I Thought this Would Be Simple

I planted a Butterfly/Hummer Garden with the plants recommended for this part of Texas (Pineywoods)..
We saw two Monarch Cats yesterday on the milkweed..today they're gone..Now I find that people do all sorts of things to protect the cats..So my question is:
Other than the obvious threat of birds and pesticide what other predators get them..?
I am real new to this.. Or could you guess..
Thanks

princessnonie,
Lots of things can get the young cats 1st and 2nd instar.Wasps,geckco's,ants,assasin bugs,human feet,etc,etc.But you know what I bet if you keep doing the butterfly thing you'll very rarely actually see anything.They just seem to come up missing.
That's way so many of us take such lenghts to protect the little cats.I remember like it was just yesterday the sad feelings I had when my first Monarch cats went MIA.Protecting those little guys becomes an obsession,unless your alot more mentally stable then myself(lol).
Don

I once counted 37 munching Monarch cats - within just a couple of days, NADA! I had several red wasp nests and the yellow and black striped wasp - aaahhhh, can't remember the name, but a paper nest builder too. They just check out the plants and take out the caterpillars to feed their babies. I now wage war on these wasps - not the solitaries, they're OK. I even tried covering the butterfly weed with netting. They got under it somehow. I know this is not politically correct, but I am not growing larval food plants to feed the wasps that, BTW have stung me several times when I have been pruning or cleaning up shrubs....

Assassin bugs get them too. I transplant them to other plants that are not caterpillar plants.

If they are lucky enough to mature to the pupa stage, don't worry if they go missing. They often leave the food plant and travel to another plant to pupate. I still haven't found my Giant Swallowtail caterpillar from my lemon tree, and it was really huge!

Hi..
I was out of town having a grandaughter..!!

Thanks for the information..
We do have a lot of wasps..Especially the kind that build nests out of mud.. I used to leave them alone, but I think I'll try and get rid of them.

We've had Passion Vine for several years and have enjoyed watching the whole process.
This is my first year with Monarchs..

The ones that build mud nests are OK. They don't even sting to defend their nests. They only sting if they think their life is in danger. They take out a lot of cutworms to provision that nest. I leave them alone. It's the wasps that live in colonies that are aggressive and kill the caterpillars to feed their babies.

Oh OK...
Well then I'll continue leaving them alone..

Incidentally, your Sapphire Sage is beautiful..did you buy it locally?

Where do these black striped wasps make a nest at? I have way too many of them, I sure would like to wipe out a few. I think they are supposed to be beneficial but there is such a thing as too much. They stay on my fennel, do they live close by, and maybe this is why I'm not getting any cats.

princessnonie, Or should I say 'grandma' lol Congratulations on your granddaughter! I bet she is a beautiful, sweet little thing :)
Lea

LeBug,
I wish I could help you with your wasp question..Unfotunately, I don't believe that I have that kind..
I too have many wasps, especially the red ones..
Thanks for the congrat's on the baby..One week old yesterday.
princessnonie

I've seen the black and yellow striped wasps in my dietes (butterfly iris, peacock iris, South African iris). They build their nests in there. I'll hit them with 409 (the cleaner) when they crawl up the leaf or fly out. That knocks them down. Then I finish them off with the two brick treatment (or shoe-bang). Spraying the wasp spray onto a plant will burn it. Find the nest and get rid of it, but be careful. There is often a wasp sitting on it. Have the 409 ready.