Raising Monarch Butterflies

In 2018 we found fewer than ten Monarch caterpillars which we raised until they formed chrysalises that, by September, transformed into butterflies. We let them fly but have no idea whether they succeeded in getting to Mexico or eventually made it to Texas early this spring. All together, we counted fewer than two dozen of these butterflies the entire summer. Learning of stickers produced by Monarch Watch: https://monarchwatch.org/ that are placed on the underside of a hind wing, this year we obtained a unique sequence of 100 so we could tag the butterflies we raise or catch. 

Zinnias That Attract Many Insects Including Monarchs

What Happens to Flowers When Netting Butterflies Sitting on Them

Monarch Caterpillar Shell That Was Sucked Dry by a Stink Bug or Spider

Mid July, 2019, we started finding a few of the brilliantly striped caterpillars and brought them indoors because stink bugs and spiders killed quite a few in the wild. Seeing their limp blackened bodies draped over milkweed leaf stems got us searching for live larvae both morning and evening. We have cultivated many hundreds of milkweeds that cover half an acre but these healthy ever larger  plants very rarely had caterpillars. Butterflies seem to prefer isolated small young plants for laying their eggs. In early July our neighbor cut and baled hay (including milkweed) off one of ours and three of his adjacent adjacent fields. Throughout August we found hundreds of caterpillars on new milkweed growth in these four fields. We had to order 500 additional stickers and at the end of October have only 31 left. We did find two stickers off butterflies who lost them. So 567 are on butterfly wings heading toward Mexico.

Our Monarchs Were Raised in Three Translucent Storage Bins with Window Screen Covers. They Need Bright Sun and Dark Nights So They Lived In Our Front Greenhouse. 

Caterpillars Eating Fresh Milkweed Sprigs Held in Quart Yoghurt Containers by Inch Thick Foam Rubber Above Two Inches of Water: The Foam Prevents Caterpillars From Drowning

To Develop Properly, Butterflies Must Hang Straight Down When They Emerge From Their Chrysalis. Most Caterpillars Attached Theirs to the Screen on Top of Their Container. A Few Fell And Failed to Develop Flat Wings and Could Not Fly.

We Glued Chrysalises Developed in Inappropriate Places to Arms on "Trees"

These "Trees" Worked! Note the Chrysalis Hanging From a Toothpick: Required to Use Wood Glue To Attach Those That Had No Stem. Hot Melt Glue Quickly Attached Those That Had A Strand of Silk or a Leaf Stem To the Wood Tree. Hot Glue Would Kill a Chrysalis If It Touched It.

Utilizing Wood Glue to Suspend Chrysalises From Toothpicks Hot Glued to the "Tree"

Some Caterpillars Attached Their Chrysalises to Yoghurt Containers!

At First We Released Monarchs on Weeping Willow Branches But Wind Often Made it Difficult for Them To Hold On. Placing Them on the Trunk Was Better. Note: the Two Dark Spots On The Lower Wings Indicate This One Is Male.

Hanging Monarchs Showing Stickers With Some of the Flowers That Attracted Wild Butterflies in the Background

Another Male Monarch This Time on Willow Bark

Many Monarchs Waiting For Good Weather to Enable Them to Fly Away

Our statistics of tagged monarchs: 309 female, 260 male, 388 raised from caterpillars, 181 wild caught butterflies. Fewer than 1% of monarch tags ever get recovered and reported so we expect to learn what happened to maybe four or five.

Monarch Butterflies On A Cape Cod Beach

After raising hundreds of monarch caterpillars and netting almost as many wild butterflies in late September we made our annual trek to the northern end of Cape Cod. There we spend most of our time combing the beach for useful stuff: rope, buoys, animal skulls, fishing gear and clothing. This usually accumulates above the high tide levels and we rarely cover wave edges. 

Typical Sight After a Wave Recedes

Damaged Monarch

Limp Monarch Butterfly Left High on the Beach

Reviving Monarch Butterfly

Because we were in the peak period for Monarch migration, I spent a few hours checking what the waves were leaving behind as high tide receded toward low tide. Water temperatures were much cooler than the air and waves left immobile butterflies on the wet sand. After counting a few dozen I began picking them up and noticed most were very much alive! Holding them in cupped hands and breathing on them made them active but not able to fly.

A Monarch Butterfly Trying to Open Wings Cemented Together by Salt Water

Three Reviving Monarch Butterflies

Because I could only wear a half dozen at a time, I periodically placed groups on flowers or tall grass, the only available vegetation. They spread their wings to catch sunlight but took their time trying to fly. The next day most of three dozen had flown away and only a few were no longer alive.

Wave Beaten Monarchs Drying Out Their Wings on Goldenrod

Monarchs Warming Up on Grass

The shortest distance between parts of Maine and New Hampshire and Mexico is over ocean. They probably want to rest at night and land but have no experience with water. They are very light and float but it's probably impossible to take off again. Wind and waves push them to shore but breakers and advancing waves push them up the beach and damage them. We found many missing parts. But the lucky ones came to shore when waves were receding and these were cold but in good shape. With help some may make it to Mexico but without warming and transport to dry vegetation the next high tide or shore birds would pummel them. A three hour snapshot of a quarter mile of beach yielded three dozen healthy Monarch butterflies. How many folk would spend an hour to rescue a dozen?