Tootfinder

How do Monarch butterflies survive?
I've planted several California native milkweeds - the Monarchs have a definite preference for it. (It's fun to work in the garden and have Monarchs flying around me.)
Eventually the milkweeds are covered by very healthy looking, strikingly patterned caterpillars. The caterpillars consume the milkweed plant until the plant is a leafless hulk. And the caterpillars vanish.
But I have yet to see a chrysalis.
I'm going to…

@… Nice! I'll have to check my milkweed.

@… We've had them in our front yard in Washington, DC constantly the last couple of weeks. They really are attracted to butterfly milkweed.

Last week one of my milkweeds was covered with several large, healthy-looking, Monarch caterpillars.
The caterpillars ate all of the leaves, thus leaving them hungry and quite visible to the many birds in our area.
The birds ate all of the Monarch caterpillars.
We have about a half dozen milkweeds - mostly the California native types - around the house. I will plant more, especially the type that was devoured by the caterpillars, but I will cover them with bird netting.