skip to main content

Butterfly Garden

Are Monarch cats and milkweed beetles compatable?

6 years ago

I watched a Monarch lay eggs on my tropical Milkweed for two days and counted around 18 eggs. Yesterday I did not see any eggs, or cats. I know they are very small and hard to spot. I did see milkweed beetles and they have never been a problem, so I always let them be. I was wondering if they are compatible with Monarch cats or will they harm and or eat them.

Featured Answer

mblan13
Original Author

6 years ago

Either one, but I was asking about the beetle, I see a few MW bugs, but not many.

Bug

Beetle

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

notolover
6 years ago
Thanks for posting this, I have beetles on my Milkweed too so I would also like to know.
KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
6 years ago
Milkweed beetles are not predators. If they hurt the eggs, it is because the eggs got inadvertently eaten while the beetles were munching the leaves. Fourth and 5th instar monarch cats can do the same thing. Back to the beetles: If the leaf material where the egg was laid is still there, the beetles did not do it.
Related Discussions
Red Milkweed Beetles, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus
Q
Comments (3)
It is about time for the final egg dumps before the Monarchs start to fatten up on nectar for the trip home to Mexico. The surviving cats will be these South bound migrators. Those are not boxelder bugs, which aren't beetles at all but "true bugs", or Hemipterans. Box Elder bugs are more related to Milkweed bugs. Those shown are milkweed beetles, which differ in that they have chewing mouthparts and undergo complete metamorphosis. They are Coleopterans, or Beetles. They do a lot more damage than the bugs do. The larvae get into the stems and eat the pith out of the middle. They also eat the roots. I find Milkweed Beetles to be very destructive in large numbers, like in the last two years.
...See More
What caterpillar is this on my milkweed (not a monarch)?
Q
Comments (5)
Just an update: while I haven't seen this caterpillar around since, ALL of the aphids on the milkweeds in this bed are GONE! I have quite a bit of milkweeds located in the bed, and although the incarnata's are mostly "burned" (browned foliage; I had another thread about this), I see no more aphids! A good guy indeed; thanks for the help. Hopefully others will be more inclined to ask before squishing ;)
...See More
What's happeing to my Monarch ' Cats ?
Q
Comments (6)
I started with 2 small Milk-weed plants, before the Butterflys found them they got big, and produced seed-pods... I gathered the pods and pulled off the 'floss' around the seeds and planted them in little pots, maybe 20-25 of them, and brought them inside under the gro-lights.... I then planted them out in the back yard....they grow fast and now are flowering.... the 'cats eat some of them down to the ground, but there are more than they can devour, also the 'cats seem to just disappear and that has me worried and is the reason I asked for information here.... I don't see that many more butterflys around, in relation to the number of 'cats that had been on the plants.... and the 'cats just disappear, I see them in the morning and by evening they are mostly all gone.... I have a few Milkweed in the front that have been eaten down to the ground, and have been gathering 'cats from there and taking them out back and putting them on the Milkweed out back and they just disappear..... can there be some predator hiding around that is grabbing them ? I don't see anything ! Gary, gather the seed-pods and plant the seeds, there are hundreds of seeds in one pod, it is amazing... if the 'cats overrun the plant, take a plant and grow it where the 'cats can't have access to it, and then utilize the seed-pods to multiply the plants... this is what I did and it sure works.... good luck, sally
...See More
Monarch & swallowtail cats
Q
Comments (3)
Are there milkweeds that don't get covered in those other icky beetle type bugs? I was going to get some for my yard, but after seeing those and then after reading on google thats like their only foods source...
...See More
mblan13
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks, The milkweed beetles seem to only eat the very tips of the leaf tips of common milkweed (A. Syraica), and have yet to discover the Trapical milkweed (A. Curracassava) as a food source. I couldn't see eradicating something I don't see as a problem other than being somewhat of an ugly nuisance.

I wonder if they draw more predators that might eat the Monarch cats, or give the existing predators something else to eat rather than Monarch cats?
jane__ny
6 years ago
My Monarchs will not lay eggs on Milkweed infested with beetles. I have a terrible time here in Florida with them. I've tried picking them off in a can of soapy water to no avail. They destroy the Milkweed.

They do go through a cycle and disappear after a few months. The Milkweed does come back and I swear the female Monarchs wait for them to leave.

I'm hoping there are natural predators which will keep my problem in check.

Jane
notolover
6 years ago
Thanks for the info, everyone.
JamesY40
6 years ago
My tropical milkweed are full of beetles as well. We'll see if the monarch cats come
KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH
6 years ago
Starting to wonder if some of you are confusing milkweed bugs with milkweed beetles. This time of year in the east and midwest, most of the beetles are gone while milkweed bugs are out in force. I cannot speak about the south. And as you go west, there are different milkweed beetles.

Related Stories

FLOWERS AND PLANTS Help Monarchs and Other Butterflies by Planting Common Milkweed

By Pollination Press LLC

Summer-blooming Asclepias syriaca is an important larval host plant for the monarch butterfly and attracts a number of pollinating insects

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Milkweed

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Quit cringing. This not-weed plant is a sight to behold in the garden, has a delicious vanilla scent and is a magnet for butterflies

GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIES Be a Butterfly Savior — Garden for the Monarchs

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Keep hope, beauty and kindness alive in the landscape by providing a refuge for these threatened enchanters

GARDENING GUIDES Attract Thynnid Wasps With Summer-Flowering Native Plants

By Pollination Press LLC

These beneficial insects will hunt damaging beetle grubs in your lawn

GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING Be a Citizen Scientist to Help Wildlife, Learn and Have Fun Too

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Track butterflies, study birds, capture stars ... when you aid monitoring efforts, you’re lending Mother Nature a hand

GARDENING GUIDES 6 Steps to Creating Your Butterfly Garden

By Debbie Ballentine

Encourage these fanciful winged beauties to visit your garden while helping restore their fragmented habitat

GARDENING GUIDES What’s in a Name? See 6 Wildflowers That Aren’t ‘Weeds’ at All

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Dispel the stereotypes of weeds and try these wildlife-supporting native wildflowers in your garden

FALL GARDENING 7 Reasons Not to Clean Up Your Fall Garden

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Before you pluck and rake, consider wildlife, the health of your plants and your own right to relax

FLOWERS 15 Native Flowers That Attract Butterflies

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

By picking plants from this list that are right for your location, you’ll get colorful blooms and support pretty pollinators

GARDENING FOR BUTTERFLIES 3 Ways Native Plants Make Gardening So Much Better

By Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

You probably know about the lower maintenance. But native plants' other benefits go far beyond a little less watering and weeding

Sponsored

More Discussions

?what to do with this little guy?

3