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Category: Eggs & Egg-Laying

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IDQuestion
53I live in Nova Scotia, Canada, and I am wondering if monarchs lay their eggs on plants other than milkweed. I watched a female over the last several days flying in my garden and landing frequently on wild impatiens plants that grow near my cultivated garden area. I was curious about this because it looked like she was laying eggs. I checked under the leaves and found two to three eggs on the underside of the leaves of most of the impatiens plants. I even spotted a larva recently hatched. I may be able to send pictures if you wish. I found this extremely strange and I am almost certain that there are indeed monarch eggs and larvae.
56Is there a way to tell when a butterfly is laying an egg and when it is just resting? How long does a monarch butterfly need to be on the milkweed before an egg is released? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Are there any "tell-tale" signs that the butterfly is actually laying an egg (rather than resting)?
88As I was picking leaves from my sand (blue) vine milkweed, I found a cluster of eggs on the underside of a leaf. The eggs are small oval shaped and bright orange. It is a cluster of 20. The eggs do not touch, but are very close. Any idea what kind of eggs these are?
121Do female monarchs perfer a certain place on the milkweed plant to lay their eggs? I know the caterpillars eat the leaves, but do they hatch on the leaves or farther down the stem of the plant?
168How many eggs can a female butterfly lay in a year?
177Will monarchs lay their eggs on dry milkweed?
182What do they look like inside the egg?
184How does it stay alive in the egg if the egg is closed in? Wouldn't they have no oxygen?
191Why do monarch caterpillars eat their own egg? Other than that's their first food, but is there any other reason? Also, How do they know which plant is milkweed when they are going to lay their eggs?
193How long does it take to get out of their eggs?
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