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
Whoops meant to thank you for the screened in homes for raising the monarchs. It’s wonderful. I too became a designated Monarch Waystation. I love this sign and hope to have it with free milkweed in the spring for neighbors. I am finally up to about 55 stems of milkweed this year. Also learned from you an idea to have several potted types of milkweed. I’ll try that next year. I also spread the rebekia to the borders so the butterfly garden can have more variety to pollinators next year. Thank you for all your resources.
It’s melancholy around here after releasing our last male monarch. We waited until the sun was out and didn’t really want to keep him over another night. He had no “shivers” warmed on the Redbeckia and then took off for the black walnut trees with our good wishes.
Lost 1 caterpillar
Lost 1 monarch that looked weak and some loss of color
Met new neighbors and even a couple of kids that moved in from Ukraine by texting times for releasing our monarch beauties. That was really fun this year. Its the adults that still don’t believe the entire cycle is possible :)
6/29/22 First monarch seen on the milkweed
7/5/22 First monarch released
8/20/22 Released 8 with 6 more chrysalis and 1 caterpillar
Late August early September found a few more caterpillars
Total release 20 monarchs this season
Forgot to mention, first time time had chrysalis fall not long after pupating. Fortunately, it haf a soft short landing and I had fou d it quickly to rehab. It appeared to form normally, but I wonder if this is the one with the torn wing I woke up to. Who knows. It flew. Had waxed dental floss on the ready!
I have been raising Monarchs for five years and this by far was the most disappointing turnout- only 31 flew away. ( 2 years ago we had 183 ) I live in east central Illinois and we just didn’t have many Monarchs come thru, especially females. I lost a couple to OE. I highly recommend planting Tithonia ( Mexican sunflower) that I plant from seeds in June and are now in full bloom just in time for hungry migrating Monarchs. My husband and I have made raising Monarchs our summer priority so I hope we have more opportunities next year! Thanks Tony for your advice and information, it is very helpful.
This was my first real year of raising monarchs here in Omaha, Nebraska. I released 22 monarchs total (15 males and 7 females; is that ratio normal?). I only lost one caterpillar that slowly grew deformed, plus two chrysalids, so I feel fortunate.
The biggest lesson I learned was cleanliness, and it helped to get the mats and find a better location for the net cage. I also built a base with handles and used small bungee cords to secure the net when I moved it outside from the garage on breezy days (I have no enclosed porch, unfortunately). My goal for next year is to be more careful with butterfly releases, being mindful of too much wind, the time of day, etc.
I didn’t raise any from eggs like many others have reported, not counting the two “bonus babies” that I probably carried in as eggs. Most of my caterpillars came from various instars, so maybe I was fortunate not to have as much disease or parasite problems. Most came from the couple of milkweed plants I have in my yard, but I’m lucky to have access to additional milkweed where I work outside of Omaha. I may attempt raising from eggs next year.
I released the last two on September 19. But I saw many monarchs flying around in western Iowa on a bike ride yesterday, September 24. A positive sign, I hope!