Monarch Butterflies
Fall is Monarch Butterfly rearing season at the Virginia Living Museum. The Museum has been rearing the migrating generation of Monarch butterflies each year since 1988. In 1996 it began tagging and releasing the adults for their journey to Mexico.
When you visit the VLM from mid September to early October, stop by our monarch butterfly rearing cage to see the caterpillars, chrysalides and adults on display. In the late afternoons you might be able to participate in our release of tagged monarchs.
You can follow the monarch migration on two web sites: Monarch Watch and Journey North.
Monarch tagging
Monarch Watch tags are about ¼ inch round, made of weather proofed paper with a strong adhesive. Each has a code number and Monarch Watch address printed on them. Scientist and citizen taggers gently catch monarchs, place a tag on the lower part of a hind wing and release them unharmed. The tagger records the tag code, date and location tagged, then sends in the sheet to Monarch Watch. If the butterfly is later found and its tag reported, Monarch Watch can let taggers know when and where their butterflies were recovered. The butterflies can’t be tracked in “real time” yet.
Even with over 50 years of tagging data, monarch mysteries remain. How do the Monarchs find the overwintering sites each year when they are several generations descended from last winter’s overwintering insects? Exactly how does their homing system work, especially when they are blown off course? Their journey to Mexico is like a 6 foot tall human circling the globe 11 times in a row!
For a Peninsula monarch, migration begins around Sept. 15, peaks Sept. 25 and most are gone by Oct. 10. Most monarchs arrive in Mexico by early November.
The eastern monarch population has recovered from the January 2002 winter weather that killed 70-80% of the butterflies in Mexico. Both legal and illegal logging in the sanctuaries continues and may determine how many monarchs will survive future severe winters. Since some tagged monarchs have been found overwintering in areas north of Mexico, scientists are eager to learn more about these areas to hedge against severe Mexican winters.
Three butterflies tagged by the Museum have been located along the migration route. One butterfly was found in Mexico in February 2001 and another was recovered nearby in Newport News in fall 2001. The third was photographed in a butterfly garden in Austin, Texas on Oct. 25, 2008. It was found by a six-year-old boy doing a science project on migration. The monarch (shown here) had traveled 1,306 miles in the 22 days since it had been released by the VLM.
Neat Monarch Migration stats:
- Monarch butterflies are 3 cm long, weigh less than 1 gram, and fly on paper-thin wings up to 4600 km to Mexico.
- The furthest journey recorded of a tagged monarch butterfly was about 2750 miles from Grand Manan Island, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada to Mexico.
- Monarch migrants move 10 to 15 miles per hour for 6 to 8 hours per day, depending on wind speed, average 44 miles per day but can move up to 200 miles per day.
- Glider pilots have seen monarchs as high as 11,000 feet above the ground.
- Radar has picked up monarchs flying as high as 5000 feet off the ground.
- Monarchs can't fly below temperatures of 57°F (unless they bask in the sun or shiver to warm their flight muscles).
- It’s been estimated from tagging studies that 25-50% of monarchs survive the fall migration.
- Migrants from northern sections of N. A. take 8-10 weeks to reach Mexican overwintering sites, while those from further south take 4 to 6 weeks. Migrants arrive at the sites in November and continue to the end of December.
How Can I Help Conserve Monarch Butterflies?
Plant milkweeds and butterfly nectar plants in your yard. This creates a nursery for the summer generations and a “fast food” stop for migrating monarchs. For more information on certifying your yard as a Monarch Waystation, go to www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/. Plants suitable for a Monarch Waystation are sold at the Museum's spring and fall plant sales (the last two weekends of April and September).
If you find a tagged live monarch, CONGRATULATIONS! Your options: catch it carefully or photograph the tag. If you catch it, write down all the tag information, the date and time you caught it, leave the tag on the butterfly and let it go. If you photograph it, get the same information from the photo. Contact Monarch Watch by the email or phone number on the tag and leave the tag letter/number code, your phone number and the information you gathered. You would gather and send the same information from the tag of a dead tagged monarch. If the person who tagged the butterfly turned in their data sheets then Monarch Watch will be able to give you information on where it came from. These “citizen science” data help piece together how a monarch makes its long journey to Mexico.
When you visit the VLM from mid September to early October, stop by our rearing cage in the late afternoons and you might be able to participate in our release of tagged monarchs.
Links for teachers:
The Magic of Monarch Butterfly Migration Teacher Guide from Journey North:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/jr/IntroMigTG.html
Core Teaching Resources from Journey North:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/
Symbolic Monarch Migration:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sm/index.html
Monarch Watch In the Classroom Home page:
http://www.monarchwatch.org/class/index.htm
Monarch Teacher Network:
http://www.eirc.org/website/Programs-+and+-Services/Monarch-Teacher-Network/
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Monarch Information:
http://www.fs.fed.us/monarchbutterfly
The Virginia Living Museum is a certified Wildlife Habitat for the
National Wildlife Federation and a Monarch Waystation for Monarch Watch.
You can attract monarchs and other butterflies to your yard by following these easy tips:
Attracting Butterflies: Five Steps to Success
Butterfly Garden Necessities
Common Tidewater Butterflies and Their Native Host Plants
Recommended Native Butterfly Nectar Plants
Butterfly Resources