Scattering swan plant seed shouldn’t be a problem – Nature does that anyway! 🙂
oops ok wont go there! (propagating moth vine) ive also been thinking of planting some swan plants in the local reserves around foxton beach, i wonder would this be a no no also?
Please do NOT propagate moth vine, it causes a lot of heartache and damage to our ecosystem. And it’s also illegal. 🙂
i also have moth vine, which last year the cats found it before me! clever little things. before ive thought of moth vine as a weed, and its slowly taking over one of my shrubs, but what a great find! perhaps i should start propagating this year, last year it had alot or seed.
hi there, im in the manawatu with lots of plants not alot of eggs, so if any one is desperate in this region i could help…. regarding raising the caterpillars on pumpkin, last year i needed to resort to this, as my mum did throughout my childhood, and i would like to pass on the details of what i found very useful and helped raise lots of healthy butterflies, (small caterpillars prob wont survive sadly) but get a large box, cardboard works fine, line the bottom with newspaper to make cleaning poop much easier, then with the pumpkin peel it (incase of chemicals), then slice it quite thinly, about 5mm, and then, this is the important part, get 2/3 skewers and poke through like making kebabs so that the slices stand up apart from each other in a row. this is a good way to avoid the poop landing on the food supply and fouling it. the cats will also try to escape so a screen of some type that gives ventilatíon but stops escape is good and they will hang from the screen to morph. dont put the box in direct sun but not too dark either. i did it in spare room. also, the box needs to be large enough so that when they hatch to butterflies there is enough hanging room so they dont bump as they pump their wings up.
Look behind shops and light industrial areas, along railway tracks (not near you), also areas where homes are more likely to be recommended (and residents are less likely to care about weeds).
I don’t recommend sending caterpillars anywhere. If I had too, it would be very small ones, first instar. They eat less and take up less room. Sounds like your monarch caterpillars are near the end of their cycle.
Look at your local primary school(s) to see if they have swan plants growing.
Hi Jacqui, thank you for the link. I researched about moth vine and no I don’t have any of that plant in my garden. I might try to see if the reserve has it.
Can cats be safely posted to South Island from Auckland? A member is happy to take my cats if I can post it to them. What would be the best and safest method of sending cats in the post?
Thanks
Hi Jacqui,
I actually had a major issue with the cats. After they stripped my swan plant bare, they started migrating to look for more food sources which meant they were EVERYWHERE, literally everywhere on my driveway; to the point it was impossible to step out the front door without trampling the cats. So I have had to put them in a cardboard box with thin pumpkin slices. But obviously they can’t stay like that hence my urgency to re-home them! In total I would say there are about 30-35 cats in the box and another ten that are still on the swan plant.
I am sorry but I don’t know much about moth vine. How would I recognise a moth vine plant? Thanks
Gulshan, last I heard there were hundreds of caterpillars on the move out at Meola Road… the plants were stripped bare.
When you say “countless” how many do you mean. Don’t count them, just count a small number then multiply that number by the area you think they may cover… “Countless” can mean 100 or 1000 or ???
Have you looked around for moth vine? You could leave some on moth vine?
Hi Jacqui
I have read about Meola Road having lot of swan plants from other forum discussions. I am not from that area but is that somewhere I could transfer my cats to? I would like more details about the plants on Meola Road so if you could please tell me I would really appreciate it.
Kind Regards
Gulshan
FYI Dannemora is a suburb of Auckland, south-east.
Monarch caterpillars will eat any member of the cucurbit family (which includes pumpkin, squash and cucumber) if milkweed (e.g. swan plant) is out of range but if it is fed too early the butterflies may be deformed. Lots of if’s and but’s.
Jacqui
Hi nmkozik
I don’t have eggs and neither do I have ANY leaves…nada..not even a mm of leaf. I don’t mind sending cats but would they survive? If you suggest me how I should send them…I will.
Regards
Gulshan
Hi Caryl
Thank you for your advice of feeding cucumber. I had no clue and read that pumpkin would work so that’s what I have been doing since yesterday.
I live in Dannemora. So if anyone is willing to take the caterpillars I woukd really appreciate it.
Regards
Gulshan
would u send? im in oamaru with huge plants, 2 yrs ago some1 sent me a cd case with eggs and leaves
You need to tell everyone where you are. I find it extremely helpful to check my plants several times a week to check on the egg situation. If I have too many then I can take action before a crisis occurs. You can also feed the caterpillars cucumber, Lebanese preferably rather than pumpkin which results in deformed butterflies if fed to young caterpillars.
Report a pest
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