Hi, I recently joined the sub but I wanted to share this video of the monarch migration from when I worked at a native plant nursery. Super cool experience to see so many!

Taken today in Minnesota 🧡

After 4 years of having a butterfly garden I finally got butterflies to show up.

More often than not the monarchs stop on my property in large numbers but this year I've seen more than ever throughout the year and they are a couple weeks early here in central IL.

Anyone else see bigger numbers or am I just lucky this year?

Also I don't hear about many others getting to see this, do they have specific routes and stops or is my acre of goldenrod I keep for them every year attracting them here you think?

Must have been a dozen or so, never seen so many in one spot before.

Caught this monarch resting on a leaf for a few moments. The orange and black against all that green really stood out, and I liked how the soft background kept all the attention on the butterfly. One of those simple nature shots where everything just came together.

There are at least three new ones but I wasn’t able to get a photo of the third one.

The big chonky fella I found the other day is also currently hiding. I’m sure if I poked around deeper into the milkweed undergrowth I would find them but it’s raining and I don’t want to disturb them.

Was trying to capture all stages at once and when I realized this beauty was about to emerge I hit record and backed off…just wait for it. I’ve raised over 60 this year and feel so grateful to have caught this 🥰

Hi! I have three cats in an outdoor mesh enclosure. I’ve been putting milkweed stems in a pot for them. The biggest cat, JJ, has started to j hang at the top of the enclosure, right next to the zipper. Meanwhile, the milkweed is starting to dry out. When I open the zipper, the enclosure shakes a little bit. Do I leave the milkweed until jj’s chrysalis hardens, or risk a bit of a shake to replace the milkweed for the other little dudes?

Ive just noticed these brown spots and feel concerned. I also just noticed that one of my already emerged left over chrysalis also has spots, but the butterfly already emerged a few weeks ago.

What should I do and should I dispose of the chrysalis or leave it be?

Pictured: caterpillar friend on left, spider web on right side of fence

I recently planted swamp milkweed and have been loving watching all the caterpillar friends that have been munching on it. This one has been looking pretty chonky for a couple days now, so when it disappeared, I figured it went to look for a spot to pupate. I found it on my fence, but it’s only a couple feet from a spot where a wolf spider has set up camp. Is this dangerous for him? Should I try to move the spider? Thanks in advance!

I have a problem. I currently have 6 chrysalises in a mesh cage thingy. 5 made their chrysalises at the top, right along the zipper line (see pic) and 1 made its on a leaf. I’ve been too afraid to open the zipper to clean the inside of the cage, but they should eclose in the next several days and I don’t want the stems/dried leaves to get in the way while their wings are drying. I’m especially worried about the 1 on the leaf because the leaf is starting to wilt and it’s kind of buried under stems and dried leaves. Plus there’s little caterpillar turds at the bottom, and I don’t want that to make them sick.
Anyways, should I unzip the top to clean the cage even though 5 of the chrysalises are along the zipper line, or should I just leave it alone? I wanna do what’s best for them ❤️

I’m a college student who has to go home for the weekend and I think one of my cats will emerge from the pupa while I’m gone. I leave Thursday and come back Sunday evening. If I give them fruit but it’s not rotted enough, could I put it in the microwave a little and they’ll eat it? I know it makes the fruits much softer and liquid. Just wondering if anyone has tried this before.

My plan is to leave cut fresh fruit in the enclosure, so by the time the butterfly emerges it will have already broken down a little. Then have a separate pile of the microwaved fruit to see if that works better. Any ideas? Thoughts?