Ok...now I am just really frustrated! The only cats I have had pupate normally all summer have been the BSTs, which are now all gone but one. I have 4 nice fat monarch cats that I have raised in the exact same environment (but new cage), in other words inside with netting on top. Two made their J overnight and when I came home just now they are both stuck just as all the others have been. They begin to pupate, and after the head they just are stuck in that position. I don't understand why this is happening so much. Is there anything I can do to help the other two before they pupate? The two that are stuck are still alive but I don't think I can do anything to save them. It is almost as is they literally got stuck trying to get the skin off. Any ideas? I am really sick of coming home to dying cats.
Oh, just also wanted to mention that this same thing happened earlier this summer to both monarch and gulf frit cats.
Kim
pupating problems again
Ok....was reading online and found a site where they documented this exact same phenomenon. They said that once they bleached their milkweed the frequency decreased. So I guess maybe there is something I can't see on my milkweed? I have been rinsing it off when I bring it in, but maybe I need to bleach it. The bad part is it is probably too late to help the other two cats then. I guess I'll just wait to see what happens with them.
Kim
Here is a pic of what one of them looks like.
Kim, I had the same thing happen to some of my monarchs earlier this year. I had a lot of the cats either not pupate completely (just like your picture), or make their chrysalis and then a slimy critter emerged from the chrysalis, after it turned dark. It turned out they had been parasitized by a wasp.
It was very disheartening! I managed to pull the next batch of monarch cats inside when they were really small and hadn't yet been found by the wasps. Those all pupated successfully.
I hope you have more success soon!
Cathy
I've had that happen too and thought it was a virus. So sad.
Kim, what did the article mean by 'bleaching'?
Thanks Cathy. It is very disappointing. I had brought in a bunch of really small cats but for some reason almost all of them didn't make it. I've tried bringing in the eggs before, but the leaves dried up before they hatched out. So at this point I am not sure what I should do next time. For now I will wait until these are dead and remove them, and hope that one of the other two have better luck. I'm starting to think that my skills are limited to just BSTs. I released 14 of those just fine.
Kim
It just said that they bleached the milkweed before feeding it. Nothing more than that. Perhaps rinsing it in a dilute bleach solution?
Kim, I just had another thought- when I was worried about running out of milkweed, I went to one of the local nurseries and got some really pretty milkweed. I think it looked so pretty because it had been fed a systemic bug killer killer, which also may have contributed to the losses of my monarch cats- they didn't seem to want to eat it, and I figured it was just because they were grumpy about me moving them all around. Live and learn.
Now I just grow LOTS of milkweed and let it self seed everywhere....
I grow my own milkweed, have a nice little patch of it now. And I don't treat with anything in my yard. So it definitely isn't that. But if it affected my gulf frit cats too earlier this year then the wasps would make sense. Does anyone have a good way to collect eggs and keep the leaves fresh until they hatch?
Kim
Kim, you could try making a sleeve out of panty hose and tie it around the leaf....but leave the leaf on the plant, that might work. I have the same problem of the leaf shriveling up and the eggs drying out. I usually wait until they hatch but then hope that I get them before the wasps, that's the challenge.
There's also a virus that can cause this: http://butterflybreeders.com/pages/disease_prevention_what_is_oe.html
Thanks for the info! Although I believe that is actually a parasite, according to the website. I guess the only relief for me here is that it isn't something I did. I was afraid I was just a horrible cat mom. Hopefully I get another opportunity to try again.
:) Kim
I take eggs off milkweed all the time and never have any problems with the eggs hatching. When I find an egg I tear off the leaf around the egg then I use scissors to cut as much leaf from around the egg as possible. I put all the eggs in a gladware, lay a piece of flannel over the top, cut out a large circle in the lid and put the lid on. I check it several times daily if I don't know when the eggs were laid and when they are almost ready / hatched I put in milkweed for them. I have successfully raised herds of monarch cats this way :)
Thanks plex...I may need to do that next time. The other two cats succumbed to the same problem, so I lost all four. I am thinking I need to get the eggs with as little leaf as possible, and then when I feed the cats, I need to first rinse my milkweed in a dilute bleach solution to kill anything that might be on it. Then we'll see. But first I need to wait for another batch of eggs. Sigh....
Kim
Just thought I'd pass along an old thread that some might not have seen:
(the important part is a post by Hill5422)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/642251/
Hi Fly! I'm still around, just popping in here and there! I'll have to shoot you a dmail!
This message was edited Aug 2, 2008 2:07 PM
Hi Paige! Good to hear from you, missed ya!!!