Date: 06/12/2014

Number: 1

I found two populations of Monarch caterpillars in two patches of milkweed separated by about 1/3 of a mile. The first: five milkweed plants outside my door, 3 grown from seed. In this patch are now four small caterpillars. In the second patch, in my section of a community garden, there were about ten larvae of various sizes which rather suddenly appeared but a week later, disappeared, all of them at once. Some may have gone into chrysalis in nearby foliage, but many were too young for that.
Again, this was sudden and complete. Are there predators that eat monarch larvae? Very Puzzling. (A good friend in Ventura reported to me a similar sudden "total loss" of all larvae) Larvae near my doorway are still there and growing.

Isla Vista, CA

Latitude: 34.4 Longitude: -119.9

Observed by: Maia
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