Date: 09/18/2021

Number: 15

Observed 15 monarch larvae in front and back gardens, Waystation #35670. Most larvae have moved off the milkweed plants. I found 5 chrysalis to date. Two were eaten by birds after several days. Three remain. One should emerge in the next 2 days. I suspect either Brown Thrasher or Catbird ate the monarch chrysalis. So far, I've observed stink bug, paper wasp and bird predation on monarch larvae and chrysalis. So far no parasitoid predation. I've have observed Tachinid flies on milkweed plants. One incident, I observed a monarch larvae Instar stage 4 on the ground flailing its head while a Tachinid fly attempted to sting it. This repeatedly. This year has been extra difficult finding chrysalis. The Monarch larvae broods were very spread out. To date, I've not tagged a single monarch born wild in my garden yet. :-(

Apex, NC

Latitude: 35.8 Longitude: -78.9

Observed by: Erich
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