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
Very disappointing year for monarchs. None till August 17th, then only a few eggs. Never saw it this bad
This was the first year I have raised Monarchs. I have milkweed all over my garden, but I did not know what to look for when trying to find the eggs. I found 5 caterpillars that were about 1/2" long. I have not seen as many caterpillars this year as I have in the past. One died within a couple of days. One caterpillar died as it was making its chrysalis. Three butterflies emerged. Two were perfect females and one had a deformed wing. I released all three. I intend to keep on growing butterflies to help the population.
I’m in north central Maryland. The season started late for me, and I have seen very few monarchs. My first batch included 9 caterpillars brought in from the milkweed. One passed due to a tachinid fly, but I was able to release 4 males and 4 females. I am on the second batch now. I have 3 currently in J hook and one instar 3 in another cage. I’m not finding any more, but I’ll keep checking.
Something I have found handy is a 10cc syringe with a 6" piece of aquarium tubing attached. I use this to refill the water tubes with water when they run low. I can just open the top and refill them without having to remove them. I also have a Dyson hand vacuum to which I have attached the crevice tool with a piece of curved 8", 1/2" of clear tubing inserted. I can use this to vacuum up the frass from the bottom of the cage without disturbing the cats.
Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
My wife and I have been raising monarchs for 4 years. We moved from close to Toronto, to a rural lake area, two years ago, and initially the numbers here were lower. But we started growing milkweed right away, along with pollinator attracting plants, and this year we’re raising our highest ever number – around 125. Around 70% of eggs came from our own property.
The biggest challenge in this area is to avoid taking milkweed too close to farms where crop spraying occurs- and pesticide and herbicide ‘drift’ is destroying many plants and insects, which is extremely upsetting to witness. Monarchs were finally named as an endangered species by the Canadian federal government earlier this year, but destructive farming and road maintenance practices have not changed at all. So the hard work we all do here is more important every year!
I found our first eggs on milkweed in July—early for migration. Several of the common milkweed plants from last year did not come back this year and I was concerned that we would not have enough milkweed for the season so I went to a local nursery (one known for having safe plants, no chemicals) and bought several swamp milkweed plants. I fed the first caterpillars on that milkweed and they all died. I called the nursery and found out that only the spring milkweed is safe. Their suppliers for later in the summer use pesticides. I asked if anyone thought to tell customers that the milkweed is not safe for caterpillars or butterflies but of course, no reply. I like to support local businesses but this is one business that I will no longer support.