Raising Book Resources
Raising Hope for the 2020 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 2020 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 2020 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 early August, but monarchs raised at that time aren’t actually migration generation butterflies…they’re actually 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 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:
Accidental Deaths?
There have been two accidental deaths this year...seems fitting for 2020. 🙃
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 40° 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. 😔
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:
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:
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...🥶
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, here’s the part I’m most excited about…hearing 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 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 2020
348 comments
Glad to hear many have had a successful year! I had 100% survival however I only had 20 butterflies. Previous years had been triple…There were also very very few insects of any kind. The lady who had a praying mantis was surly blessed. (Sorry it ate the cat but they are very beneficial.)
Had more eastern swallowtails this year though. 4 cats are left-maybe they will winter over!
Bergen County, New Jersey
Mequon WI., raised 93 (98% success). More females than males. Brought in less eggs this year which allowed a bit more “breathing room” for me vs. frantic Milkweed gathering, which felt like a FT job the previous summer (125). 4th year raising.
This was my 2nd year of raising monarchs. I had 100 females and 94 males. I wanted to release 200 this year but some of my August larvae developed the “Black Death” and I had to euthanize them and start over. I had about 7.6% fatality rate. I live in southwestern Michigan close to the Indiana line and near Southbend, Indiana. Today Sept 24, I released my last female butterfly.
Next year I will try to protect my milkweed plants a little better and see if I get a better survival rate.
Hi. We had a rather lean year raising Monarchs here in Jacksonville Florida for 2020. Seventeen were released with one chrysalis currently remaining. They were all raised from various sizes of caterpillars found on our tropical milkweed plants. The majority were released back in March and April with three late arrivals in August and September. I am not sure whether these late bloomers will stay here in Florida or migrate elsewhere. There were two that had deformed wings that could not be released. I am not sure what causes this to happen. On a more positive note we have had many butterfly visitors to the garden this year including Zebras, Black Swallowtails, Sulphurs and Gulf Fritillarys along with the Monarchs. We have many milkweed plants but not many caterpillars this year. I hope that this is not a trend.
Regards, Charles Trevey
I have raised about 100 Monarchs per year for the past few years, but this year was short in length and not very many Adult Monarchs or caterpillars were found in the Lake Wissota area of Wisconsin. I tried not to gather more eggs than I could comfortably raise in June and I know spiders, ants and other critters carried off a lot of eggs because I see small larva damage but not much else in my favorite milkweed patch. Between the end of May and mid-September I reared 75 eggs or newly hatched cats. I released 50 healthy adults. Usually my percentage rate of successful adults would be in the 90% range. A few accidental losses, some OE cases and perhaps some chemical residue on the inside of a cage account for some of the losses. Lesson learned: don’t wash a cage in the bathtub where chemical cleaners have been used. I suspect that because a few healthy adults seemed to not be able to adhere their silk to the cage and died. That’s my theory. :(