Even though butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa ... or paper bags over the whole area and cover with mulch, leaves, or straw -- anything to keep the paper in place long enough to suffocate the ...

Its first meal is its own eggshell, and then it moves on to munch the milkweed leaves. The caterpillars exclusively eat milkweed. Try showy, common or swamp milkweed and butterfly weed.