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?
===========================================================================================
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.
===========================================================================================
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
I am in Oak Hills California and as of today, I have released 462 Monarch butterflies. I have lost some caterpillars to the Tachinid fly, but the rest are big and healthy!🤞 Let’s hope the coming year’s count is better.
🍑Kingsland, Georgia, USA
#MonarchWayStation29385 on Instagram
For the summer: The first week August it rain almost every day which decreased predators mainly wasp, which increased the chances of caterpillars surviving past 1-2 be instar stages.
With the increase in rain, heat and humidity, I had to add a extra step to insuring the butterfly wings dry properly after enclosing. This is the first time I had to think differently than what Tony recommended in his volume 2 book. Tony’s environment is much different than Coastal Georgia, I knew that his recommendation probably came mostly from the environment in which he raises his own Monarch’s. Considering this made me feel more comfortable with adding a extra step.
After a butterfly hatches, I leave it for 2 hours to dry inside it’s cage that I have hanging inside a screen porch with coverage and great air circulation. However instead of transferring it to another cage to sun bath and then to the Shepard hook for release, I had to place the butterfly into another cage and then set the cage in my office for 3 hours, and then place it back outside into the sun for 1 hour and then onto the Sheppard hook for release. My office is dry and warm giving them the wings more opportunity to dry properly. I did this after 3 butterflies had issues with the top portion of their wings. The top part of the wing bent in half bc the butterfly wings needed more time to dry before placing them in the sun light. I learned that Tony’s book is helpful but also that it’s ok to make adjustment to the time portion based on where you live. After adding the extra step, I didn’t have any more bent wings.
For the Spring: the release of healthy butterflies have decreased this year compared to 2020. For example, in 2020 22 females and 24 males where released compared to this year were only 7 females and 3 males were released . 😯
The Good news is parasite and disease decreased this year compared to last years spring and summer seasons.🥳
Connecting with others : I started to follow a few more FB group page( The beautiful Monarch page) and learned about the silk button which was pretty cool. It’s really great to connect with others.
Accidental death: 0
Other(I.e. bent wings, won’t eat and completely split proboscis): Spring 1 , Summer 3
Disease or parasites issues: Spring 1,Summer 2
Unexplained deaths: Summer 1
Healthy Males: Spring 3, Summer 5
Healthy Females: Spring 7, Summer 8
Hello I’ve been raising monarch butterflies for 7 years with pretty good success definitely 95 to 98% success rate. I have two big mesh cages that the caterpillars complete their stages in. Last year and this year so far has been the lowest amount of monarchs butterflies so far I have successfully raised definitely a hundred butterflies. Usually by November I will should surpass that number but like I said last year and this year has been very Grimm. I did have a little bit of a wasp problem attacking some caterpillars but that has ceased. And a little bit of ant problem eating eggs been trying the coffee grinds to see if that really works in confusing them and keep them away from the plants. But anyway I’m so glad that we have people that really care about nature this is all we have and if we don’t do something we will lose it. I love what I do and makes me feel really good inside. I raise bluebirds hummingbirds and other butterflies whatever I can do I do to help. I live in Florida and we will get the last part of the migration so fingers crossed a September November will be a good one this year. Thank you for your time for reading my post.
2021’s been a disappointing year for monarchs in my part of CT. Found only 4 eggs, all of which pupated . But despite my TLC they all died a day or so before they were due to hatch. Fungus? Bacteria? Parasite? During the course of summer I spotted only 2 grown monarchs flitting around my milkweed patch. All in all, a crummy year for them. On the happy side, yesterday a healthy looking migrant flew through my open car window and out the other side. Since we’re not usually on a migration route this was a great surprise . Time after time, just when I surrender hope for my CT monarchs something like this happens, and my inner monarch spark perks me back into optimism. Never give up hope for yourselves and monarchs!
ct
This is my first time! I learned a lot. A few were attacked by predators. I will try it again I will be ready….. Thanks