Monarch eggs / predation / sibling rivalry

[Sunsol]

Martha Rosett Lutz <lutzrun at AVALON.NET> wrote in message
news:v01510100b9a95043a05b@[63.95.18.227]...
> 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.

Martha, have you actually seen caterpillars eat each other? I raise anise
swallowtails, among other caterpillars. I noticed that when rearing small
and large caterpillars together, the small ones would disappear. A friend,
who watched much more closely than I, said that the older ones would knock
the younger ones off as they fed.

Sally



 
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