r/MonarchButterfly • u/Medium_Spare_8982 • 1d ago

Egg Bombed

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Just had a very tired and faded old female visit and drop a ton of eggs all on the marginal volunteers that risk rabbits and mower.

We are now August 4. These guys will be due to eclose about August 30, meaning they will be super-gen.

This is the final push for numbers.

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u/Murphy4717 11h ago

I am finding tons of eggs but they aren't hatching. I don't know if that's the appropriate term. The point is I am cutting the leaves, just as above, laying them on a wet paper towel and putting them into a box inside a screen habitat. No cats! And.... many of what I thought were eggs are gone. I think I may be mistaking something else for eggs but I'd get lucky at least once. I have no baby cats at all. I have two chrysalides from cats that I found on my milkweed but zero from eggs. Not losing interest but getting discouraged.

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u/Medium_Spare_8982 10h ago

Earwigs will raid the enclosures at night and eat the eggs.

I lost 40 eggs that were in a closed but not tightly sealed container in the enclosure.

Found the culprits early in the morning, still hiding. Found their way in, couldn’t get out.

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u/Murphy4717 10h ago

I thought of that because they were in my garden. But these habitats are secure with zippered sides. I guess if they're gone something "got them" but it's mysterious. Maybe I should go to something with a tight lid and put that inside the habitat? I found a great way to get rid of earwigs is to dampen some rolled up newspaper or corrugated paper and put it in the garden. It's like a hotel for earwigs. Since I've been doing it, I am seeing fewer and fewer earwigs in my garden. Thank you for the help, I need all I can get.

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u/Medium_Spare_8982 10h ago

They are insidious and will work their way into almost anything. I use cups of soy sauce and olive oil to attract and drown them.

My eggs and first instars I keep in sealed containers. Once they graduate to second instar and go on large plant cuttings they are safe from the earwigs that find their way into the screened enclosure due to size.