You’ve heard the statement, “Three’s a crowd!” Well, in the monarch world the same holds true. Laying eggs on healthy, lush milkweed plants is extraordinarily important. Emerging monarch caterpillars chew, munch and devour their own eggshell for nourishment, but they may also ingest the eggshell of another if close by. PHOTO: Holli Webb Hearn For this reason the female seeks to lay her eggs very carefully – only one egg per plant. Notice the differences between the egg photos in this post! They tell a story. When milkweed is scarce and a [...]

PHOTO: Katherine Elliott

PHOTO: Jane Kegel PHOTO: BFpage via Chicago Botanic Garden. Read the article on Monarch Butterfly Larvae and caterpillar at the Marty Davis blog. PHOTO: Marty Davis Photography PHOTO: Lord V via Flickr. PHOTO: Ted Kinsman PHOTO: Christina McKinney PHOTO: Christina McKinney PHOTO: Christina McKinney

Learn how to to disinfect Monarch Butterfly eggs in this article from Butterfly Fun Facts. “Why should I do that,” you ask? To protect hatching Monarch caterpillars and adult butterflies! A hatching Monarch caterpillar eats its way out of its eggshell. If there are pathogens left by the adult butterfly as she laid the egg, the caterpillar eats the pathogens and becomes ill. The Monarch Program website gives information about two common types of pathogens that attack Monarch Butterflies: Baculoviridae (nucleopolyhedroviruse) and Neogregarin (Ophryocystis elektroscirrha). Baculoviruses are pathogens, like some human [...]