on Asclepias perennis
Monarch Cats
The next day the caterpillars were gone...so was every leaf, flower and bud on the plant.
Wow, those are great photos. I love the last one.
I had Monarchs laying eggs on my milkweed too, but never see many cats. I hope they aren't getting eaten by the birds.
Check for birds with a nasty heartburn or hanging upside down from branches, those might have been the ones taking a bite out of the 'unpleasant tasting' Monarch Cats .
This message was edited Wednesday, Jun 4th 10:54 PM
I thought about that just as I hit send, LOL
Then where might my cats be hiding? I had one female laying eggs on all my plants. Must be at least 25 plants, and I have only seen one cat.
I love those, they always make me think of the hookah-smoking caterpiller in "Alice in Wonderland" !!
Yeah I was sure you knew about the non tasty Monarch Cat morsel since it's a distant cousin to you as 'Painted Lady' LOL.
As for the missing cats: maybe a infertile batch, predatory insects eating eggs/young larvae,...
It's still early in the season and there should be 3-5 more batches upcoming in your area.
Think positive, the one cat will at least not starve :)
Do the big 'carpenter' ants eat caterpilars? My cassia was covered a day or so ago. Yesterday I saw a lots of big ants on the bush, one ant was carrying a tiny caterpillar and no big cats left on the bush...