Date: 06/16/2024

Number: 2

Same milkweed patch that I reported on yesterday evening. Checked the patch this morning and at midday. First thing this morning I found evidence that they had eaten overnight on the leaves that I had found them on yesterday evening but could not find any larvae. Went out this evening and was able to locate the third instar and one of the fourth instars. It is my surmise that they find somewhere to hide through the day when predators such as wasps are active and come out in the evening when the predators have retired for the evening. This is how they have survived so long. I also noted that they are performing a behaviour that was discussed in a lecture I attended at Point Pelee National Park where they bite through the stem of the leaf, causing it to bend in on itself and then they eat that leaf from the tip backwards.

Lakeshore, ON

Latitude: 42.2 Longitude: -82.9

Observed by: Laura
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