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| Decimated leaves of milkweed plant |
I know that a variety of insects feed on milkweed and I have marveled at the variety that are attracted to this plant - from butterflies and bees that feed on the nectar of the flowers, to the caterpillars and beetles that feed on the leaves. In the past there has always seemed to be plenty of plants to support all of these insects, but this year, the demand on these plants has taken a toll.
Back and June I saw the first monarch caterpillar on a milkweed plant next to our house. I watched it as it grew and I assume that it made it's way to form a chrysalis and then emerge as a butterfly. A couple weeks later, this same milkweed plant was completely covered with tussock moth caterpillars. Although there were several other milkweed plants nearby, this particular one seemed more favorable than the rest, which was unfortunate, because it certainly could not support the number of caterpillars that were trying to feed on it. I have never seen anything like it, and have not noticed such an infestation on any of the other milkweeds since.
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| Tussock Moth Caterpillar invasion, and what looks like a little inchworm. |
Almost every inch of the plant was covered in addition to hundreds of larvae on the house. I am not sure what happened to them, because within a few days they were gone.
I have also noticed that some of our milkweed plants have appeared to be eaten by something larger than insects, since in addition to large chunks taken from the leaves, the plants themselves have been knocked over. I know that we have a neighborhood porcupine and wonder if perhaps it is the culprit.
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| Milkweed stalks pulled to the ground. |
On Saturday, I was happy to see that in spite of the struggle that the milkweed plants seemed to be having, I saw two small monarch caterpillars on one plant. A monarch will typically lay just one egg on a plant and since one caterpillar was quite a bit smaller, they probably came from two different butterflies. Unfortunately, yesterday I witnessed how Nature can sometimes be cruel as a beetle decided to make a meal of one of the caterpillars. I am not certain, but think the the beetle was an early stage of a predatory stink bug. I would be grateful if someone could confirm.
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As sad as it was to see this, I understand that it is all part of the cycle of nature. When I checked on the milkweed plant later in the evening, there were three more beetles which I knocked off the plant. I am hoping that the one monarch caterpillar lives, but I know that statistically less than ten percent of eggs laid will survive to become adult butterflies. I support the planting of milkweed to support monarchs, I do not believe in overly heroic measures to save them, as nature typically knows what she is doing, by supporting millions of species, all which serve some purpose, even though we humans can't always see what that may be.
