Monarch caterpillars

First a swan plant grew itself in our garden and then caterpillars appeared that seem to double in size every few days. They’re running out of tree to eat. Quite stressful to witness. I hear they like cabbage.

[kali]

or pumpkin, but its not good for them, their wings wont develop well . it is stressful looking out for them, one year i had wasps eating them, this year there is a wasp nest nearby and no caterpillars at all. these ones look almost ready to go into their cryssalis, you may have to cull the smallest ones , or ask on a local facebook noticeboard page perhaps

[Carolinesdreams]

@kali66 that must’ve been horrible watching the wasps. The caterpillars in the picture are some the bigger ones so I hope they make it. I’m hoping to get some supplementary plants today. I will try to transfer the littlest ones.

[Ingrid]

I hope you get another plant, but they can (and will) eat the whole stem if necessary. Other food (although they might eat it) is not good for them.

[Babs]

They do look pretty but so destructive. We have two white cedar trees in our garden and the hairy caterpillars shred the leaves off them

[PhotoCrazy]

Nice capture!