Oh the babies take up soooo much time! And it is so tedious! Hence, the upgrade to stronger reading glasses, just for the Monarchs.
So what I do is collect a bunch of monarch eggs. Sure, if I see a larva I will grab him/her as well. I take the eggs and place them on cookie sheets lined with paper towels. Then, I lightly cover them with plastic wrap, but I don't seal it...they need the airflow.
Every other day or so, I go through the eggs to see if any have hatched. If so, I gently brush the larvae from the old milkweed (which is dried up and ugly by then) onto a fresh milkweed leaf. The larae are so freaking tiny! I am a bit obsessive about this process - I don't want to lose anybody!
So what I do is collect a bunch of monarch eggs. Sure, if I see a larva I will grab him/her as well. I take the eggs and place them on cookie sheets lined with paper towels. Then, I lightly cover them with plastic wrap, but I don't seal it...they need the airflow.
Every other day or so, I go through the eggs to see if any have hatched. If so, I gently brush the larvae from the old milkweed (which is dried up and ugly by then) onto a fresh milkweed leaf. The larae are so freaking tiny! I am a bit obsessive about this process - I don't want to lose anybody!
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