Raising Book Resources
Raising Hope for the 2021 Monarch Migration- Raise The Migration Results
Raise The Migration is an annual North American challenge to raise monarch butterflies to release for fall’s annual monarch migration. The time has come to share your 2021 experience and raise it forward…
The raising season is coming to an end, so we’d love to hear how many butterflies you released for fall’s annual 2021 monarch migration…and more importantly, what lessons you’ve learned through this amazing raising experience?
If you’ve still got some raising to do, raise on! But please post in the comment box at the bottom of this page after you’ve released your last butterfly.
Every year, I start Raise The Migration in July, but monarchs raised at that time aren’t actually migration generation butterflies…they’re the parents to that amazing generation of travelers.
There’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 region…
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 companionship…migratory 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 you’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:
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 past 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 butterflies were parents to the migration generation.
The seven monarchs we raised after that, 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.
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. 🐛 😱
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, and we discarded those eggs when they darkened and never hatched.
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:
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.
Butterfly Eclosures
We had one eclosure disaster this year. An early morning butterfly (emerged from chrysalis before 7am) fell from our kitchen overhang on to the floor.
She lost a lot of fluids from her abdomen when this happened. Her 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.
Starting in 2022, we will no longer rehang chrysalides on our overhang. It's much safer to rehang them inside the cage where they can crawl up a mesh wall after falling a much shorter distance.
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 caterpillars because they could have parasites too.
Seven monarch butterflies emerged from their chrysalides between August 29th and October 5th:
1 accidental death (butterfly fall)
0 disease or parasite issues
0 unexplained deaths
4 healthy males
2 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.
Migration Memory 2021
I came across these mating monarchs in our Minnesota garden on September 19th when it was an unseasonable 90°:
Before 2021, I had never seen mating past the first week of September in our region.
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...
Share Your Results?! ✍️
Please share your results below by letting us know how many monarchs you released to help boost the struggling monarch population…remember 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
Hi I’m Jimmy from Ct. This is my fourth year raising, I’ve always used Tony’s products. Last year was disappointing as there just weren’t many monarchs around. This year was much better. Last year I had common milkweed, swamp milkweed, butterfly weed, and Mexican milkweed that I potted and took stem cuttings from for this year. I grew from seeds this year, but found the stem cutting method to be much easier and have a head start on the milkweed I grow from seeds. The swamp and common milkweed regrows outside. I’m glad I planted the common milkweed in contained places because it spreads like crazy through the rhizomes and I glad it can’t reach my lawn or neighbors. I agree with Tony that it should be considered invasive, and wish someone told me that when I started. I go to state fairs, and they are giving away milkweed seeds, but never tell you it’s invasive common milkweed. Last year I let go 55 monarchs and the eggs were mostly on the Mexican and swamp milkweed, very little on the common milkweed. Never any on the butterfly weed. I’ve added more and different perennials this year, and I bought some milkweed trees I learned about from Tony’s website, it’s gigantea I think. I keep them in large pots or 5 gallon buckets because I don’t want a 15’ tree and have to bring them inside because they won’t survive the winter. This year most of the eggs laid were on the common milkweed, but also there were eggs on all the other milkweed, including the milkweed trees-which I had in a different part of the yard and was really happy with that. The milkweed tree flowers are very interesting. I released my last butterfly Oct. 7th. I did not tag them this year. My total was 125 released, 35 males and 90 females. I had some loses and some were cats I found. I raised most from eggs. Two of my coworkers I gave eggs to and milkweed, and they released a total of 4 butterflies. More people at work are finding out and want to try it next year. I only keep the eggs and instar one cats inside in plastic containers, and then they go outside on my open porch in Tony’s cages. I keep the larger cats away from the smaller cats by keeping the tube stands and milkweed cut steams away from each other. Any cats I find outside go into a separate cube in case they have disease or parasites. I move all chrysalis to a separate cube, caught cat chrysalis hang from the rear and those raised from eggs in the front. I still have issues with eggs hatching in sealed containers. Some leaves dry out if I have some venting, if I don’t have any venting, those leaves will get moldy. It is humid here. Interestingly, we were going to have the effects from a hurricane here, and I couldn’t leave the cubes outside, so I brought the cats and chrysalids with me on the trip to Vt. All survived the trip up and back. I released some monarchs up there and my relatives were amazed and had a blast with it. My cousin was a teacher, and they raised and released Monarchs in her class. She has a whole field of common milkweed, but I was shocked most of it is a foot or less tall. My milkweed here grows to 5’ high. She had been unable to find any cats, I found three, and they came back with me. I gifted her a potted Mexican milkweed plant, and she had a cat on it in a couple of weeks.
I am from Saint Joseph Missouri
I moved into my house 3 years ago and there was no garden at all. I saw one Monarch in the field close to my house 3 years ago where wild milkweed was growing. I started a garden and planted some milkweed, Lillies, Colios and a lot of cosmos, lavender Clematis and more. This year I had 3 Monarchs. I do not have the time to raise them but the polinators have helped. I am hoping to see more next year since I am planning to plant a lot more of Milkweed. Better 3 than none.
I live in north central NC and had a most unusual disappointing year with 0 raised. Saw the first female arrive on May 6, but our 3rd year swamp milkweed plants had only emerged about 6 inches with not many leaves yet. Then we didn’t see any more around here until a few in September. Just as well though as the plants didn’t do well, which I guess came from a late frost the middle of May. Quite different from 2020 where we released 267 from September until the last one on October 15. Maybe next year.
Raised 1 male and 1 female
Last monarch release yesterday – 10-8 – Indianola, IA. I also tag & I saved a tag for him. I will only use “double” zipper enclosures from now on. The monarchs don’t always follow my “rule” – DON’T form your chrysalis on the zipper!! :)