Raising Book Resources
Raising Hope for the 2023 Monarch Migration- Share Your 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 2023 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 2023 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 how to raise monarchs book (choose paperback or PDF download) 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:
2022- 100% Survival Rate
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 2023 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 a few years back when I forgot to close a cage door and found a caterpillar crawling on top of the cage. 🐛 😱
Unexplained Caterpillar Deaths
None
Caterpillar Diseases and Parasites?
None
Accidental Deaths?
I carelessly removed a small caterpillar that was getting ready to molt inside the plastic food container. It was not able to fully shed its skin and did not survive.
Chrysalis Problems
None
Butterfly Eclosure Issues
None
Final Results
Our totals will be taken from all eggs that have successfully hatched in our care. We don't count eggs that were parasitized outside or monarchs brought in as caterpillars because they could have parasites too.
This year, we ended up with 9 migration generation monarchs...all have been 'unintentional' after pulling wayward egg-upied common milkweed coming up in the lawn.
So how many survived to reach butterhood?
1 accidental death
0 disease or parasite issues
0 unexplained deaths
3 healthy males
5 healthy females
89% survival rate
Lessons Learned
There have been a few lessons learned throughout this season and it's the result of having a new outdoor raising setup.
In past seasons, we raised in a 3-season porch with the windows open, which protected growing monarchs from extreme weather, while still exposing them to environmental cues telling them to migrate. This year, we raised outdoors and barely avoided a couple catastrophes:
- Protect the cage from heavy rains above- we did this by placing the cage on a bench under an evergreen. On the other side of the deck, we place cages under the awning (prevents drownings and falling chrysalides)
- If heavy rain is forecast, consider removing the poo poo platter so rain doesn't pool on the cage floor (prevents drownings)
- Protect monarchs from strong winds- we ended up using two paver bricks in each cage (prevents cages from falling or blowing away)
- Crowded Caterpillars often Pupate on Milkweed Leaves- We used smaller cages this season and having to use two pavers inside each minimized space which made plant leaves too enticing to form chrysalides
- If a caterpillar pupates on a leaf that's OK, but separate it from feeding caterpillars (prevents chrysalis from falling to floor if leaf gets eaten)
- Use your magnifier- our lone accidental death of '23 could have been prevented if I used it to see that a small caterpillar I moved was actually molting. (When you see better, you do better!)
- Keep Cages away from Predators- we have been lucky with insects and larger predators chewing through the cage to this point, but there is always a greater chance you will have issues with an outdoor raising setup
We were very lucky this season was a success. On a windy night, the cage nearly blew off the table it was on becuase I was using rocks instead of the heavier paver bricks to secure the stage. This could have severely injured or killed most of our brood
I much prefer the indoor setup with exposure to natural outdoor conditions. We will be investing in a greenhouse or arboretum for raising purposes next season and will keep you posted.
Migration Memories 2023
Our Mexican sunflowers were a big hit with migrating monarchs, swallowtails, hummingbirds, and bees this season. Here's a Minnesota Migration Moment from early September:
...and here's our final release monarch female stocking up on nectar September 20th:
I hope you enjoyed reading about my Raise The Migration '23 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 at the bottom of this page and let 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 2023
189 comments
SO happy to report we’re having a bumper crop of healthy milkweed attracting a huge # of Monarchs in GA. We’re halfway between Atlanta & Augusta, GA on Lake Oconee. We harvested the seedlings that popped up last spring & potted them so we could move them around to different areas of our acre property. I presently have about 30 large cats in their most hungry stage ready to create their chrysalises! But, we’re still collecting eggs when we spot a Moma Monarch laying them. So, a MUCH better season this year!!! LOVE the soft flexible green covers for the bottom of the cages – so EASY to take out & dump the fraas in the trash can. Happy Raising to you all!!!
This was my first year in the Monarch Journey, which was encouraged by my sister in Michigan who follows a woman who is very experienced and knowledgeable. I’m in Orlando, Florida, and my journey began with my first milkweed purchase back in early April. I wasn’t sure the process, but it turned out the plant I bought had eggs, so off and running I was. I learned to protect the cats, from predators, and those I have, in wasps and lizards. I brought the plants into the pool cage, only to have the cats go off to form their j’s, either from the pot rim, or the patio table cover. After caging the pots and chrysalis, I found a few more chrsysalis under the patio table cover. That required research into how to carefully move a chrysalis, and rehang. I had NO IDEA how much caterpillars ate, and before long I had 5 cages, and was constantly running to the garden center and local nursery, which also has a Butterfly house, to buy more plants, and more plants, and more plants.. wow, this is an expensive hobby when you don’t have a milkweed garden or prairies of plants. Since I was unable to obtain 5 poo poo platters, I improvised, and am using silpat craft mats, which IMO work just as well. After 5 months of actively working with this hobby, I am ready to call it quits for the season, unfortunately the monarchs are not cooperating!! i have both milkweed, and plenty of nectar plants. I did buy some plants from the nursery with the butterfly house, only to have the plants have some sort of pesticide or parasite, and many died in various stages, of eclosing, and dropping, or crippled, dying as a cat, or dying in mid-transition It was horrible, as many have experienced as well. I did notify the nursery, and they suggested, cutting the plant to the dirt, giving it fertilizer, along with my other plants, that I never fertilized, quarantine the patch of plants that I cut back, and let them regrow, watering well. I did all the above, and my plants came back, and I cut back all the plants after each round of cats to be sure nothing was spread. I also learned that I have queen cats, and when they eclose they are beautiful and look so different from the Monarch. As of this writing, I am 5 months into my first year, and during this time I have released 155 healthy butterflies!! I have not recorded any cats or fail to thrive butterflies, nor have I tracked the count by sex. Included in this count are 4 queens, with two more cat queens in the nursery. I have registered with Monarch Watch, and received tags for my region, to tag the last of the season Monarchs after 9/15/23. I hope I last that long!! I have also registered as a Monarch Waystation, and I think they (Monarch’s) know this, as yesterday, I had plenty flying around my shed, laying eggs on milkweed, mating in the dirt, and covering my various lantanas. The length of my Monarch season has a lot to do with my area of the country. WE have good climate, although it was hot, but that did not stop the cats.. just made them grow faster. I have 2/5 cages left, the two queens, as mentioned above, 1 butterfly to release, 2 chrysalis, 7 eggs, and a small instar…. there are more eggs and instars in the garden. This site has been very helpful when I have had questions. Thank you for this resource!
I have successfully raised several caterpillars a summer since I was a little kid. However last summer was the 1st time I raised from egg. Only after neighbor showed me what egg looked like! This year raised 7 and 8th is in chrysalis. This year learned how to sex adults. Had 3 failures in the chrysalis. One didn’t fully form correctly into crysalis & died. Other 2 crysalises turned brownish & were dead. The rest (7) were fine after I started washing my milkweed leaves. The last one’s chrysalis looks good so far.
Very dismal here. Few big butterflies of any kind until late summer and then the drought really kicked in. I found a few eggs, but lack of flowers and dried up MW is a disaster. I didn’t raise many this year, but two (captive since eggs) died in the going to chrysalis stage, the distal end starts to split and then they die. It’s must rain soon. We are losing trees! In Virginia
Finally, have plenty of beautiful milkweed plants after the hard freeze last winter killed everything – even in the greenhouse. Thankfully the seeds that were spread last season sprouted everywhere & I transplanted numerous ones in pots so I got put them in different places around our yard.
We just started getting egg laying female Monarchs here in GA last week. I’ve collected about 30-35 eggs & already have 2-3 different stages of caterpillars. Things look really good & healthy, so when my 2 new cages come in, I hopefully can save even more!!