As I am monitoring I find a lot of eggs, but I don see many larvae. What would most likely be eating the eggs or first instar larvae?
A. There are lots of things that eat monarchs! Ants, spiders, red velvet spider mites and stink bugs are some we see frequently. Some monarch larvae also die when their mandibles get gummed up by the milkweed latex. Back to top Q12: I read that while there are 106 types of milkweed, monarchs only lay their eggs on certain kinds and that they avoid others becasue of the level of toxicity. I’m worried because the only type of milkweed we have so far is the butterfly weed (asclepias tuberosa) and it has no milky substance in the plant. What milkweeds do monarchs like? A: There are actually very few species of milkweed that monarchs won’t eat. Among the ones they will eat, they certainly have preferences. We know that female monarchs will lay their eggs on Asclepias tuberosa, and monarch larvae will eat it. However, we find in the lab that A. tuberosa is not one of their favorite milkweeds to eat. If you monitor a patch of A. tuberosa, you will likely find some eggs and larvae on it, but y
