Date: 06/07/2019

Number: 1

Evelyn Bertell lives in Bayside, California. The first week of June, she planted several 4-inch pots of different milkweed species and on June 7 a mama Monarch found those tiny plants and began ovipositing. She did this for several days, after which Evelyn counted at least 40 eggs. She dug up the plants and placed them under gauze in a greenhouse/potting shed and then went to buy more milkweed. She told her story to the garden manager at our local nursery Mary Barber, and was worried about the babies since she was going to leave on vacation soon. Mary contacted me, and today I performed a "rescue". Unfortunately Evelyn said, a fly and a spider had found their way into the enclosure and consumed some of the eggs. I brought 19 newly hatched, 1st and 2nd stage instars and 9 eggs home (I live 4 miles from Evelyn), and will raise them on Showy and Narrow Leaf milkweed in mesh enclosures indoors (in my sunny living room with eastern and southern exposure) until they are 3rd stage, then outdoors under an awning (weather permitting).

I reported this to Monarch Milkweed Mapper.

Celeste Niesen
Citizen Scientist
Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates
Western Monarch Advocates

Bayside, CA

Latitude: 40.8 Longitude: -124

Observed by: Celeste
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