How To Find Monarch Eggs on Milkweed Plants
First we’ll hunt, then we’ll gather, and finally we’ll find a safe place for your monarch eggs to rest and develop until hatching out baby monarch caterpillars. Let’s get started with your first step…
What do Monarch Eggs Look Like?
Monarch mamas aren’t the only ones laying eggs on milkweed. Here are some close-up monarch egg photos for those who aren’t quite sure what they’re looking for. Notice that monarch eggs have distinct ridges:
That being said, monarchs don’t lay eggs in large masses like ladybugs, tussock moths, or stink bugs:
If you find monarch eggs that appear yellow and are crawling around with short black legs, those would be aphids:
When in doubt, google images is your friend….
Where to Find Monarch Eggs
Where should you look for monarch eggs? Here’s a list of places where many monarch raisers are finding their migration eggs:
Female monarch butterflies lay monarch butterfly eggs with their abdomen (ovipositor) on host plant milkweed, so be on the lookout for:
- Small milkweed seedlings that have popped up over the summer
- Rabbit-ravaged plants (with fresh growth)
- Lone milkweed plants located away from large patches that are chocked full of predators…potted or garden plants
- Late season, fresh-leaved milkweed varieties including tropical milkweed, giant swan plant, swamp milkweed
- First year perennial milkweed seedlings w/ fresh leaves including common, swamp, butterfly weed
- Milkweed in partial shade typically has fewer predators and the plant leaves stay fresh longer with breaks from the sultry summer sun ☀️
- underside of the leaf is typically the best place to start searching
- Flower buds of milkweed including tropical and giant milkweed
- Seed pods
- milkweed stems
- Nearby non-milkweed plant leaves or blades of grass…accidents happen🙃
- You can also find caterpillars on the lowest sets of leaves. When you all-of-the-sudden see a large caterpillar (monarch larvae) on your previously ‘unoccupied’ milkweed, that’s probably where it was hiding out.
Of course, monarch females are the queens of egg-hiding, so leave no milkweed leaf unturned!
Search Tips for Monarch Eggs
- If you have a hard time seeing small monarch eggs with the naked eye, try using a magnifying glass to confirm your findings.
- The glare of the bright sun can make eggs harder to see, so try searching in overcast conditions when the off-white, cream-colored eggshell contrast better against green milkweed plants. In sunny weather, wear sunglasses 😎
Once you’ve verified your monarch egg treasure, you can leave them to grow in the garden (at a survival rate of 1% to 5%) or you can choose to collect and care for a few monarch eggs.
Please comments below if you have questions about how to Find Monarch Eggs on Milkweed. For further assistance raising healthy butterflies, a ✬✬✬✬✬ rated PDF download on How To Raise More Monarchs, with Less Effort is available for purchase HERE <<< (instant PDF Download)
I have a solo milkweed plant in front of my house that has 6 caterpillars on it . Will that one plant be enough for all of them? Should I move any of them to the 20 plants that I have behind my house?
Hi Jeff, depending on the size, 1 milkweed plant can sustain between 1 and 3 monarchs…you might want to spread them out, if possible.
Most of my milkweed is almost completely covered with aphids . Should I just discard it. Would the butterfly’s use it anyway?
Hi Christi, butterflies will lay eggs on plants with aphids, but an aphid infestation can negatively impact plant health, and means they’d be more likely to be bypassed. Some aphids are important for a healthy ecosystem and if you leave them, you will eventually attract their predators like ladybugs and lacewings. More info on:
How to Stop Aphids from taking over Milkweed
I recently found a monarch young caterpillar on a milkweed plant. I cut the plant with a number of leaves and when I got home transferred it to a different type of milkweed plant. Sadly it almost died.. the trama.. different food sources.. So I moist some of the original milkweed leaves and it started to eat again .. Will the monarch survive on moist leaves?
Hi Jane, they will typically switch over pretty quickly, but I have have seen a few reject the switch TO Asclepias tuberosa I’m not sure what you mean by ‘moist’ leaves. It’s a good idea to rinse off leaves or cuttings before serving them to caterpillars. good luck!
If the leaves are too moist it will cause vomiting. Make sure they are dry.
Also, NEVER move a Monarch caterpillar. Offer fresh milkweed. If they want it they will move to it. Quite often when a caterpillars are sitting around they are getting ready to molt. If this is disrupted they could easily die.
For some reason my long note cut off and magically disappeared where I talked at length about thrips. Look those bugs up. Not able to control. They fly/night time predator cutting off new tops of plants. Terrible time with them last several years.
Thanks for posting, we have some basic info about them on our pests page: Thrips
Thank you Tony for helping us through the journey of helping the Monarch Butterfly.
I have two questions about this egg stage.
1. I am seeing the holes in the milkweed leafs where the eggs most likely hatched but am having a hard time of it this year with a bug that is sucking the life out of the leaves, making the leaves shrivel and roll up a little. The only thing I have found so far is a yellow maggot looking thing. I have searhed for eggs but have found none.
2. One of my many Milkweed plants are COVERED with little black ants from early morning to just dusk. )I am seeing a few aphids too)
Thanks, Gail
Good information. I am having a hard time finding the eggs this year. It seem like the milkweed is covered with insects with no room for the monarchs to lay their eggs. I haven’t seen a monarch yet this season in New England. I do have a question for you. Is it true that the monarchs don’t lay wags in the milkweed with the flowers in them? I haven’t seen heard that but it seems rather odd to me. Hopefully, you will know the answer. Many thanks, Nancy Sue McFarland.
PS I have been raising
Monarchs and swallow tails for over 40 years and I’m still amazed but the whole life cycle.
Hi Nancy, in my experience monarchs tend to lay eggs on smaller plants before they flower, although they definitely like laying eggs in the protection of flower buds. As with anything, there are exceptions…I hope you see some activity soon!