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by Tony Gomez

2 years ago

Raising Book Resources

Raising Hope for the 2021 Monarch Migration- Raise The Migration Results


Share Your Raise The Migration 2021 Experience in a Comment Below

2 years ago

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By Tony Gomez

Raise the Migration 2021- Share Your Experience Raising Monarch Butterflies

by Tony Gomez

2 years ago

Raise The Migration is an annual North American challenge to raise monarch butterflies to release for fallโ€™s annual monarch migration. The time has come to share your 2021 experience and raise it forwardโ€ฆ

Raise the Migration 2021- Share Your Experience Raising Monarch Butterflies

The raising season is coming to an end, so weโ€™d love to hear how many butterflies you released for fallโ€™s annual 2021 monarch migrationโ€ฆand more importantly, what lessons youโ€™ve learned through this amazing raising experience?

If youโ€™ve still got some raising to do, raise on! But please post in the comment box at the bottom of this page after youโ€™ve released your last butterfly.

Every year, I start Raise The Migration in July, but monarchs raised at that time arenโ€™t actually migration generation butterfliesโ€ฆtheyโ€™re the parents to that amazing generation of travelers.

Thereโ€™s no way to tell whether butterflies will mate or migrate, but one telltale sign of a migration generation butterfly is its size, which is dependent on how much the caterpillar eats. The first super-sized caterpillars start to form chrysalides around the first week of September in our northern regionโ€ฆ

In the garden, you can tell non-migratory butterflies by their worn out wings. Non-migratory males are also more aggressive, chasing off potential competition while seeking out female companionshipโ€ฆmigratory monarchs are in sexual diapause and only interested in stocking up on nectar for the long journey ahead.

So how did our Raise The Migration Monarchs fare this season and what lessons did we learn raising forward?

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If youโ€™re interested in a step-by-step guide digital guide with free updates (before each monarch season begins in spring) please check out the monarch raising guide by clicking this butterfly photo:

Raising Monarch Butterflies Book

For anyone who purchases the guide (or any other item) from Monarch Butterfly Life, you will be invited to our closed facebook group where you can discuss raising monarchs with other raisers and post your photos.

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Here are Raise the Migration results from the pastย eight seasons:

2020- 82% survival rate

2019- 81% survival rate

2018- 93% survival rate

2017- 100% survival rate

2016- 96% survial rate

2015- 96% survival rate

2014- 90% survival rate

2013- 100% survival rate

As you can see from the results, this raising system is consistently producing healthy monarchs to help support the struggling monarch population.


Raise The Migration 2021 Results

I released 15 healthy monarchs (14 females and 1 male) from July 29th to August 16th with a 100% survival rate. I am fairly certain all of these butterfliesย wereย parents to the migration generation.ย 

The seven monarchs we raised after that,ย were counted as our official Raise The Migration monarchs for 2021...


Caterpillar Escapes

By keeping monarch eggs and baby caterpillars in sealed food containers, and raising larger caterpillars in the mesh cages, we never lose caterpillars.ย 

I think the closest we have come was two years ago when I forgot to close a cage door and found a caterpillar crawling on top of the cage. ๐Ÿ› ๐Ÿ˜ฑ


Unexplained Caterpillar Deaths

We didn't have any unexplained monarch deaths in 2021.


Caterpillar Diseases and Parasites?

I'm happy to report no disease issues in 2021. All of our raise the migration participants were brought in as eggs so no issues with tachinid flies...a couple eggs were parasitized by trichogramma wasps,ย and we discarded those eggs when they darkened and never hatched.ย 


Accidental Deaths?

We experienced one accidental (and completely preventable) accidental death. See the Butterfly Eclosure section below for more details...


Chrysalis Problems

No chrysalis issues to report in 2021...

Community member Jude R. recently used the microfiber method to rehang one of her fallen chrysalides:

Rehang Chrysalis on Microfiber- Raise the Migration 21 Results


Jude reports: There was zero silk and I wasn't sure what to do. Your tip worked and just in time. I was a little worried the bfly's feet would get stuck in the microfiber, but it had zero problems.
ย 
ย 

Butterfly Eclosures

We had oneย eclosure disaster this year. An early morning butterfly (emerged from chrysalis before 7am) fell from our kitchen overhang on to the floor.

Sheย lost a lot of fluids from her abdomen when this happened.ย Herย wings recovered 'somewhat' when I hung her from inside a mesh cage, but she was injured badly from the fall on to the wood floor, which is about a 7 foot drop.ย 

Starting in 2022, we will no longer rehang chrysalides on our overhang. It's much safer to rehang them inside the cageย where they can crawl up a mesh wall after falling a much shorter distance.ย 

safe way to rehang monarch chrysalis


Final Results

Our totals are from all eggs that have successfully hatched. We don't count eggs that were parasitized outside or monarchs brought in as caterpillarsย because they could have parasites too.

Sevenย monarch butterflies emerged from their chrysalides between August 29th and October 5th:ย 

1ย accidental death (butterfly fall)

0ย disease or parasite issues

0ย unexplained deaths

4ย healthy males

2ย healthy females

86% survival rate


Lessons Learned?

Chrysalides should always be kept in a cage or somewhere where the butterfly has a chance to climb to safety if it falls after it emerges. In my experience butterflies rarely fall, but it can happen.ย 


Migration Memory 2021

I came across these mating monarchs in our Minnesota garden on September 19th when it was an unseasonable 90ยฐ:

Mating Minnesota Monarchs September


Before 2021, I had never seenย mating past the first week of September in our region.ย 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my Raise The Migration '21 results and lessons learned raising monarchs through the butterfly life cycle .

And now, I'd love to hear about your experience...
ย 

Share Your Results?! โœ๏ธ

Please share your results below by letting us know how many monarchs you released to help boost the struggling monarch populationโ€ฆremember to include your location.

More importantly, please share the most valuable lesson(s) you learned about raising monarch butterflies, that you believe can help others raising forward.

Thank you for helping to Raise the Migration in 2021

338 comments


  • Here in SW Ontario I raised 64 Monarchs from my own garden milkweed patch. I made my own mesh cage for the bigger cats and after picking the leaves that held an egg, I kept them in closed boxes until able to hold their own in the big cage. I had 2 with bent soft wings and 2 that never emerged. 1 fell and never recovered and 1 was deformed. My earliest release was July 22nd and last successful October 6th. We watch them gathering along Lake Eries northern shores before migratingโ€ฆ
    I may replace the milkweed next year and plant more spaced out to reduce infestations and diseases..The cage is outside on the covered porch very close to the garden so I doubt there is any confusion where they are..this is the 3rd year I have raised these beautiful amazing creatures.

    Susan M Bond on

  • Have reared Monarchs for last 5 yrs. This year I followed the recommendations of the MLMP and mostly recorded MW growth, varieties, and different eggs and in stars seen. Their position is that if MW is planted in sufficient quantities, Monarch populars will grow.
    I must say, I was very disappointed with the season. Usually, starting in early July, we have several Monarchs visiting the gardens just about constantly. We did have a very rainy summer which might have something to do with it but there were many days when not even one was seen. I only reared 5 cats to adulthood. I left them outside under trees so as not to overheat them.
    Most eggs and various stage instars were not to be seen, gobbled up by predators.
    Next year, I will go back to finding the eggs as soon as possible and rear a manageable amount. I truly did miss them.

    Carol Baker-Frett on

  • From Tucson Arizona. My first year and I released approximately 50. Currently I have one chrysalis due to eclose tomorrow. Just prior I released two beautiful healthy males. Lost one to tachnid flies.
    Since Iโ€™ve been releasing Iโ€™ve have a Monarch butterfly in my garden everyday.

    Nights are getting chilly but days still have high temps of 90 degrees.

    M Marty Swartz on

  • I live in Brazil Indiana. I got a little bit of a late start collecting eggs and cats this year. Early in the summer when the milkweed was in bloom bees covered the plants, as well as milkweed beetles, and I let them have at it. I wasnโ€™t going to argue with the bees! After the blooms were gone the bees left but the beetles did not. They hung around all summer and they havenโ€™t left yet. I brought in 2 eggs and 2 tinies on July 12 which was the start of my monarch raising season. All together, 54 cats made it to chrysalis stage. Of those, I released 51 beautiful, healthy butterflies. One cat made itโ€™s chrysalis stuck to the side of the container it was in. Didnโ€™t emerge. I accidentally damaged a chrysalis by dropping it just a short distance before it had hardened. It emerged but had a damaged wing and didnโ€™t survive. I placed him in some flowers to live out his life as best he could. A third one that didnโ€™t survive was stuck to the top inside of the chrysalis. I helped it out but itโ€™s wings didnโ€™t fill out and itโ€™s body didnโ€™t pump out the fluid. My last butterfly #51 emerged on Oct 6, 2021. This is my 4th year raising monarchs and my most successful to date.

    I enjoy the stories and pictures that you share, Tony, and appreciate all the tips and helpful advice.

    Susan Fogel on

  • This was a bad year for me even though it was only my second year raising Monarchโ€™s. I never seen any eggโ€™s or catโ€™s until late July in my area. They may have been hiding. I did bring in the cat and eggโ€™s which were put in different enclosures. I had several with Tfly infections. (My first time seeing the Tfly eggs when they dropped out of the chrysalis.) I had 6 that never made it after they formed a chrysalis, I was able to raise 9 healthy Bflyโ€™s with 3 males and 6 females. The last two that eclosed the end of September were huge! I will getting more smaller enclosures for the eggs next year. My neighbor said I can plant extra Milkweed, Parsley and Dill in a few of his raised boxes. He enjoyed watching me release them to.

    Liz Peterson Salem, Ohio on

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