I haven't seen any in NNJ. In fact very few butterfly sightings so far this year, even with my garden in full bloom.

LOL; who would figure you'd get 2 responses from NNJ? Very few sightings in my garden as well; a sparse visit from a yellow swallowtail, a few red admirals. I did have a black swallowtail leave me 2 eggs on my dill I believe mid-end of May. One cat turned black but the other just pupated. There haven't even been alot of cabbage whites :(

I keep checking my milkweeds for any signs of holes in the foliage, but nothing yet. My records show my first caterpillars were found on July 6th last year.

Monarchs have been slow this year. Even though there were some early sightings, I am just now gettings eggs in my BY. I raised and released my first brood within the past 4 weeks. So, I normally raise a brood in late April-early May. We are a good 4-6 weeks behind. They may have spent more time reproducing in Texas on the way north.

The Monarchs are making up for it by the numbers that are showing up. I found 80 eggs over the weekend and saw numerous monarchs, paired and courting.

Don't give up!

Sandy

Just because we haven't seen them, doesn't mean they're not here! I was just out watering and admiring all of the lovely FLYS flocking on my common & swamp milkweeds when low & behold, there's a monarch caterpillar, and a pretty big one at that. I'm guessing 3rd instar, but I suck at guessing. So my official 2010 date is June 21st, definitely a "Happy Summer" celebration ;)
What's up with the flys anyway? I've never seen so many...

About a week ago I found a 5th instar Monarch caterpillar feeding on my Zizotes Milkweed. Surprisingly there weren't any on my Tropical Milkweed which Monarchs are said to prefer. I only found that one, but it was a nice surprise. Am guessing it chose the Zizotes Milkweed because it is native here unlike the Tropical Milkweed which is native just south of here in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas. I think Monarchs are more picky about the Milkweeds they la their eggs on compared to the Queens which will lay eggs on one species then fly to another and lay more eggs on another.

Danny

No sightings at all here in eastern Mass, although I don't usually see them here until early July, usually. The milkweed is starting to bloom already, which is a couple weeks early, although the Monarchs aren't here yet. I hope to see some and raise some butterflies this year! There is plenty of milkweed in the gardens for them.

I'm happy to announce that today when I was out in the garden I saw my very first Monarch of the year! :-) I hope that others start seeing them soon.
Cathy

I forgot to mention that she was nectaring on the butterfly weed.

hi i saw my first monarch on May,8,2010 it was flying near my garden. ilan