Monarch/Milkweed question

[Paul Cherubini]

Randy Morgan wrote:
> 
> We live on the west central coast of Florida, near Clearwater. Last summer
> in our butterfly garden, our milkweeds were covered with Monarch
> caterpillars, so many that they completely stripped every plant twice.  This
> year, with even more milkweeds, I have yet to see the first caterpillar,
> despite seeing Monarchs in the garden every day during the summer. 

At night ants, earwings,crickets, toads, slugs and more eat monarch 
eggs and newborn larvae. During the day ladybugs and spiders eat eggs
while wasps and yellowjackets hunt for small and medium sized
larvae in the milkweed canopy. Then there are those tachinid flies
that parasitize the larvae. The population of one or more of these
sorts of predators may be high in your yard this year.

A yard spray with Ortho 50% Malathion insecticide in a hose attachment
sprayer can reduce the population of egg and larval predators (but not the
wasps and yellow yackets).If you rinse the Malathion off with water 
15 minutes after spraying, female monarchs can safely lay eggs on the 
sprayed plants later in the day when the leaves have dried.

Paul Cherubini

 
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