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
9-25-21 My last 1out of 55 flew away today. Michigan weather is changing fast.
Monarchs arrived about 2 weeks later than last year but were plentiful throughout the summer. Raised and released 33 (20 female and 13 male) from August 5 – September 25 in Little
Compton, RI. Sadly, I lost 2 caterpillars (found dead at bottom of cage) and 1 chrysalis that developed black spots so it was euthanized. I recruited 2 neighbors who are also now raising.
This was my fourth year raising Monarchs. Was also my least successful, maybe released 10 butterflies. Have common milkweed& butterfly garden with early to late blooming nectar plants, swamp & tropical milkweed. Seemed like my first monarch sighting was late, common milkweed was past its prime. Seemed like plants and Monarchs were were out of sync. Also has potted swamp & tropical milkweed, some to put in large enclosure. Sadly lost a lot of caterpillars at different stages. Unfortunately may have been from pesticides poisoning & diseases , the later were t flys. Will throughly clean everything. Looking for advice on established plant maintenance. Will change my dogs flea/tick control, read that could cause issues. Cats that looked healthy & eating & were brought into enclosures & fed milkweed off same plant that came off of. Gave some cats to neighbor during the summer & she had she had a high mortality rate too. I bought swamp & common milkweed plants from Butterfly house in St Louis & tropical from Joyful Butterfly so didn’t feel my new plants were an issue. Wasps were also plentiful. I used rainwater from my rain barrel for my cuttings, have done that every year. Grasping for answers & hoping for a better year in 2022. Any. thoughts, advice greatly appreciated.
I live in Lexington, Ky. I captured 32 caterpillars and have released 1/2 of them.
All of them have been really healthy.
I keep the 24 hours before I release them because we have a cooler than normal September. I love doing this. This is my second year of raising them. Last year I released 7 and this year 32.
This was my 1st year growing milk weed & raising monarchs. I found 7 caterpillars & all 7 of them became beautiful healthy butterflies. I had 5 males & 2 females, all of them emerged between 9/8 – 9/13. They were released 9/9 -9/14, when they were at least 24 hrs old. Next year I’ll get tags for them so they can be monitored . I’ve done a lot of reading & researching on monarchs & I believe they were all migrators. I talked to them when I cleaned out their enclosures, brought them fresh milk weed or checked on them throughout the days . A few hours after they emerged I moved them to another enclosure. It had a top zippered opening which was easier for releasing . I talked to them when I moved them & they were not afraid of me. I gently picked them up the way I saw on videos, & I could swear they knew me. I read that they kept memories from when they were caterpillars & I believe it’s true. The 3rd one emerged on 9/9 & it was my grandsons 7th birthday. We sat & watched her eclose from the chrysalis & as she hung on it drying her wings. It truly was an amazing sight & one he will always remember. We are already planning on planting more milk weed for next year. I know 7 isn’t a lot compared to others. But it was a wonderful start to many more years of being a butterfly Mom!