Do Cats Like Milkweed

Broad velvety leaves similar to common milkweed can be distinguished by presence of white hairs Flower color ranges from light pink to purple.

Do cats like milkweed. Milkweed Asclepias spp is a group of common herbaceous ornamentals that are an essential food source for caterpillars of the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus. Some mimic human speech. To accommodate this rapid growth to large monarch caterpillars they need to shed their skin molt 5 times with the final molt revealing their emerald green.

The best thing to do is to plant MORE milkweed because this is the only host plant they feed on. Milkweed Tussock moth caterpillars appearance changes as they grow but I dont think they match your description. Milkweed species in the genus Asclepias contain cardiac glycosides that are poisonous to humans but they pose the most danger to grazing animals.

So lessons learned. Photo by Monika Maeckle. They are unlikely to cause direct harm to your Monarch eggs or caterpillars since they most likely eat plant material not other insects.

Last week I noticed this fellow noshing on a pot of Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata. A monarch chrysalis hangs from the leaf of common milkweed Asclepias syriacaThis is the stage in the life cycle where the caterpillar changes to a butterfly. To increase monarch populations people are increasingly planting ornamental types of milkweed and encouraging common milkweed to grow wherever it occurs in uncultivated areas.

It is known for its long blooming period drought tolerance and easy propagation. There are many types of milkweed and I happen to have two of them in my yard. A kitten might practice her Hiss at you even though.

Monarch caterpillars do only eat plants in the Milkweed family Asclepias spp so if we want to help them out in our wildlife gardens we still need to add these plants to our gardens. Im happy to hear that the monarch caterpillars are feeding on your milkweed. The leaves of non-natives like tropical milkweed and balloon plant Gomphocarpus physocarpus stay viable from first leaf until first frost.