That's really something, Sherry - this IS December you know!
Congrats! I know you're enjoying them!
MissSherry

I'm dreaming of a fluttering Christmas,
Just like the ones I've never known...

And

We wish you a OE-free Christmas,
We wish you a OE-free Christmas,
We wish you a OE-free Christmas,
And an eclosing new year!

Might need a little more work, but not too bad.
-Jmcat

Jmcat...it's so funny! I just clicked on this post and on the radio an a capella group was singing, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" as I read YOUR post! tee-hee

Well, I AM enjoying them. I was reading my students' Dear Santa letters last night (they wrote them with a teacher helper who came in the other day) and several asked Santa for butterflies...

Gotta love it! :) Obviously they are dreaming of a fluttering Christmas...

I spoke with one of my 'moms' yesterday after school. I told her she should check the Milkweed Kevin planted when he was in Kindergarten (then Kevin walked up). She then said, "OH MY GOSH! We have four of the BIGGEST Monarch caterpillars right now! Isn't it strange that we have caterpillars because it is so cold?" I told her how I'd been finding eggs on my plants and how crazy it is... Kevin was grinning from ear-to-ear.

I haven't seen any cats for a month or so now. I suppose I should check the pupa buried alive (or burrowed alive) in the garage, though.
And, just to give you a dose of reality from someone who doesn't live in the tropics, here is the current weather: The temperature here is currently 24 degrees F, which is much warmer than the 9 (thats still Fahrenheit, not celsius) degrees that it was at about 8 this morning. It is currently sunny, and the 4-5 inches of snow that have accumulated over the past week might start to melt soon. The roads should be nice and slushy today.
-Jmcat

Well, it isn't THAT warm here, Jmcat! Right now it is 44-degrees F att 7:02 a.m. brrrrr...I probably should have brought in all the caterpillars I saw outside yesterday, the poor dears (I did bring in a couple 1st and 2nd instars). It should get UP to about 60 today which is WAY too cold for an island-girl like me who can hardly stand anything below 72! Our house is currently at 66 and my fingers an barely type on the keyboard. Hubby calls me his little Ice Princess. :P You can understand why I am astounded that I continue to find eggs! I found ten yesterday while collecting leaves. How these butterflies are doing it is simply amazing when I don't even want to be outside.

I just wanted to add that I am also having a really great and LATE year for monarchs in my So. Calif. garden.

I never really had an abundance of adults- the most at one time I think I have seen is three. But I still have quite a few caterpillars munching away out there. I feel kind of sorry for them because there is so little milkweed left for them to eat!

Monarchs aren't great layers for us in the summer but they have returned now. My milkweeds have lots of eggs on them and I brought in 4 fairly large cats Sunday evening before the cold spell. There are lots of eggs too. Nice to see pairs of them around.

I also discovered about 7 second instar cats (monarch and queens) yesterday, and a few eggs. We had a freeze here a few nights ago, and all my milkweed froze but a few, so I don't know how they're going to survive. I also found a very small gulf frit, and 6 third instar PVS cats. I brought them in, because none of my pipevine froze. I was amazed, I thought the butterflies were gone, haven't even seen any gulf frits or PVS. I continue to see monarchs.

I keep on finding MORE larvae! It is insane. What's crazy is that I haven't spotted a single egg (and you all know how I check each leaf before I feed it to the 'pits!). A couple of days ago I found 20. Today? 23! Although I don't like bringing in larvae to raise, I can't NOT with the winter crazy temps here in SoCal. *sigh* It is nice having these beauties year-round in my garden! :)

What a year for So Calif monarchs!

I still have caterpillars but have NOTHING for them to eat. I checked my plants yesterday and the late instar cats are at the tip end of the plant still trying to munch. I went ahead and clipped back all the plants that had no leaves and no cats on them.

Oh well... this is not the kind of success with attracting monarchs I was hoping for. I had heard that you can never plant to much milkweed and that seems to be very true!

I really need to plant up some more seeds and get more milkweed growing.

The word must be out and they are all congregating at your house! I thought I was seeing fewer and then I read in our local paper "Butterfly populations along the coast are the lowest anyone has seen in years"

I'm glad you have a different tale to tell.

MaryC

Here is a link that might be useful: Article - Plight of the Butterflies

WELL, maybe they've decided that it is better to hang out in my yard than in Pacific Grove, Pismo, and Santa Barbara (although, if you check the pictures I took just a few weeks ago in Santa Barbara county's Ellwood Grove, you would wonder about the writer's commentsÂsee my blog)!

I don't knowÂI found MORE larvae today and we're not talking late instars either. I swear; I still haven't spotted ANY eggs yet those little bitty babies are around! I guess I've got those stealth Monarchs again. Hmmm...now that I think about it, if I am not mistaken, it was about a year ago (I will have to go and check my stats) that I had that group of stealth Monarchs oviposit on my Milkweed in the FRONT yardÂof course, have I found many larvae in the front? Ha! Just a few. In the back, however, we won't even go into the quantities. In fact, I've forgotten to log the numbers; it's been THAT many.

Yes, I thought I was 'done' with Monarchs over a month ago. I was 'down for the long winter's nap' only to find little hungry babies who needed caretaking and this foster mama just could not leave well enough alone. Nope. No way.

In fact, today I was out doing my annual rose pruning (oh boy!) when I took a break to gather some baby food for the Monarchs. I decided to look at the Passiflora since there were SO many Gulf Frits out and about. (Hey, I was in a tank top and shorts myself so it stands to reason the butterflies were having a hey-day.) I found GF eggs! Yes, so now it is not just Monarchs but the Gulf Fritillaries that I am raising in the dead of winter. :) Oh boy. Caterpillars. Mother-in-law (who is now mentally about 2-years old). Dog. Husband. 31 5-year olds. ARGH! Call me insane. Or, just hand me a glass of Merlot ;P

At least the sun is shining and the weather has been warm during the day!