butterfly garden. I'm hoping for some hanky panky today. I have 9 more ready to release. I've been taking them out and putting them on the milkweed when I release them. When I'm finished, I will have released over 60. Momma Monarch left me about 150 eggs over the course of a week of egg laying. I gave away quite a few eggs and caterpillars. I gave away chrysalides at the mkt yesterday. I found that if you tape the chrysalis to the inside of a paper bag, the kids can take them home. They can check on the chrysalis and when it ecloses it will come out great. I raised 42 in paper bags and the rest in a container so people could see them. Three eclosed yesterday at market, and you should have seen the people crowding around watching them! It's also good for selling milkweed plants. LOL Sandy

I prefer to collect Monarchs as either eggs or very small instars. Haven't had very good luck with larger cats, they just don't seem to thrive inside. Figure that if a 4th or 5th instar has made it that far in the "field", they probably have a good chance to make it to chrysalis. After finding an egg, I cut off a good sized piece or pick off the whole leaf that contains the egg, and lay them out on a damp paper towel with the egg side up. This helps to keep the leaf fresh. I usually spritz the towel every morning. Just be cautious that it's not too wet - the leaf can mold. The leaf may wilt a bit, but it doesn't dry up to a crisp. It's easy to tell when the egg is going to hatch - they turn greyish/brown beforehand. When the little guy hatches, I also try to carefully transfer them to a sprig of milkweed. For the small ones, I always cut a tender growth tip and use that for food. At that stage, one will occasionally disappear and they're easy to lose, drop, or smush, but most of them do fine, and they usually stay on their sprig of milkweed eating tiny little sections of leaf.

Congrats Betty. I'm sure you'll be seeing those Monarch's around the garden over the next few days. I got to release about 8 monarchs today that came out yesterday. I usually won't release them the first day that they eclose as they really don't need to feed that first day. They will feed the second day and if you release them out into the garden and they can immediately sense the nectar they may "imprint" your garden as a good place to dine at a later date. Mind you the above is just a theory, but my Monarchs, and other species I raise always seem to be hanging around day after day. Mike

What are your low temps, where are you located and do you have anything to feed them until things warm up? If temps are going to be above freezing, they will survive, but these guys have to get moving... I live in South WI and I still have a Monarch that flies around in 65+ degree weather (sunny). What's blooming in your garden? Asters and Goldenrod come to mind as what they'd be left with this late in the season. My hope is that these butterflies head South immediate upon release.