It's up to you, but the rate of predation and death from other mishaps is extremely high for Monarchs out in the wild. Something like 5% or less ever make it to adulthood. So, many of us do bring them inside for protection during their most vulnerable period (caterpillar and chrysalis).

Martha

Wow, thanks! Here I thought they were not a popular item due to their taste. Today I work on finding a suitable caterpillar enclosure....

vince

An old take out plastic box works great or tupperware, just dont leave it in the sun

Thanks, Jacob. Last night I moved the cat and some leaves into an old round fish tank I rescued from the trash a while ago. It's nice and clean, and I have rubber-banded a cover of screen mesh on it. How often should I remove old and add fresh leaves? Grass vets cleaned out daily.

My plants are right outside my back door.

Thanks!

Vince

Every other day, unless he eats a lot then you probably will have to change it more often

That would be my guess aswell, if you look and see if he has a silkened spot then yoully know for sure.

Yep, I put a piece of thin cardboard on the top under the screening. He found it and was on the cardboard for a while in the early evening. When I looked at him again later, he was hanging in a J. So now the wait is to see if he makes it to the chrysalis stage okay. Since it is a bit late in the season, I doubt I will find any other cats in the wild.

It is late. But good job!

Jane

Thanks, Jane! He did make it into the chrysalis stage okay, now I just need to keep an eye on him to see that he hatches and I can set him free to join the migration.

Vince

Thanks for posting, I found a monarch cat on some milkweed at our new home and I fear it was eaten. I will try to preserve the next one I find.

Go for it! It is getting pretty late in the season here in Zone 5, I think. I'll definitely keep my eyes open and try to bring home any that I find as I do think there are a lot of predators out there, and they are easy to keep.

An update.....yesterday the chrysalis of the first cat I brought home turned dark, and this morning he hatched. I let him dry his wings for an hour, and I had to leave. Not wanting him to flutter around his small enclosure, I took him with me in the car, with the sunroof open and windows closed to prevent too much airflow. A little over an hour after we left, I got back in the car and found him starting to move around in his bowl. I took off the top band he had been hanging from, and he came up and out, settling on a door armrest. Rather than risk catching one of his legs on the window as it went down, I put my finger near him. He grabbed onto it, and I lifted him up to the sunroof. He flew out on his own, off into the clear blue sky. And I went back home to work on the next ones....

Vince

Congrats on your healthy male Monarch! The moment of release is the most exciting moment for me during the entire process of rearing butterflies indoors. Their life is now their own, and they are free, as it should be.

Sometimes when I have to leave before a butterfly is ready to fly I take it out of the glass aquarium where they eclose, and put them on a sunny perch. Usually a branch of a tree or large perennial, to finish drying.