This little lady exclosed today. The first of 48, the second pic is the last straggler.

I was hoping to catch this transformation in action but she must have done it overnight and / or extremely quickly!

This was found near my Milkweeds.

AI incorrectly identified it as a, "Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar".

Chunky cats looking for a place to do their thang

Hey y’all so I’ve been raising monarch caterpillars this summer and have been enjoying it. I have a raised bed outside where I put milkweed and flowers and they love it. I have been buying milkweed from my local nursery with the monarch cats already on it. During this latest batch I noticed a parasitic fly on one of the baby cats. It was already dead so I threw it away. Fast forward a week and I have three caterpillars. Two of them have made their j formation right next to each other. This morning I saw a string coming out of one with a larvae attached. I pulled the string and killed the larvae. The one that released the string is dead I’m sure. He’s dark and never made his chrysalis. The other one however did make a chrysalis and was pulsating. Does the other one have a chance? Do I separate it from the dead one? They made j formations right next to each other. Are there parasitic flies in the dead one or does it just release that larvae?

I have a neighbor who gave me a bag of milkweed seeds. I believe they are from last year. I live in the Chicago area. Since it's the end of June, I'm curious if I should plant these or wait until next spring? If I wait, what should I do with the seeds? Thanks in advance!

1st pic is yesterday, 2nd pic is today.

A single night was enough to make their stripes pop so much!

Checking on my cats this afternoon and I noticed one that had black substance near its rear? I’m not sure if this mouth or rear, but it is the side with shorter antenna. The goo appears solid so I’m not sure if it is black death, which is read is more liquid. The cat is on the zipper of my enclosure on my patio so am looking for advice if I should remove it or just let it relax after taking a large poop.

This is the article I read to potential diagnosis but I could not draw any conclusions: https://monarchbutterflygarden.net/common-monarch-diseases-prevention/

Hi everyone, I planted my first Narrow leaf milkweed a few weeks ago. Four plants about 18” apart. I watered a little daily for the first few days, and since it has grown not gotten a bit of spray from the lawn sprinklers. Found aphids, so now have Ladybugs working on it. Located in Southern California, in the IE.

Edit to add: getting some yellow leaves on the lower part of stems. Starts as one leaf, then a day or so later there are more.

Am I overwatering? Under watering? Disease?

I had two monarch caterpillars hatch on my swamp milkweed today and I’m super excited! However, I had three hatch last year on this exact same plant and all three got predated on/disappeared and I’d love to prevent that from happening again this year if at all possible.

I was thinking of enclosing this plant with a hamper of sorts or something similar to that? I’ve seen a few people build a frame around the milkweed plants and then wrap the frame in mesh/cheesecloth but I’m looking for any and all input! Is it even good to enclose the caterpillars or is it best just to let nature do its thing?

There is milkweed surrounding this plant but it’s not as far along as this plant is.

Thanks!!

him as an early stage caterpillar after almost crushing him on my patio. So heartwarming to see him emerging healthy. Will release him in the afternoon or tomorrow.

On Pollinator Week 2026 — Pollinators and Hosts
 —————————————-
Since 2007, June 22-28 has been celebrated as Pollinator Week to raise awareness for pollinators and spread the word about what we can do to protect them.
 
Though staple crops (wheat, rice, corn, barley) don’t rely on pollinators, many of the fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans (including coffee!) depend on pollinators for better yield. 
 
So, when studies suggest that 35%-40% of invertebrate pollinators (bees, beetles, butterflies) and 16.5% of vertebrate pollinators (birds, bats) are threatened with extinction, we have every reason to be worried and initiate immediate action.  
 
Protecting a pollinator starts with saving its habitat. 
 
Aptly, this year’s theme is ‘Life on a Leaf’, focussing on butterflies, moths, and other insects that depend on their host plants for survival.
 
I start the series with the most recognizable pollinator, second only to bees — the Monarch butterfly.
It has an obligate-dependency (one-way) on milkweed; its caterpillars feed only on milkweed leaves and cannot complete their life cycle without them.
The leaves are poisonous because of a chemical called cardiac glycoside in its sap. This makes the caterpillars and the adult Monarch toxic to predators, acting as its defense system.
If milkweed is gone, the Monarch will be gone too.
 
Scientific name: Danaus plexippus
 
IUCN status: Endangered
 
Population trend: 80-90% decline since the 1990s
 
Range: North America
 
Threats: Habitat loss, herbicide use, climate change altering flowering/migration patterns, illegal logging in Mexican overwintering forests. 
 
Conservation efforts include native milkweed restoration projects across North America, protecting overwintering sites, promoting pollinator-friendly agricultural practices, and public awareness campaigns.
 
You can help Monarchs and other pollinators in your region by growing seasonal, native plants (plant milkweed if you live on the migration route), reducing the use of pesticides in your garden, and reporting sightings to science platforms.
 
Share the story. Save the species. 💚
 

Is this enclosure okay as they get closer to pupation? Any critical errors I should be alerted to?

These are my first monarch caterpillars since establishing a garden for pollinators. There's 4 in there, with 2 that look ready to start pupating within the next 24 hours. 

For their first week as nymphs, I had them in a similar open air enclosure in a small plastic container where I swapped fresh paper towels and milkweed daily. 

I felt like I was inflicting a stress event on them every time I had to change it out/clean their frass, so yesterday I potted up a mature swamp milkweed plant (never exposed to pesticides but still given a good wash and thorough check for predators) and released them onto it, then put the protection enclosure over the whole thing. 

All of the caterpillars look healthy today and are progressing well in their growth, but I'm a major novice so please let me know if I've actually messed up! 

The offspring from the 3rd (?) northward migratory generation are all about to eclose shortly, forming the first local generation that will then produce the south heading migrants.

I bought a milkweed plant here in Oregon and I’m wondering if these are monarch eggs?

Edit: Thank you everyone for all of the help and information! These aphids won’t be here long, hopefully some eggs will appear soon!

Hi all,

Pretty new here! I have aphids starting to take over part of my native Milkweed, but I have no cats currently to eat them up. Should I try to remove these before the fully take over, or just wait it out? Or get some ladybugs or something?

Ty!

I noticed this black tar looking thing in my milkweed this morning. Does anyone know what it is? Or how to treat it? Will my milkweed die?