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Predators
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| ID | Question |
| 28 | I found a monarch caterpillar on milkweed which was growing on the prairie in Glenview, Illinois. The caterpillar was already big, and the next day it started to form a chrysalis. The day after the chrysalis was formed, I saw a little string hanging from the chrysalis, and saw a little worm-like caterpillar was coming out of the chrysalis. It was absolutely disgusting. It was a yellowish but almost transparent worm with two black eyes. It does not sound like the parasite you were talking about in your website that monarchs tend to get infected. Do you know what it was? |
| 45 | What is killing all of my monarch caterpillars? I have a large milkweed plant in my garden and last summer I saw dozens of caterpillars and chrysalises, but this year all the eggs that I find disappear with no caterpillar to be found. What can I do to stop my caterpillars from disappearing? |
| 69 | My daughter and I are raising just a few monarchs this summer for the very first time. Our first caterpillar formed its chrysalis with no apparent problems; our second caterpillar seemed to wish to do the same when it was a little smaller than the first. We were surprised. We waited and waited and noted that its "J" was not as curled as the first caterpillar's "J." Then we also noted that it moved its mouth alot - opening and shutting it while in its "J." It seemed to take longer to get down to the business of forming a pupa. Then a very disturbing thing happened. A worm grew out of the side of this caterpillar. At this point I went online and discerned that it must have been a parasite - fly larva; in the meanwhile, another worm emerged from its side. I was so upset that I removed the caterpillar and had my husband squoosh it outdoors, as I felt it had little chance of surviving and was worried it was suffering terribly. My question is: could it possibly have survived and formed a pupa? Did we "do the right thing?" Here I was expecting to have such a special experience - a homeschool project - and it turned out to be very disturbing. What are the chances that our two eggs and remaining two larvae have the same problem? All were collected locally - out in wild. |
| 83 | This is my first year raising monarchs. I found 3 caterpillars outside and they all formed chrysalises at the top of their cage. One of them already has a clear chrysalis and I know will be a butterfly soon. But the other two's chrysalises are really pale and have a small black hole in them. I also found two dark brown round-ovalish things resting on the bottom of their cage. I'm figuring that they are parasites that came out of the two chrysalises -- am I assuming correctly? Are the 2 chrysalises dead? |
| 90 | I am from southern Ontario and have been collecting monarch caterpillars in the wild, mostly from unsprayed milkweed on country roadsides. I have noticed that near almost every mildweed plant there are large black and yellow spiders. Are these spiders a predator of the monarch or simply another insect that is not affected by the poisonous milkweed? |
| 91 | On which instars does the tachinid fly lay its eggs? If we retrieve first or second instars, will they be "clean"?
I'm asking because I gave a new recruit a fifth instar and the next day, maggots came out. This did not go over well. In two years, with over 100 butterflies released, this has never happened to me.
Does the tachinid fly behave like a bee -- does it feed at milkweed blossoms? |
| 104 | How do tachinid flies, spiders, wasps, bees, praying mantis, aphids, and ants affect the Monarch? |
| 145 | What is the greatest threat to monarchs? |
| 160 | Would monarchs' predators die from eating them because of the posion in their body? |
| 333 | We live in central Florida and have planted milkweed for several years and enjoyed watching the monarch caterpillars eat and grow. Last year we tried to keep some caterpillars to watch them form their chrysallis and emerge. Unfortunately all died in the process leaving behind tachinid fly larvae. Should we continue to grow milkweed in our area or is it likely heavily infested by parsitoids? Is there anything we can do to prevent these pesty parasites? |
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