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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


  • Four years ago I planted a smaller butterfly garden at our lake house about 45 miles NW of Springfield, Missouri. I had 5 milkweed plants but 2 did not make it this year. I have never seen any caterpillars on them. For the first time when I arrived Thursday evening, I had 17 caterpillars on the plants. I had to leave the next morning for a couple of days. When I returned, the plants were stripped off and I only saw 2 remaining caterpillars. Today I found 5 chrysalis on other plants in the garden. Iโ€™m so excited.

    Karen Simon on

  • I raised and released 8 Monarchs, the last on 8/21/21. I lost one small cat that appeared to be injured and one chrysalis in a strong storm. I raised them all outdoors in a mesh enclosure that was put inside an REI mesh tent.

    I just saw a female lay eggs on milkweeds just outside my home today, 9/6/21. And found a 5th instar caterpillar that I am leaving alone (not bringing it in to raise in enclosure).

    Yvonne Besyk on

  • I live in Millersburg Ky and write this on 9/5/21. Last year,2020, I raised and released around 20 monarchs and most of the cats started appearing around late August and my last release was in the second week of October. This year has me baffled. I had my milkweed patch all ready and have not had one single caterpillar. Two blocks away we have a Monarch way station and I found one cat there about 10 days ago, (3rd week of August) brought it home . It formed the chrysalis the next day and hatched beautifully today (Sept 5th).I will be releasing it tomorrow. We have spotted 3 Monarchs this season and others in the town have seen a few but not as many as usual. I donโ€™t know if their migration route was different this year or what . Our way station had many many cats in 2019 and 2018 but hardly any this year and last year. I am disappointed but know there must be a reason and hope for a better result next year. I would welcome any feedback and wonder if this has happened to others. I love these beautiful creatures and really missed seeing them this year. I will continue to look for them into October.

    Deborah (Debbie) jackson on

  • I live in Durham, NC and so far have released 22 Monarchs. Most have been male and all appear healthy. I have about 30 chrysalis and caterpillars left. This year Iโ€™m not going to extend collection of eggs into the late fall. Iโ€™d rather allow for nature to take its course. Last year (my second) as the nights became cooler, I began to have Monarchs with deformities (not the majority). I have 3 types of milkweed-Common, Tropical (I pull all plants from the roots at the end of the season knowing that the Tropical Milkweed is not native and wanting to be proactive about disease. Itโ€™s interesting. The Swamp Milkweed grows beautifully but then became infested with Aphids. Today, the last remaining leaves had cats that gathered in one section. I collected those cats and cut the Swamp Milkweed back. The monarchs do NOT seem to like the Common Milkweed unless I transplant them to the CM directly. The Common Milkweed also seems to have a variety of insects that attract to it, including ants, flies and Milkweed beetles. Of course, the Tropical Milkweed is abundant, by now covered in Aphids and other insects. It appears eaten but as I investigate I donโ€™t find many young cats, some eggs. I lived in the north most of my life and find the insect population here to be insane. It is amazing if Monarchs can thrive in my area. I hope this information is helpful. I live in a 55+ HOA community where Roundup is used but one can opt out. At least one of my neighbors opts out and I donโ€™t seem to have issues related. Everyday now Monarchs are in my garden. I think the end of August and beginning of September is the migration South, so I prepare for this time. I did make the mistake when I saw a Monarch in the Spring to collect eggs, but the weather became damp and cold again and I didnโ€™t see Monarchs until the fall.

    Susan Cortilet-Jones on

  • This was my first year, and I released 15 and now have 4 Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (Tennessee). :)

    Gretchen on

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