The butterfly season here in suburban Davenport, IA had a
rocky start. I only found a handful of eggs and had limited success with
raising adults. I released two adults in mid-July.
A long dry spell of seeing no Monarchs at all followed. No
fertile females from May through most of July. Then in late July there was one
female who gifted my small island of milkweed, garden and potted milkweed plants,
with 31 eggs. I marked the precious leaves by clipping the tips. The next day I
gathered 29 eggs. The missing eggs disappeared overnight. Of those 29 surviving
eggs, I got 27 hatchlings.
Last year I found using floral tubes was the best way to handle
large numbers of small caterpillars all at once. Worked for me this year as
well.
Along with a shortage of Monarch eggs, I had to deal with a
shortage of milkweed leaves. It was difficult, but I managed with a few donated
plants and discovered that frozen milkweed leaves can be used when there are
many hungry mouths to feed late-stage caterpillars. I was able to release 18
adults Aug 24-25.
Because of travel plans I asked a friend and fellow Monarch
foster mom to tend to the last 9 chrysalises. They all made it. I then found 3
small late caterpillars and my friend took those in to feed and care for as
well. They were all released by Sept 20th. So, this year's total for me was 32
adults. That number pales compared to the 85 adults I released in 2023.
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