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by Tony Gomez

3 years ago

Raising Book Resources

Raising Hope for the 2020 Migration- Raise the Migration Results


Share Your Raise The Migration 2020 Experience in a Comment Below

3 years ago

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By Tony Gomez

Raise the Migration 2020- Share Your Raising Butterflies Experience

by Tony Gomez

3 years ago

Raise The Migration is an annual North American challenge to raise monarch butterflies to release for fallโ€™s annual monarch migration. The time has come to share your 2020 experience and raise it forwardโ€ฆ

Raise the Migration 2020- Share Your Raising Monarch Butterflies Experience

The raising season is coming to an end, so weโ€™d love to hear how many butterflies you released for fallโ€™s annual 2020 monarch migrationโ€ฆand more importantly, what lessons youโ€™ve learned through this amazing raising experience?

If youโ€™ve still got some raising to do, raise on! But please post in the comment box at the bottom of this page after youโ€™ve released your last butterfly.

Every year, I start Raise The Migration in early August, but monarchs raised at that time arenโ€™t actually migration generation butterfliesโ€ฆtheyโ€™re actually the parents to that amazing generation of travelers.

Thereโ€™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 regionโ€ฆ

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 companionshipโ€ฆmigratory 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 youโ€™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:

Raising Monarch Butterflies Book

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 seven seasons:

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 2020 Results

I am counting our 2020 migration generation as all butterflies that eclosed September 1st and after.


Caterpillar Escapes

Since using food container hatcheries for eggs and baby caterpillars, this has helped us to easily keep track of the wee cats until they can be placed in the larger mesh cages. We have not lost a caterpillar for years...


Unexplained Caterpillar Deaths

None to report in 2020


Caterpillar Diseases and Parasites?

There were no caterpillar disease issues to report in 2020. Check out a pre and post molt of one caterpillar graduating from instar 3 to instar 4:

A Monarch Caterpillar is about to molt with protruding face cap
BEFORE
A Monarch Caterpillar After Shedding its skin and face cap
AFTER

Accidental Deaths?

There have been two accidental deaths this year...seems fitting for 2020. ๐Ÿ™ƒ

1. This was an odd fluke that happened in an egg hatchery. There was one container with two eggs that looked like they might have fungus issues from the leaves I found them on.

After monitoring, I thought one of the eggs had succumbed to a rust-like fungus that was growing around it. Little did I know, the caterpillar had hatched and crawled under the paper towel that lined the hatchery....there was even a fresh milkweed leaf under the fungusy leaf piece.

This has never happened before so I was shocked to find the dead baby cat as I cleared out the hatchery.

2. On a cold morning in the 3-season porch (low was 40ยฐ F), I picked up the floral tube/racks (with milkweed and caterpillars) and walked it into the kitchen without using the boot tray. Two of the cold, lethargic caterpillars fell to the floor. I rescued one...and stepped on the other. ๐Ÿ˜”

Chrysalis Problems

Chrysalis formation was perfect this season. I conducted 6 removing/rehanging experiments this year: 3 chrysalides hung up with pins, 2 hung up on a microfiber cloth, and 1 taped to the floor:

6 Monarch Chrysalides Rehung- Raise The Migration Experiment

All 6 butterflies eclosed with no issues and the butterflies were released to join the 2020 monarch migration. The last male emerged Sunday October 11th, and was released on Monday October 12th:

6 Monarch Chrysalides Rehung- Raise The Migration Results

Butterfly Eclosures

All butterflies emerged from their monarch chrysalises without issue.

Final Results

2 accidental deaths

0 disease or parasite issues

0 unexplained death

4 healthy males

5 healthy females

82% survival rate


Lessons Learned?

Of the two caterpillar accidents that occurred this season, one was a fluke that will likely never happen again.

However, the 'stepping' accident could have been easily avoided if I would have just followed my own advice for caterpillar safety. If moving caterpillars outside of the cage, place them on a boot tray so they will never fall on the floor.

I also learned that keeping chrysalides in the 3 season porch at night (during the fall) is a bad idea for our northern region. Cool night time temps slowed down metamorphosis by at least a week, meaning the excellent window I had to release butterflies in warm weather, quickly shrunk to just a few days.

The chrysalises get plenty of exposure to natural lighting and temperatures during the day through open windows. If these monarchs would have been left to fend for themselves outside, their wintry fate would have been sealed...๐Ÿฅถ

Also, my preferred way of rehanging chrysalides is pinning the silk to the top of the cage. Really though, all 3 methods work well, so do what you're most comfortable with when you need to rehang a chrysalis.


August 2020 Migration Memory

And now, hereโ€™s the part Iโ€™m most excited aboutโ€ฆhearing about all the valuable lessons you learned raising monarchs over the past few weeks!

Share Your Results?!

Please share your results below by letting us know how many monarchs you released to help boost the struggling monarch populationโ€ฆremember 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 2020

348 comments


  • I live in Brazil IN and raised a total of 39 monarchs this year. Iโ€™m not including 2 tiny cats that crawled off the milkweed and didnโ€™t find their way back and therefore didnโ€™t survive. The first monarch emerged on July 10 and the last 2 emerged on Sept 30. Not sure of the male/female ratio because I wasnโ€™t always around when their wings opened. But all were beautiful and healthy with the exception of 3. I accidentally squished one chrysalis by trying to pick it up before it had hardened. Another hatched with tiny wings that never did develop, and another did not complete the final molt to chrysalis stage. I agree about not using the 3 season porch when the nights turn cold. This delayed the emerging by about 10 days. This was my third year raising monarchsPretty good year all in all.

    Susan Fogel on

  • On September 28th, I released my last butterfly. He was #63 โ€”of healthy Monarchs that were able to fly away. There were a lot of casualties along the wayโ€”caterpillars that died before even becoming a chrysalis and those who never emerged from the chrysalis, but died in state. I didnโ€™t count all of those. One was hatched in a deformed state and I euthanized it.
    Being in Southern California, I believe our Monarchs do not go to Mexico, but fly up to the eastern Sierras somewhere.
    (Please correct me if Iโ€™m wrong). There is one bright orange Monarch who is still showing up every morning to sip nectar from the flowers that are still on the Milkweed, I think itโ€™s a female, but Iโ€™m not sure. Iโ€™m only confident that she/he was hatched in one of my cages because she keeps coming around. I suspect it may be too late for this one to migrate. This was my second summer of raising the caterpillars, but the first full season, since last year, I didnโ€™t start until late June.
    This year, I had my first butterfly emerge from its chrysalis on May 4th.

    Judith A. Heffron on

  • This was my 4th year raising Monarch butterflies and I chose to leave my caterpillar and butterfly cages outside and only had eggs and instar 1 cats in my house. The cages were set on a large board on top of 2 garbage cans and placed on the north side of my horse barn. I released 57 healthy male and 50 healthy female butterflies. I also had 1 male emerge with crumpled wings and released 3 of undetermined gender. Early in the season, I had many escapees and made some modifications to my caterpillar cage. Later in the season, I lost many chrysalides and a few caterpillars after a high wind took my cages down. Most of the chrysalides fell from the branches I had tied them to. I attempted to rehang them, but most turned brown and never eclosed. Toward the end of the season, the chrysalides I hung on those branches also all turned brown. I did not count the number of losses, but am pleased with the number of healthy butterflies I released.

    Lynn on

  • Iโ€™m in northern CA and the Monarchs are still busily mating at the community garden in Sunnyvale where I volunteer. Last year we had one or two Monarchs hanging out. This year there are multiple Monarchs flying around taking advantage of the variety of milkweed both native and tropical, enjoying the pollinator garden, โ€œflirtingโ€ in the air, then mating!!!
    Iโ€™ve taken home, raised indoors and released 10 so far. Each time I picked fresh MW from the garden, I inadvertently brought home more eggs and/or cats!!! I currently have 5 cats! I love watching them and documenting the stages: 4th to 5th in-star as it wriggled out of its skin, creating the silk pad on the ceiling of the enclosure, hanging like a J, transforming into a chrysalis, eclosure, then release!!! Thrilling every step of the way!!!

    Liz Calhoon on

  • I raised 70 monarchs this year here in Beavercreek Ohio. They started rather late in early Aug. I let my last one go oct 13. The first were all healthy. The last had signs of bd parasites . I had to change food from swamp milkweed to tropical milkeed. The cats did not like that. I had one cat that did fall to bottom of cage and die. So probably would not recommend this milkweed. But desparate when u run out
    I had 3 that i feed in the house, 1had a wing that was deformed, 1 had a torn wing that i brought in from outside, the other had a broken front leg. The 1 with the torn wing is still here . I had a lot of different things this summer that happened that had neverhappened before. I hope to be able to raise them next year. Hoping that a lot got to migrate south. Oct. 16 2020

    Cathy Kennedy on

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