Raising Book Resources
Raising Hope for the 2022 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 2022 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 2022 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:
2021- 86% Survival Rate
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 2022 Results
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
None in 2022
Caterpillar Diseases and Parasites?
None in 2022
Accidental Deaths?
None in 2022
Chrysalis Problems
None in 2022
Butterfly Eclosure Issues
None in 2022
Final Results
As you may know, we moved to a new location and we're starting to plant our perennial butterfly garden this fall 2022, so we raised very few monarchs this summer. However, we did have some wayward common milkweed plants, so we raised just a couple, but we raised them well. 😊
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.
2 monarch butterflies emerged from their chrysalides between August 28th and August 31:
0 accidental death (butterfly fall)
0 disease or parasite issues
0 unexplained deaths
0 healthy males
2 healthy females
100% survival rate
Lessons Learned?
I think the biggest lesson I learned this year had nothing to do with raising monarchs. 2022 was a year of extreme change for my family and raising butterflies was put on hold so we could focus on more important things, but that's life! I'm hoping to have more time for gardening and raising monarchs again next year.
My biggest raising lesson this season was that placing cages under the protection of trees works well in rain storms...the chrysalides went though a couple heavy rainstorms and didn't even start to come loose inside the cage. Still, I prefer raising in a porch that's 100% free of extreme weather. We are planning to raise monarchs in a new gazebo next season...
Migration Memory 2022
This is our first year with a new garden, and we have yet to make it our own. However, there have been a few highlights to the season:
- an abundance of phlox in shades of pink/white attracted many giant and tiger swallowtails, and hummingbird moths
- One night at dusk we went out and saw about a dozen large white-lined sphinx moths nectaring on the phlox...it was magical, and one night only
- Large flowered zinnias were the monarch favorites with a limited menu
- 6 Mexican Sunflowers (tithonia rotundifolia) purchased from a nursery, seem to have hybridized with (tithonia diversifolia) which was a POOR substitute for attracting monarchs and the first flower is yet to bloom ⌛️🦋🇲🇽
I hope you enjoyed reading about my Raise The Migration '22 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 2022
204 comments
I live in rural PA with a large, native, certified pollinator garden planted specifically with monarchs in mind. A bumper crop of all three kinds of milk native to my area, loads of nectar plants -boneset, joe pye, iron weed, phlox, echinacea, ageratum, and any more, five water features including a gold fish pond with waterfall. NO pesticides. Last year I released 41 monarchs (84%). I have a large and a small mesh cage and milkweed holders. Here it is mid-August and I have not seen a single caterpillar. Every couple of days a six or eight monarchs pass through (this morning I saw one), but no mating that I can see. They seem of average size and lite more on the nectar plants than the milkweed. While my vigilance continues, I am puzzled, discouraged, but mostly sad.
I live in Southern Ontario Canada . In cottage country . Last year I raised and released 10 beauties in mason jars.
I had 2 milkweed plants around a small reflecting pool . I saw the few cats out there in such predatory peril . I brought the remaining ones inside .
This year I purchased 4 cages from Tony at Monarch life and all the necessities.
The milkweed has tripled which provided food for the 21 I rescued. There is an ants nest near the plants and the tiny babies and eggs provided food for them .
So far I have released 5 Monarchs in the afternoon warmth . There are 16 exquisite little chrysalises doing their magic and should hatch in a few days
It has given me hours of joy . It’s soothing cleaning their cages and providing fresh food .
Just sitting and watching them eat is therapy.
😊
I learned :
1.get the right equipment ( I got everything from Monarch Life Tony has been my guide for a successful experience. I went by his advice.
2. Have enough milkweed.
3. Inspect EVERY leaf and all plant areas before tossing
I thought kept track of everyone and assumed they were at the top on the mesh
I happened to look in the garbage to see a little green lantern under a leaf. It’s okay but … 🙈
It is a wonderful experience for the entire family .
The Earth is dying . Somehow it makes me feel like I’m helping when I do this . It’s a blessing to be so close to these little brave miracles of Nature ! Thank you Tony
Saw my first Monarch in May, earlier than the last 3 years. Have released 4 females. Have 1 chrysalis, 1 large cat, 2 babies and 1 egg I collected just a minute or two after I saw her lay it. For some reason I have had yellow jackets and wasps on the top side of the leaves then dozens of small flies, a little smaller than regular house flies also on the top of the leaves.
First time raising monarchs. Found 3 single eggs on different milkweed plants along a RR track near my home. Cut portion of leaf around egg and placed it on fresh leaves. Several days later, the catapillars hatched and started feeding on the leaves. Filled up several tubes with water and fresh leaves and placed the catapillars on the leaves. After a few days, I could not find 2 of them. I looked on your site and read that the very small catapillars could fall off the leaves and drowned in the tube, so I put caps on the tubes(with small hole in center) and the last one survived and grew and grew. After about 2 weeks, it stopped eating and started crawling all around the cage for a couple days and finally attached itself to the top of the cage in the corner. The green chrysalises formed in a couple days and 13 days later the butterfly emerged. A few hours later, it’s wings were dry and it flew from flower to flower in the cage. A couple hours before dark my grandson let it go; it flew up in a nearby tree then to another and settled in for the night. In the morning it was gone, what a wonderful experience for the while family. This was on August 7, my only question, is this the 3rd generation or the migration generation? I live in the mountains near State College Pa. Really enjoy your site, looking forward to next season. Many days after finding the eggs, I looked for signs of catapillars eating the milkweed leaves along the R/R tracks, but never found a catapillar. I looked at several milkweed locations and no sign of catapillars. Seems like a bad year in our location, what do you think? Thanks for all your guidance. Ken
This summer the Monarch numbers are down here in Central PA. I saw very few Monarchs. I have had only 6 caterpillars 2 of which died from Tachnid flies, 3 made it to butterflies ( 2 females and 1 male) and I have 1 in crysalis due in 10 days. Last year at this time I released 34 healrhy Monarch butterflies. I have been doing this for 10 years and my numbers are the lowest this year.🦋🐛🦋