Last week I seen a Monarch butterfly on my milkweed patch I know that’s normal then yesterday I see one working rotten ground apples never seen that before. I thought it just happened to land there but then it moved to another decaying apple looked it up and they do eat them.

That monarch was likely of the Super generation that will migrate to Mexico, winter there and start a return to SD where it came from. They do not behave or feed the same as summer generations. Most milkweed flowers are now spent(they don’t eat as caterpillars do) so they look for other food sources and trace elements they need. Rough Liastris is a favorite among them. We have a 2 ac failed field that previous owners stripped the top soil from for some purpose leaving an exposed subsoil that has allowed us to reseed this flower in plenty. It is a great attractant to the migrating Monarchs that are traveling thru. Some years depending on their numbers they will roost in several trees in numbers.

When I was a kid, our apple trees were left to their own devices. We collected what we could use, and the rest sat on the ground. 1000's of butterflies flocked to our yard annually for the apples. It was like something out of a fairytale to walk to the apple tree and all the butterflies take flight.

No deer eating the apples it’s good to see something benefiting from them.