Here are some pictures of monarchs, milkweed (tropical) and pupa's and some caterpillars in the "J" position just before beginning to pupate. We get monarch's here almost year round.

Here is a black swallowtail. The host plants for them are anise or dill and parsley.

One of the few sulphur butterflies I was able to raise. host plants are cassia or senna.

Thank you for the useful links. The Plains conservation effort in Maine looks very similar to the Prairie conservation effort that is ongoing in Illinois. I love the map of the migration of monarchs! I have seen "generic maps" but never one that actually tracks live in a particular year. I will make sure that I check it at least weekly.

I also live in a city, in the "older" section which has no shortage of beautiful flowering plants and flowers. Four years ago, when I started raising monarchs, there were very few visiting our flowerbeds. The reason is that there was no milkweed. Once I planted milkweed, I still had to purchase monarch larva to get a population started, but at the beginning of the third "monarch season" I began to see more and more monarchs in the wild, and have been able to continue my monarch raising activities without having to purchase larva.

Experts theorize that among many other aspects of their genetic makeup, there is a navigational component that directs future generations to the geographic area in which there ancestor metamorphosized. From my limited experience, that appears to be true.

You will not see any monarchs at all until at least July. In one of my future posts, I will provide links to where you can purchase larva to get started. In the meantime, I will also post instructions for creating your "raising environment" and where to get the all-important milkweed.

@PappyOnWings Thanks. I won't be buying any larvae, at least not until I can move into my own home, and partially because I'm a pauper. I spent years painstakingly pulling out non-natives, and allowing goldenrods, New England aster, Joe-Pye weed and other native plants to flourish at my old home. My ex sold it to people who wasted no time mowing down everything, even after I explained why I had encouraged certain plants and yanked others. It was heartbreaking.

If I can muster the energy, I'll see if any of the community gardens in town will dedicate a plot as a pollinator garden. One local business planted natives, but I noticed the last time I went by that it was back to non-natives. I suppose enough people complained about their native garden looking like "weeds". I can just collect seeds here from wild plants.

I don't ever expect to see monarchs until long after the snow has melted. We still have snow pack here in Vermont.

@ailurophile Here is a suggestion that I have never seen on any other website, but which I have done myself. I hope it works for you. First of all, make sure you have milkweed. You can get one packet of seeds free from saveourmonarchs.org, and you can plant the seeds in pots.

My suggestion to get free caterpillars is to wait until "monarch season" starts, then begin to visit local nurseries that grow milkweed. Inspect the milkweed to find larva (usually very small ones) and ask if you can have them. Usually, they are happy to let you have the caterpillars because left on the milkweed they will consume it, therefore rendering it not-fit-to-sell. I have also gotten black Eastern swallowtail caterpillars this way, by picking them off parsley plants and taking them home.

Please contribute your thoughts anytime. Another species I really enjoy raising is black swallowtail. The swallowtail chrysalis looks nothing like the monarch chrysalis. It is his brown and blends in very well with tree bark. I have three or four of them over-wintering in my garage. It is the first time I have done this, and I am hoping I did everything correctly.

@PappyOnWings It would seem we have similar tastes in the flutterbys we like. What do the Swallowtail caterpillars feed on again? I knew, but have forgotten.

@CapriKious Several different herbs, as well as carrot tops, are host plants for swallowtails. I have fennel in my plant beds and set potted parsley around the yard. I had no trouble collecting eggs last summer. Their eggs are much easier to recognize then monarch eggs.

Once you have milkweed, it will take a couple of years to establish a monarch population.@Plainjane, who also lives in Texas, has already seen a monarch. You have a much longer "monarch season" than most of the rest of us, but to get started raising them, you may have to purchase caterpillars this year and next year both. Because of your location, it may be much easier to find local suppliers than it is for those of us living further north.