Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: What is your Monarch attition?, 0 by donlaclair

donlaclair wrote:
This is my 4th batch of raising monarch's this year .This 4 th batch I started with 122 cat's in their 1st or 2nd instar.Those grew and I put 101 cat's in their 3rd and 4th instar out in the butterfly cage.They grew and now there is 72 chrysalalis hanging in the cage.
Now I'm trying to figure if that is about the right attrition rate.Now I realize there are several variblies to consider,age of milkweed fed to cat's,tenderness,moisture,temp,natural enemies of the cats,human mishandling,bacterial and viral. I'm trying to get a feeling of all things being equal is going from 122 cats to 72 chrysalis is average or less than average.
I'd sure like to hear from some of you out there who have raised monarch's and see how you have faired.
Don

This message was edited Jul 11, 2006 5:08 PM