Monarch eggs / predation / sibling rivalry

[Martha Rosett Lutz]

Did anyone mention this yet?

I don't know how significant a factor this is (especially in the field
versus the lab), but I have direct evidence that newly-hatched Monarch
larvae are predators of Monarch eggs.  Also, older larvae will eat younger
ones.  This would tend to suppress multiple individuals on the same plant,
particularly if the plant is small--although I have seen multiple
individuals on milkweeds of an ornamental species that has many stems
thickly covered with leaves.  Maybe it is partly a matter of apparency . .
. if they can find their younger sibs (or even non-sibs), they indulge in
the ultimate sibling rivalry.

In Stride,
Martha Rosett Lutz



 
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