Monarch Update

My new system seems to be working. It has minimized the amount of work I have to do to keep the larvae fed and clean.

I've been using the reservoirs with great success. The larvae feed on the clusters of leaves. All I have to do is top the water up in the reservoir every day and rinse away the frass. The canning jar is simply to hold the reservoir upright. In the past I've used an overturned egg carton and poked the reservoirs through the bottoms but these jars work better as they are taller.

I'm not sure if this big guy is one of my original two eggs. At one point I thought I only had two larvae and one was teeny weeny. Then I found this big one - much bigger than the next one in size (on a back leaf). If it was from the original two eggs, it only hatched 1 day before the second one so I'm not sure why it grew faster - or if the second one grew slower.

The third guy was just transferred to this fresh clump of milkweed.

I just broke off the part it was attached to on the old leaves and put it on the fresh leaf. In no time it will be munching away on the fresh stuff.

With everything cleaned out and rinsed (I rinse the fresh leaves before exposing the larvae to them) they're back in the Caterpillar Castle on the grow stand in my kitchen.

I think the largest one will climb to the top of the 'castle' and pupate in the next couple of days.