Instead of repeating other reviewers, I focus on some basic data provided by this scholarly anthology. Did you know that, for some females, as many as 55% of eggs laid are infertile? (Prysby, p. 34). A female monarch may lay 300-400 eggs in her lifetime. (Oberhauser, p. 3). From hatching to pupation, the monarch larva increases its mass by a factor of about 2,000. (Oberhauser, p. 4).
Intentional outdoor protection of monarch eggs and young larvae, from predatory insects and other natural enemies, can increase the early 5-day survival rate from a few percent to nearly 40%. (Prysby, p. 31). Otherwise, the monarch survival rate up to the fifth instar larvae is on the order of 10-20%. (Prysby and Oberhauser, p. 19, Prysby, p. 27), and less than 10% [some say about 4%] to adulthood. (Oberhauser, p. 4).