nativeplantlover said:Joanna, can you post a picture of the eggs? I really doubt they'd be Monarch eggs this late in the year. Plenty of other things lay eggs on milkweed. This has been a banner year for Large Milkweed beetles.

Oh, well, now I'm feeling a little silly. On taking and looking at a picture, I see that they're not round, and it looks like the eggs have legs. They actually look a lot like aphids. ?

I guess my enthusiasm got the better of me.

You've got aphids! Congrats! No, I'm really glad to know there are no caterpillars in distress. And honestly, when I was volunteering in the butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, I had an older couple come in one day and ask if Monarch eggs were yellow and "if they moved". I politely told the couple they had aphids and then I showed them some of our milkweeds with both aphids and eggs. They were trying to help the Monarchs and I applaud anyone out there who is doing so! The only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

mellielong said:You've got aphids! Congrats! No, I'm really glad to know there are no caterpillars in distress. And honestly, when I was volunteering in the butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, I had an older couple come in one day and ask if Monarch eggs were yellow and "if they moved". I politely told the couple they had aphids and then I showed them some of our milkweeds with both aphids and eggs. They were trying to help the Monarchs and I applaud anyone out there who is doing so! The only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

So glad you feel that way! I didn't think eggs had legs! Okay, I'll be planting milkweed seeds and then, if I'm lucky, I'll eventually have both milkweed AND eggs! Thanks for the clarification.

Hi, y'all. I'm just following along. I know nothing about the life cycle, etc. (Ok. I did take basic biology.) I worry that now that I'm growing milkweed, gregg's mistflower, bronze fennel and other such stuff, that I won't have enough for these guys to eat. I read somewhere that it can happen. Since I only have a small backyard perennial bed, I don't want to be the temptress who then starves her guests to death. Is there any way to know?

Joan, it's always better to provide habitat than not. Out of every 100 eggs laid, only 1 or 2 will make it to adulthood. Caterpillars are a pretty important link in the food chain, and birds don't usually discriminate and eat only the ugly ones. I'm sure there are situations where they run out of food in the wild, too. Just having the host plants for them is giving them a chance.

Thanks @mellielong. I feel a little better now. I keep telling myself (yes, I talk to myself as well as to my plants) that I need to get my lazy self up and out and go to the Texas Discovery Gardens rightchere in Dallas. Among other things, they have a daily butterfly release into their 2 story butterfly house.
They're also having a native plant sale on Nov. 5th. So tempting.