mourning cloak caterpillars

Well, out of this group of 25 not one survived to emerge successfully from pupae... In fact, through we've seen hundreds of these caterpillars this spring, we've only seen 1 Mourning Cloak Butterfly. Only 1! Which is why we do this, I guess... we try to find eggs or young instars and move them into a screened outdoor enclosure with plenty of host plants. It is fun and rewarding. There are so many things preying on them, including humans with insecticides, that the survival rate is unreal. I wish we would have kept these guys in until they emerged, but we had a crazy monarch who laid over 100 eggs and we needed the room. Still, next time we'll know better.

oooooohh..... that's sad. I had a Black Swallowtail larvae that pupaed, but what popped out shocked me: it was a parasitic wasp! I felt really bad...
But, wow, your tale is more harrowing!
I mean, OUT OF ALL OF THEM?! not a one??
I've only seen one Mourning Cloak in my life, and it was pretty. Um, like, I want one of those caterpillars....
XD