First time attempting to foster these little guys. I read a forum post that said as they get to the last instars, they begin to eat a milkweed leaf per hour! Not certain if this was written tongue in cheek or if the poster was serious.
For those who have fostered Monarch cats, does this sound reasonable? I have four cats that I think are in their 2nd instar and then discovered three more eggs that have yet to hatch. Today I find more eggs on the milkweed (which I didn't bring in) as I don't know how much milkweed I need to have to feed the babies I already have inside. I just hate this. Next year I will plant lot's of milkweed. Right now I have about 15 plants but most are only about 20 inches tall with only one or two stalks per plant so really not a lot of leaves. They only get about half day of sun so maybe that's why they've not grown more?
I know it's a difficult question to answer but would someone care to comment on the amount of milkweed I might need?
My thanks for your time and assistance.
Mary
Monarch 4th - 5th instars how much food to have on hand?
OK, answering my own question :-) and hope this helps other newbie foster moms.
Here is what I found on this site:
http://www.livemonarch.com/monarch-facts.htm
"Warning: one caterpillar will eat 20+ large leaves so make sure you have enough plants to support the number of caterpillars you have or they will starve."
So, this gives me some idea as to how many leaves I'll need to keep the baby Monarch cats healthy.
Gotta go count leaves now ... :-)
Mary