Raising Hope for the 2025 Monarch Migration
Raise The Migration 2025 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 2025 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 2025 monarch migration…but 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 milkweed 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 Migration Monarchs fare this season and what lessons did we learn raising forward? Find out below, but first…
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Here are Raise the Migration results from the past twelve seasons:
2024- 100% Survival Rate
2023– 89% Survival Rate
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% survival 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 improve our raising experience while also helping to support the struggling monarch population.
Raise The Migration 2025 Results
This was the year we finally got our raising setup(s) established at our new home, both indoors…and out!
And now that we’ve put better processes in place, this year was pretty uneventful…and that’s how it should be! 🤞
Here’s what happened with our 14 monarch guests this season…
Caterpillar Escapes
ZERO Caterpillar escapes…this has never been an issue since we started using sealed food containers and mesh caterpillar cages.
Unexplained Caterpillar Deaths
Thankfully, none! 😊
Caterpillar Diseases and Parasites
ZERO…We’ve continued our streak of raising healthy monarchs with our ever-improving process. Starting with eggs is a big reason for that success.
Accidental Deaths
No accidents to report this season.
Chrysalis Problems
This was sad, because it was totally unexpected and I’m still trying to figure out if there was anything I could have done differently to prevent this from happening…
This was something I have never experienced during Raise the Migration (or if ever that I can recall with indoor raising). The j-caterpillar had just formed its chrysalis and was twisting around to shake the skin off. I went to the bathroom. When I came back the skin and silk button were still attached to the roof, the chrysalis was on the cage floor, bleeding out.
This seems to be a freak accident with no explanation…there were no other caterpillars crawling around the cage, and I was nowhere near the cage when I left my office. I was able to attach the black cremaster of the chrysalis to a cotton swab and hang the chrysalis, but unfortunately it would not stop oozing. The next day, it looked like this, and I had no choice but to euthanize:
Butterfly Eclosure Issues
All butterflies eclosed without issue.
Final Results
In this final year of raise the migration in newsletter form, I was not as rigid with raising guidelines. I brought in a few small caterpillars. One did not survive, but the others developed into healthy butterflies.
Bringing in caterpillars is ok, but:
- There’s a greater chance they will have health issues because you don’t know what they were exposed to before you found them
- Make sure to keep them separate from other caterpillars on their own cuttings
- If you suspect they are sick, monitor them in a separate cage
So how many monarchs survived to reach butterhood?
13 healthy butterflies were released from September 14th to October 2nd…the monarchs released September 27th (and after) stayed to stock up on nectar through the first weekend of October, where highs reached an August-like 90 degrees! 🥵
0 accidental deaths
0 disease or parasite issues
0 unexplained deaths
1 chrysalis problem
5 healthy males
8 healthy females
93% survival rate
Lessons Learned in 2025
We raised both indoors and out this year and here’s a few lessons learned from both setups:
Outdoors
- Invest in a permanent outdoor habitat that can protect growing monarchs from extreme weather conditions and predators. This is what we used ⬅️
- Be aware that in warm temps and direct sun, water in floral tubes will evaporate faster, so you’ll need to refill daily.
- Low temps (below 50°F) slow down metamorphosis. Consider bringing caterpillars inside, especially if you’re running out of time to safely release them
Indoors
- Turn off AC vents in raising room and close the door if air on in other rooms
- Keep windows open during the day (at least) to make sure monarchs are exposed to natural heat, light, and humidity….so they know it’s time to eat more milkweed and to migrate.
- Use cage liners to weigh down cages, make frass clean up quicker, and to collect meconium after butterfly emerges so it won’t stain your cage floor.
Migration Memories 2025
This year the butterflies kept us in suspense waiting to see if the migration would come through our garden….they final did after being delayed by the sultry September heat further north! We had about a dozen monarchs that stayed in our garden for over a week:
As I finish writing this on October 3rd, there are 7 new monarchs fluttering around our garden…most are probably butterflies we’ve raised, but it’s still amazing to see so many in our northern garden this time of year.
The north winds return Sunday afternoon, taking 80 degree highs down to a low of 48°F degrees….if the monarchs don’t leave Sunday, they’ll take flight on Monday morning (October 6) to join their migrating brothers and sisters further south…bon voyage butterflies! 🦋🦋🦋🇲🇽
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I hope you enjoyed reading about my Raise The Migration ’25 results and lessons learned raising monarchs through the butterfly life cycle .
And now, we’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 in the community raising forward.
Thank you for helping to Raise the Migration in 2025
I live in Romeoville IL. southwest of Chicago. I released 50 healthy monarchs this year. My best year yet since I received a 3rd habitat for Christmas last year. 25 females and 22 males – the rest I forgot to write down and did not remember what they were when I was figuring out how many I had. This year like last year I decided to save the ones in the empty fields around town that they mow a few times each summer. I would go collect eggs and small cats and collect milkweed to feed them as mine did not all come back this year. My last one I released on October 1st. The second week in September they mowed both my places I usually go, How depressing. I had 16 chrysalis and 9 cats at the time so how many did they kill in their need to be clean and tidy. I wondered one of the fields and found a milkweed plant that did not get mowed but was pushed down and lo and behold there was a large cat on it. I brought it home even though it was large and placed it outside. After a day I worried about it and brought it in. All of my remaining cats had went into j-hooks except one. I put them together. The next day the one was in j-hook and the next day the one I saved was in j-hook. The next morning I went to check if it was in chrysalis and it was but with a green puddle underneath. So I took it out of the cage to see what happened. It had been parasitized. It had split open and little rice shaped larvae were in there so I euthanized it. So sad to have survived the mowers but had died by parasite. I had 2 other deaths one I accidentally stepped on when the leaf fell off the plant and I did not see it and stepped on it and the other made its chrysalis on a leaf which I was transferring to the top of the cage. I usually tape them up but with the new cage the tape was not working so I was switching types of tape and the chrysalis flew off the leaf and outside behind me to fall on the floor. I taped it back up but it did not survive. So lesson learned use a bigger table next time and carefully pull the tape – not so fast. All in all I feel I did pretty good this year and have been planting more milkweed in different areas of my yard. I also had 1 swallowtail a female which I raised and released in July before I had too many monarchs. If you have trouble finding monarch eggs go look in empty lots and save the ones there before they mow them down. I will ask the local town government if they can mow after October 1st from now on to give the ones in September a chance to become a butterfly and grow the population. Thanks, Tony, for your website and all the advice on raising which is very helpful!!
This year I saw my first monarch earlier than ever before an my last sighting later the ever. I live in NW Pa. almost on the NY line. Even with a wet and cold spring this season was the best for sightings. I only had a 90% release rate but I never found any eggs so all my butterflies came from small cats.
I’ve been raising milkweed for several years and have several kinds. I’ve found that planting my new plants in different areas gives them a better chance of survival. I did have to relocate several cats to new plants because they had completely eaten all the leaves on the plant. It’s always good to have lots of milkweed.
I have a great amount of harvested seed to share. Plant more milkweed.
I think this is the best year for the monarchs since I have been keeping track of.
I started paying attention to the circle of Monarch life in my own back yard in Augusta GA this year. Milkweed seeds grew, eggs and cats appeared, but chrysalis were never spotted.
Placing 4 eggs on the back porch, following suggestions learned here, and daily recalling tagging monarchs 50 years ago as a little girl led to the release of two healthy Monarchs.
Maybe I’ll try more next year or maybe just another handful. Either way, there are more Milkweed plants and other native pollinators for the birds, bees, and butterflies to enjoy.
A grown up who has not seen fireflies in years will be watching for them, paying closer attention to what has been missing, and enjoying all I can find with the wonder of a child.
This is my third year raising monarchs in the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina. I had my best year yet, releasing a total of 47 butterflies: 22 males, 18 females, and 7 unknown (my husband released a few and didn’t check the gender). Unfortunately, I found several very large caterpillars later in the summer and took the chance of bringing them into the tent — as a result, 11 chysalises turned black (either leaking or shriveling) and didn’t make it. My success rate was 80%, which is somewhat disappointing to me but a heck of a lot better than what would have happened in the wild. I will try to do a better job next year of looking for caterpillars when they are small, and/or searching for eggs. Thank you for all of your excellent advice — I absolutely love helping monarchs survive!
Hi, this is my 3rd year raising Monarchs. I released 57 total healthy butterflies. 30 boys, 27 girls. I raise in a well lit outdoor building in two mesh habitat enclosures. These have very easy enclosure access and are easy to clean. I live near Henderson, MN. I had 1 caterpillar death that I am sadly responsible for. 2 chrysalis deaths, 1 with parasites, 1 leaky. I had one butterfly release that I thought would turn out to be my garden ambassador but after 4 days she left the zinnias in the garden. During migration, I witnessed a few very high flyers gaining altitude and heading south on low breezes.
Hi. I’m Kerri from Fargo, ND. This year I released 187 monarchs. I raise them in enclosures on my deck. I do bring them inside if it’s stormy. I only had a few cases of t-fly this year probably in part because most of the cats started out as eggs. The favorite plants of monarchs and other pollinators in my yard are zinnias, verbena bonariensis, and tithonia.
Reporting from Western NC. A total of 39 released for 2025. The last being on 10/15/25. It seemed to be in chrysalis state FOREVER! 6 died of Black Death in the J state. 1 dead chrysalis. All disease was during the fall migration.
Roughly 12 males, 24 females and 3 unsure as they flew off before I could tell.
BY FAR… the Mexican Sunflower is the most preferred plant for nectar in my yard!
I’m Susan from Orange County CA. The season began perfectly. After I released 50 healthy butterflies by July 4th, I thought I’d let nature take over. And every caterpillar I found after that died. In September, I began rescuing the new hatchlings again and I have 6 still in a chrysalis. But every single one I took in from the outside was already infected with flies. I used the outdoor fly traps and that reduced the flies tremendously without harming other creatures. But it only takes one fly to kill several cats. So now I’m dedicated to working through next season all the way.
Other than flies — I had some 2nd-3rd instars that just curled up and died — with good color and no prior signs of problems. I only had 3 butterflies with signs of severe OE. With so few butterflies, we weren’t spreading much disease, at least.
We raised and released 15 healthy monarchs this season and only 1 cat that didn’t make it. All others were successful. Raising them on our screened porch worked really well to shield them from the elements and predators while still exposing them to outside temps. We kept them in separate containers as we’ve had issues with cannibalism in the past. Lessons learned was where to cut when harvesting milkweed so you don’t completely kill the plant. Make sure it’s in a spot where more leaves might sprout. We also learned that the cats prefer the newer leaves toward the top of the plant. And chopping just the top encourages the rest of the plant to sprout more leaves.
Moved to Corcoran, MN in June. I saw only one wild Monarch so was not hopeful for the season. However, there was much milkweed in a wild area that I searched daily for eggs. I was able to raise and release 96 healthy butterflies; 46 males, 50 females, all but four from eggs, for a success rate of 97%. I lost 3 tiny cats that would not eat. They were all raised in containers then transferred to mesh cages for the chrysalis stage. I too read reports that Monarchs should not be raised indoors. If only one of my butterflies lays eggs for the next generation or makes it to Mexico, I consider that a success that is worth the commitment.
I live in central Indiana. I was blessed with a total of 91 beautiful monarchs-59 females & 32 males this year. Only started in August. Just had 11 last year (awful!). Lost one chrysalis from tachinid fly & two others never enclosed. All were raised from eggs except 4 large caterpillars. My sister passed away on Sept. 11 and I was able to release some monarchs at her graveside service. They made such a sad and difficult time a little more bearable. I always say monarchs are “God’s little miracles.” I released my last
two monarchs on Oct. 12. I’ll certainly miss them!
I
Plum, Pa
I began collecting eggs in late July and released 33 Females and 27 males (with the last one, a male, leaving yesterday, October 11, 2025).
This is my 5th year supporting Monarchs and my busiest!
They are raised in my screened sunroom in zip enclosures. I battled drought, heat, and in late season I had a massive issue with aphids that nearly decimated my vast milkweed population overnight.
I currently grow Common Milkweed and Swamp Milkweed as host plants but have added 6 Poke Milkweed from Joyful Butterfly.
In my area, I documented only 3 wild monarchs this year prior to raising. The numbers have really dropped.
0 accidental deaths
4 parasite issues
1 pupation problem (deformed)
Released and healthy:
27 healthy males
33 healthy females
92% survival rate
We raised 51 monarchs outdoors in 2025.
We had 30 females and 21 males.
We had an extremely hot and dry summer, except for 8.31″ of flooding rain around Aug 9th/10th.
We lost 1 smaller cat (likely due to heat) on June 22nd (96-degree day).
We released our first monarch (female) on June 30th (90-degree day), and our last monarch (female) was released on Oct 2nd (87-degree day).
Waukesha Co, WI 53066 (SE WI)
Ross Twp., PA., in the greater Pittsburgh area. Our location is a designated Monarch Waystation through the University of Kansas. This season I raised, tagged, and released 36 monarchs, 20 females and 16 males, between mid-July and mid-September, 2025. I lost 5 due to various issues: 1 to anal prolapse, 3 infections/died in the chrysalis, and 1 got stuck in the zipper of the cage and died. About 88% success rate. The 3 infected cats came from the wild, which I kept separate from the eggs I harvested in my garden. Love this work!
I successfully raised 16 females and 4 males indoors in mesh cages. Only 1 failure. Had 9 sipping on Zowie zinnias this past week. This is by far the Monarch’s favorite zinnia in my gardens. I live in MN, Steele county.
Howdy from Southern California. We had 19 successful monarchs this season and had 5 super monarchs take flight last week. We did have terrible luck with tachinid flies and lost quite a few. I’d estimate about 30 lost cats to flies. Will be doing a better outdoor setup and using some of your advice for sure!
Plainfield, IL, 35 miles SW of Chicago- Monarch eggs appeared later this year, but common milkweed popped up everywhere in my garden and I successfully raised 95 monarchs – 47 females and 48 males. All were from eggs except for 3 big fifth instars found on butterfly weed on the side of my house. One chrysalis also hung on the wall, which eclosed the following day and flew off as I was checking for any new appearances. I had 4 casualties- one baby dried up, one did not shed its skin successfully, one misshaped chrysalis never developed into a butterfly, and unfortunately my last egg developed into a nice big cat but did not shed its skin well while making its chrysalis with part of the skin stuck inside. It turned black but never eclosed after 2 1/2 weeks.
I learned how to help in some 2 emergency situations: one female monarch must have just eclosed and fallen to the cage bottom still wrinkled when I spotted it. I was able to get it on a butterfly bush branch and back to its pupa where it hung until its wings straightened. Another female’s chrysalis was hanging from a thin long piece of silk and fell a few hours later. I stood it upright against a folded towel in a baby cage and sprayed it daily. When it started to turn dark I put Elmer’s glue on a cotton puff and attached it to the remaining cremaster and pinned it to the cage top when dry. She eclosed successfully.
I also raised twenty something American Ladies & one black swallowtail. I currently have 1 black swallowtail cat and 4 chrysalides which I hope will overwinter successfully in my garage.
Reporting from Eden Prairie, Mn. I brought in 72 this year, all but four were eggs. Released 67, had two black chrysalides, two caterpillars diseased and one monarch had half a wing and did not make it. Success rate 93%. Far more successful this year in number of eggs than last year. Had near miss with two cats falling on hard surface when cleaning cage, they survived but lesson learned. Believe the faithful cleaning of cages a couple times a day really helped and also separating the different stages as best I could. Had many eggs found on same day for some reason and so enjoyed the larger groups emerging on same day. Shared the release party with my neighbors and was great fun. Visiting grandchildren of neighbors enjoyed so much and two more residents expressed interest in raising the little creatures. Saw more Monarchs this year. Thank you, Tony, for all your guidance!
I released 9 butterflies this year. I learn more and more about this every year and am looking forward to next year. I live in northern Delaware.
October 7, 2025 – This my fourth year raising monarchs. 80% of my monarchs were raised from eggs and 20% were raised from caterpillars I had found on the milkweed. I raised 45 total, but lost 3 caterpillars. All chrysalis survived and I released the last one today! It was a late year for them. When I find eggs and micro babies, I put them with the milkweed leaf in plastic containers with a damp paper towel. I have a mini greenhouse for that. When they are large enough I transfer them to a wooden screened in house we built. I use the tubes and clean and feed them twice a day. They chrysalize on the roof of their tiny wooden house. This method has seemed to work well for me. So, in 2025 I had 92% success rate.
Debra Barone
Hilton, New York
I reside in San Diego County where several people are growing milkweed to save these beautiful butterflies. My church added a community garden (Monarch Waystation) above the parking structure. I rent a space specifically to grow milkweed, and nectar plants including the butterfly bushes.
This year I raised and released:
(138) healthy monarchs – I try not to touch them, so I have no idea how many were male or female.
I also found a (2) late caterpillars that I brought home to protect in the habitat cages (much like I did with the 138 I raised.) They are in chrysalis right now. I found releasing them the next day (giving them almost 24 hrs. of protection), produced a much healthier and stronger butterfly. I placed zinnias which appeared to be their favorite nectar plant this year in the habitat cage and saw several feeding before they took flight the next day and, day of.
I also had a passion flora passion vine that unfortunately became so diseased I had to uproot it before more fritillary eggs were laid on it.
While it was healthy I raised and released:
53 fritillary butterflies – This is a significantly lower number than years passed yet I attribute it to the diseased plant.
I save a few clippings before it became diseased so hopefully, I can grow another vine next year.
This is only my 2nd year, last year I released 3 butterflies. This year I released 5, 4 males and 1 female. Here in SD, I am surrounded by either corn or soybean fields that are heavily sprayed every year. I kept trying to dig up the milkweed on the edge of the soybeans and had no success, but random common milkweed started growing here and there. So I let it be, now 1/4 of my vegetable garden is milkweed. I saw only 3 monarch all summer-Very depressing. While picking tomatoes a cat attached itself to my t shirt. I was so happy to see that first one. The only female was found on the ground and she was not eating or pooping like the others so I isolated her cuz I thought she was sick, she was small but she made it. I also had one cat die at the J stage. Looking forward to next year. Middle of September my yard was full of butterflies feeding on the zinnias.
I feel like I had a successful year. I was able to raise and release 80 Monarchs from West Central Florida and only had 5 or 6 deaths. Three deaths were caterpillar and 2 or 3 were chrysalis stage. I have a Giant African milkweed and go out early in the morning to collect cats off the leaves before the lizards get them. They kept me busy cutting the fresh leaves daily. 2025 was my second year. In 2024 I had tried collecting the eggs off the leaves, but that was not as successful for me. Then I learned in 2025 to get the newly hatched cats early and bring them into the cages. After releasing the fully grown Monarchs they
enjoy the Mayan Spinach plant which is the nectar plant. Hoping for more than 80 from this Fall migration.
By the way, I live in Columbus, Ohio
This summer was an incredible milestone in the 7th year of my butterfly-raising journey.
On July 31, I spotted my very first monarch in the yard. Just a few days later, on August 4, I visited a nearby reservoir and collected two tiny caterpillars and one egg from milkweed. Between August 10 and 16, those caterpillars transformed—first curling into a “J”, then forming their chrysalises.
By August 17, I discovered a few more tiny caterpillars on my milkweed at home, along with some freshly laid eggs. Over the following weeks, I found even more until I was caring for 20 additional caterpillars. In total, I raised 23 monarchs this season—11 females and 11 males, making it successfully to butterfly stage. One didn’t make it and had to be euthanized.
This was my very first year finding eggs on my own plants, and I couldn’t be happier with the success. In past years, I had only managed to raise an average of four monarchs per summer. In addition maybe due to an early rainy summer there seemed to be an over abundance of caterpillars.
Tony’s resources and guidance were a huge help in teaching me more about the process and deepening my love for monarchs.
And it wasn’t just monarchs—I also raised 19 black swallowtails this year! Nine of them will overwinter in a mesh cage on my sunporch, and I’m looking forward to watching them emerge in the spring to continue the cycle of life.
What started as a small hobby has become a passion, and I can’t wait to see what next season brings.
I live in Northeast Tennessee. We usually don’t see any Monarchs until late August or September, but this year I saw more Monarchs than I have ever seen! I found four caterpillars, and 23 eggs. One of the four caterpillars died. Of the 23 eggs, 12 survived to become healthy butterflies. I raised them in three different cages according to size. The eggs either didn’t hatch, or the tiny caterpillars died when they about a 1/3” long or smaller. I had one chrysalis that turned black and was liquified, but that was all. The rest survived and the last five butterflies, released October 1st, are still feeding on my Mexican sunflowers. Last year I had no eggs or caterpillars at all, despite having plenty of healthy milkweed. This year I bought three extra plants to supplement what I already had, and luckily that was enough.
Caterpillars found outside 4
Eggs 23
Butterflies released 15, approximately 10 males and 5 females. Only one caterpillar found outside died. From the 23 eggs, 12 survived to become butterflies.
Total Monarchs released 15
I released 40 healthy Monarchs this year. This is a record number for me in northern Delaware. My friend in southern Delaware, who usually is able to find more than I do, had none.
From NW Indiana. This is my 8th year raising monarchs. My 1st year raising completely in habitats, from eggs, newly hatched and very small caterpillars. I generally watch over my swamp milkweed plants in front of our covered porch, with more swamp and common milkweed in other gardens. I keep track of the caterpillars, where they form chrysalis, only intervening to protect the caterpillars and chrysalis. This year started slow, found 10 caterpillars in July. I can account for 5 butterflies. Kept watching females laying eggs but no caterpillars. I had noticed small bees and wasps. One day as I was examining the plants, I watched a wasp grab a tiny caterpillar, then fly off. Never seen this before. So habitats came out! Collecting eggs, newly hatched and tiny caterpillars placed in the baby cube habitat, as they grow bigger placed them in the tall habitat, chrysalis relocated to my big habitat, tied to branches. I keep my habitats on our covered porch. One morning I found a J’d caterpillar on the floor of the habitat, a small hole on the top where it had attached, still alive. I slid a leaf under the caterpillar, placed on a small plastic lid, in the cube habitat, away from big caterpillars. Later while cleaning the tall habitat, I noticed the caterpillar was starting to form a chrysalis laying down, a complete chrysalis. After it dried and harden, I attached the chrysalis to a small branch and kept it in the cube habitat. Surprisingly 11 days later a healthy female butterfly emerged! Also, not a single aphid on the swamp milkweed, hot summer have anything to do with that, no complaints. Just made it easier when doing cuttings. I raised and released 23 healthy Monarchs, 13 males and 10 females. Lost 1 J’d caterpillar to tachinid fly, 2 small caterpillars to black death, 1 chrysalis and 1 butterfly emerged with wings not fully unfolded, lived 8 days. Every year there’s something new. Wished I bought more of your habitats, Tony. Thank you for your wealth of information.
Milford, Oh. As of 10-4 -Unlike last year when we had 2 released cats, this year we’ve had 33 cats where 3 died, and 20 released so far with 9 still in the cage at chrysalis stage, waiting to become beautiful butterflies. Releasing started in mid August,
Glenn again. Final total appears to be 23 released and 6 still in chrysalis stage for past 3-4 weeks so I assume they have been infected and will not become monarchs to be released. For the year it is 33 cats, 23 released, with 4 died and 6 infected.
9 males healthy
6 female healthy
1 ( I wasn’t here when it was released. Male? female?
1 chrysalis failure. (It had a dark streak on the green surface but otherwise looked fine. It did get black but then dried up and did not open)
Concerned about the recent reports that are discouraging raising them inside. I raise mine in one of your cages on a screen porch out of hot sun. Must decide about continuing as I want to help, not hinder the next generations viability. Nona in Wisconsin
hi Nona, as long as you’re exposing them to natural levels of heat, light, humidity, you’re giving them what they need to know it’s time to migrate. I would recommend digging into the details and methodologies of research that concludes raising monarchs is detrimental to their health…you’ll find a lot of it isn’t relevant to what you’re doing if you’re following the process laid out in raise the migration. congrats on a successful season.
Again numbers were way down here. I raised 7 in an enclosure with 100% success. This is the third year in a row with very low numbers of butterflies and eggs compared to previous year.
My first year and it was great. About 30 Monarchs flew by October. I continue to learn. See you all next year.
Sally
Chatsworth, CA
This year the season started later than usual but I had tons of visiting monarchs. Even my neighbors notice the uptick.
I was able to release 114 healthy monarchs. Could have more if my enclosure door was not left open for the rats to come in and eat 20 chrysalis and late in the season have Black Death come through and wipe out at least 20 more. 🙁
Writing from San Jose,CA, U.S.
The season started later this year, didn’t really find any cats until July. Successfully then released 35 healthy butterflies, and then disaster struck. During one night, either a rat or mouse ate its way into the mesh cage and ate 20 beautiful chrysalis. We were devastated. Of course, thought we were the only ones to ever have encountered this, but a quick Internet search let us to understand others have had that problem. We have since purchased the nesting doll set up for our future Monarch rearing. During September, we did have some obviously infected chrysalis ( which I froze and discarded) and lost several caterpillars to black death. Overall, though, we have released 53 healthy butterflies. Looking forward to next season, with redoing the milkweed bed outside and having the nesting doll set up that you recommended on this website.
Our neighbor across the street has released, I believe, about 60 monarchs.
Neighbor’s report seeing Monarchs all over the neighborhood.
It’s magical.
I raised and released 56 monarchs this year. Much better numbers than the last few years. In 2020 and 2021, I raised 130 each year. All of my monarchs are raised from eggs that I find on our property. No fatalities, however, a few came out that were not flexing their probascis. I may have released a few this way before I saw the issue. I then used a q-tip dipped in 10% honey to gently get their probascis muscles moving b4 releasing them. Tithonia plants were great nectar sources, even today with the late migrators.
100% success rate due to clean mesh cages in our screen porch, and fresh milkweed. I spray them with water in the morning if it’s been dry. I am upset to hear that people order caterpillars online. I believe this is detrimental to their heath. The best thing you can do is to plant monarch habitat. Thank you!
GG I released 57 Monarchs and only had three chrysalises die! Last year I only had 3 so I am encouraged by this years results.
I live in Virginia. Last year the Monarch butterflies arrived earlier than this year, by several weeks. Last year I raised from eggs and only released 4 butterflies. This year started late, but was more fruitful and successful. I ended up finding 8 eggs and 2 caterpillars and released 10 Monarchs. My granddaughter got to release 2 of them by carefully getting them on her finger and bringing them out of the cage and watch them take off! I believe 3 of them were males.
I too, found it helpful to gently wash the leaves before giving them to the caterpillars!
The year 2025 for our Monarch project was both good and bad.
We live between the Blue Ridge Mountains and Second Mountain in Dauphin County PA. The spring and early summer were wet, and the late summer into early fall is still abnormally dry.
On Saturday, September 27th we released the last Monarch butterfly.
Compared to other Monarch enthusiasts, the number of butterflies we release are small, but even so, after 8 years of participating, this was our best year yet.
Caterpillars collected: 40
Monarchs that successfully emerged: 27 (15 Females – 12 Males)
Unsuccessful: 12 caterpillars died and were unknowingly infected when we found and collected them
Unsuccessful: 1 Chrysalis expired from black death
The time span from Chrysalis to Monarch was between 10 to 16 days.
The bad part was the milkweed supply.
On our property, we do not find the caterpillars until the 2nd half of July thru August. The real problem is that the milkweed is at its final stages by the time we start to find the caterpillars and not as fresh as in late spring and early summer. This year it was very dry and the milkweed suffered.
After researching and hoping for a fresher food supply in the later part of summer next year, I will prune our milkweed (both the Common milkweed and the Orange Milkweed) in June with fingers crossed, it will regrow again and be fresher when we start finding caterpillars.
Diane A.
Dauphin County PA
Greetings from Oakland, New Jersey!
I am in Northern New Jersey on the New York border. My monarch raising and releasing experience this year was superior to 2023 & 2022. (so few then 18-20 each year) My Milkweed is still stellar. I have Swamp Milkweed in huge pots on my deck. It is still green in spite of the cooling nights. I also have a bit of tropical milkweed. The Common Milkweed got toasted in our 3 awful heatwaves this summer. I have successfully raised & released 88 beautiful babies this year. I found, on my own milkweed, 101 eggs & cats of mostly micro tiny size. Only 2 Cat deaths at instar 5. They laid down and turned black. One chrysalis turned black and never eclosed. 10 eggs were duds and either never hatched, or went missing?? That’s a good ratio! I have been doing this since 2018.
My suggestions for success are this:
Fertilize the milkweed like a precious rose. The female Monarchs noticed it every time in our yard!
Cleanliness is the utmost. The cats need to have their habitats washed out twice a day.
Spritz the cats with morning & evening tepid water. They love it. It energizes them. I love watching them sniffing the air & the wet leaves. All living things need water.
Harvest all your milkweed seeds and share with others. I have recruited friends to at least “Just Plant it”. They happily reported “Holes in Leaves”. Monarch Watch will take certain kinds of milkweed seeds for habitat restoration. Check their website.
Grow new fresh milkweed each year from seeds. It is so easy to do. It’s a weed!
Remember to be committed. This takes a lot of patience and energy to care for such fragile creatures.
Thank you Tony, for all your guidance and commitment for helping us be better stewards of a critically endangered species.
I live in southwest p a and this was my first really serious attempt at raising monarch butterflies
We had three that turned black and didn’t Turn into butterflies.I felt so bad one that came out as the butterfly but died
We had six that made it out into the wilds.
Truly amazing to watch the process and how much they eat.
Next year we’re gonna become even more serious and get a kit Instead of just using jars
We did not Realize that there was a way to tell females and males.But next year will check on it
Very proud of ourselves. Helping out the population to stay alive. I have beautiful gardens that the caterpillars in the butterflies just love.
I live in Essex ON Canada which is in the migration path. They gather in Point Pelee the most southern location in Canada. People from allover go to witness that as well its known for birdwatching. Have been raising butterflies from eggs off of my milkweed plants for 4 year’s. I have never lost a butterfly or have one die in the chrysalis. This year I did have one emerge with a defective wing. I also lost a few small cats looked like they just dried up never seen that before. Released my last butterfly September 19th. In all I released 37 healthy Monarchs. I found one plant they absolutely love its ageratum. I would see several Monarchs on that plant. Once I counted 10 on there. I also learned that preying mantis also love to eat them I started finding butterfly wings on the ground. So everyday I examined that plant and would have to move them far away from that plant. Raising Monarchs is a commitment and I am happy to contribute to their survival. I still get excited with every release I still find it fascinating to watch them fly away feeling I’m doing a good thing. They are just so beautiful. I also encourage people to plant milkweed in their yard for their survival. We can’t give up on them hopefully we are making a difference.
This year we saw far fewer monarchs where we live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We have lots of common milkweed with no pesticide or herbicide use near us. We were able to find only 15 eggs to raise for the migratory generation. Of those, one cat died of unknown causes when half grown. The others grew and developed normally, half of each gender. Lovely! We’re still seeing the occasional monarch (l
It’s late September), and the weather is still mild enough for them to make their way to the Garden Peninsula, where they gather for migration. I wish I could raise a couple hundred like I used to do every year, but raising that many takes more time than I now have to spare.
I live in Brazil IN. My summer of raising monarchs was interrupted during the month of August due to vacations and other activities. I raised a total of 16 monarchs this year; all healthy. I think I accidentally threw away a tiny baby or an egg weeks ago. I set my last caterpillar out in the milkweed patch a few days ago. I’m not sure if he was unhealthy or just slow to grow, but he didn’t seem to be eating, growing and pooping the way he should. Anyway, I wished him well and set him free. I also raised 11 black swallowtail early in the summer.
Sept 29, 2025 East Lansing, MI
Season started slowly, but from 2 females I successfully raised and released 35 females and 38 males. I was able to tag 25, released mid September. I only collected eggs from my own milkweed gardens with 100% hatching. I had 2 accidental chrysalide deaths, 1 caterpillar death, and 1 incomplete metamorphosis. I am doubling the size of milkweed gardens and also nectar plants (2 wildflower gardens), planting some milkweed in pots placed on deck. I am fortunate to have a wonderful 3 season porch so monarchs were raised in cages that mimic outside without the dangers. Hopefully 2026 will be even more successful.
Hello,
from York County, PA!🙂
I have been raising Monarch butterflies for eight yrs.
I prefer raising them from eggs that I find on my many milkweed plants.
I began tagging my butters, last year.
Two were spotted and reported, one in Chesepeake, MD and another in south central VA.
This year, I began tagging on Aug 21st.
To date… I have tagged and released two hundred and thirty nine, healthy Monarchs (all were tested and neg. for OE).
Thankfully, I had enough milkweed for all of them!!
I lost seven cats, total….five to parasitic flies, two had failure to pupate and one chrysalis fell from its’ pinned up leaf (he eclosed with a deformed right wing).
I’m so pleased…. it’s been a very rewarding and successful, Monarch season!!!
Vicky
I had the privilege last year of finding a chrysalis on a leave of my sunflower plant while cleaning up my garden. I was so happy to find this and see after it emerged and fly away. This year, however, I was very lucky to see the caterpillar on a sunflower leave hang into a J, babysit it for three days and actually film the entire process (4min34sec) as t shed its skin into an actual chrysalis. Its been 12 days now (with some cold nights here in MA) and today it seems to slightly be changing color a bit. I hope soon it will emerge, dry off and fly away!! It has been such a miracle to watch this entire process. I did have another caterpillar but not sure where it went…I should have brought it inside on a leaf and watched it there!! But having a video of the entire thing this year made me more than happy!!
Hi I’m Sharon from Bancroft, Ontario CANADA . I raised 138 healthy Monarchs. 45 Males and 93 Females. I would have had 140 but I lost 2. I think OE for one. The other one died in about 2nd Instar. Didn’t thrive. I have tons of milkweed on my property. And we don’t spray anything. Most of the interesting things that happened occurred when 2 cats built their chrysalis on the zipper of enclosure. Next year am going to fix that issue, hopefully. I had to cut into the tent. I miss them so much. Can’t wait for next year. Hope they have a safe journey. Thank you
I’m near Kenora, Ontario at the top end of Lake of the Woods. This has been the most disappointing year I have experienced in my 15+ years of raising monarchs. None showed up until one happened by in mid July and her eggs were few. All I have spoken to in our area had similar experiences – my theory is our cool/cold spring and the smoke from northern fires kept them away.
I’m hopeful that next year will be back to normal as I typically release some 50+ for migration. This year I only had 7 to release 😥.
Sorry Sylvia Next year will be better. I think the smoke was a problem. We are in Bancroft Ontario. About 3 hours north of TO. Started off slow and eggs were difficult to find. I have a lot of milkweed. And flowers so they came. Those 7 you released are very important too. They were healthy and they will have lots of eggs next year. Take care Sharon
After not finding any monarch eggs or cats last year on my milkweed, I was not holding out much hope for this summer but happily I found over 20 and brought in a few small cats as well. I just released my last Monarch on September 18th. In total I released 28 while losing 2 very small cats. All butterflies were healthy and released in perfect weather conditions as it has been a very warm sunny summer! I have also seen MANY monarchs in our yard this year, eating from my various gardens. 🙂 Last year they were scarce, so it has been a good summer!
Overall a successful year in SE MA, 46 healthy Monarchs raised and released. I got off to a late start, first eggs July 8, usually around June 20th is my first eggs found. The past 2 years I have been adding late summer/fall nectar plants-asters & goldenrods to have available food source for migrators & late emerging butterflies and pollinators. I’m saving pink & white swamp milkweed seeds as these do the best in my tiny back yard. I have a few common milkweed in pots I used as a food source when needed, but no eggs found on them.
Hi,
I am in the big bend portion of Florida. For the past two seasons I’ve had a May crop and a September/October crop, which is currently going on now. I have been doing this for about 8 years now. This month I’m seeing something I never have before. I have several caterpillars in my tents, but many are still in the garden. The other day I noticed one of the caterpillars climb to the roof and hang down. I watched – it didn’t look good. I’m afraid it’s gone. This morning I was in the garden and noticed the same thing. This caterpillar had attached itself upside down on my porch overhang. Never went into a “J” and is no more. So sad. Wondering if anyone knows what happened or has experienced this. Thanks
Hi Connie, sorry to hear about your experience…this could be from parasites like tachinid flies or from disease. More info:
Monarch Diseases and Prevention
I’m located in New Freedom, PA. I started seeing monarchs at the end of July. I only gathered about ten eggs and caterpillars this year. Although, last year I had an alarming zero. So, I am thrilled at what I did get. I lost one chrysalis to that nasty fly. This was the first experience for me to see the thread like line hanging from it. I disposed that. Another chrysalis never made it to the stage of butterfly. It just turned brown. I waited for many days and then disposed of it, hoping that it wouldn’t affect others. I have six more in chrysalis stage. Hopefully, they are ok. I sometimes wonder if I am doing the right thing or if I should just leave all untouched in the garden.
Hi Patricia, leaving monarchs outside doesn’t mean they won’t get diseases….in fact, the only place we’ve seen monarch disease over the last few decades has been the garden. If you raise from eggs and keep the milkweed and habitat clean, most diseases are preventable:
Monarch Diseases and Prevention
On the Central Coast of California
This year we have been mobbed by Monarch butterflies. We have been too busy with other duties to get as involved as in the past with bringing them in and putting them in enclosures, so have mostly just observed them when we have come across them outdoors. They have decimated the milkweed plants we had, and we have made a few more purchases to try to keep them fed. The ones they have eaten down to stems are putting out new growth, and we are hoping it will be enough to feed the newer caterpillars, as we can no longer find any milkweed for sale in our area. We have observed a number of butterflies emerge successfully (have not kept count), and a number of deaths of caterpillars and butterflies from a few different causes (tachinid flies, black death, spider web entanglement, falls upon emergence from chrysalis from which they were unable to recover). We are just hoping that the incredible number of butterflies in our garden indicates that this year may be a better year for them overall than last year was.
I think it was a bumper crop this year in California. I’ve never seen anything like it!!!
N FL here. I’ve unfortunately not seen one Monarch in my yard, this season, after years of success. Not sure why, but I’ll try again next year.
Congratulations to all who had a successful season.
This summer we did not see any Monarchs come thru our backyard in Urbana, IL. I’ve been raising them for many years and the activity in June thru August has diminished over the last 2 years, which is disappointing. I moved to northern Idaho and joining a local group that is working to make the area Monarch friendly. Hopefully next year will be better.
Linda Stockinger says…
Hello from Lake Wissota near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. I’ve been raising Monarchs for perhaps , 10 years, almost entirely from eggs collected on my property and immediate neighbors’. I wash and dry them and stack in leaf sandwiches in zipper snack bags. I monitor daily. I move them into ice cream buckets at age 3 days then into the Big Baby screen cage to finish.
This year I saw very few adults in June and the first part of July but a few mommas secretly left me eggs to raise. Business picked up the latter part of July and thru August. Altogether I raised and released 45 healthy Monarchs, 100% successful! I held onto the last dozen or so through the early September rain, wind and cold. My most important lesson: keep cages away from my cat who takes topical flea and tic meds monthly. The chemical can drift into the cage or tub and prevent healthy pupation. This year I succeeded.
Thanks do much, Tony! You’ve taught me a lot!
An unusual thing has happened here in SE MI. The wind had blown over my tall Mexican Sunflower and as I cut the plant onto a recycle bin I found a chrysalis hanging on one of the leaves. Knowing that the cats only eat milkweed, I’m extremely confused how this could possibly happen. Anyone have a theory???I have raised many Monarchs over the years, but this is pretty unusual I believe. Still have 2 chrysalises and hoping for a warm October
hi Clyde, congrats on finding a chrysalis…monarchs typically crawl off milkweed to pupate so it’s not surprising you would find one on a towering nectar plant.
I have been Mother to Monarchs for many years. I have learned and loved all of it. Till this year that is. I had both of my knees replaced, spanning 3 Monarch mothering seasons, spring, summer & fall. I did, as always, followed Tony’s blog throughout. I looked from afar for munch holes & babies on flowerbed milkweed. Lesson? I really missed it! Next year I will be ready, strong and stable to again be (a 70 year old) Mother to Monarchs! Thanks you Tony, for your dedication & wonderful information!
Live in northern NJ. This was a challenging year. My loss rate was higher than normal. I have been raising monarchs for about 8 years and have encountered several issues I have not experienced previously. I lost about 10 eggs from mold, apparently from collecting eggs when the leaves were damp. Lost about 5 eggs that did not hatch and started becoming a more rounded plumper white before I discarded. I have lost 2 chrysalises that had a small hole in the chrysalis with the inwards being empty/hollow. Not sure what this was as the chrysalis did not look like the tachinid parasites photos I found on the internet. In all, I will release about 30 monarchs with the last batches around the end of September)
Southern California
This year was a strange year for us. I noticed dozens of large caterpillars on my milkweed very early on, in early June. So many in fact, that they ate my entire milkweed plant overnight and the next morning they were running all over the sidewalk and garden, just begging to get squished. This was June 10th. I quickly ran out there and gathered them up and put them in my rescue habitat and went on a facebook gardener’s site that I am a member of and asked if anybody local happened to have any spare milkweed to save them. An amazing man responded and told me I could take all the milkweed I needed. He had huge bushes of narrowleaf in his backyard. I took a bucketful and was able to raise them all for releasing. 35 of them. I didn’t lose a single one. No tachinid fly, no black death, all of them healthy and strong. I then had about 6 that had come in on leaves from my garden (after my milkweed had partially recovered) that I used to supplement this first generation after they demolished all of the first batch of milkweed. This was in July. I lost 2 to tachinid fly. I found a few more out there on demolished milkweed after this bunch and brought them in and went to purchase more milkweed to feed them. I lost all but three. They just shriveled up and died. I keep them after they die until I can determine whether it was tachinid fly, but it wasn’t. I just released my last one two weeks ago. Here is an interesting thing that has happened this year that I have never seen before. Now that my milkweed is almost completely recovered and big and bushy, I have checked the leaves. Very few eggs at all, and zero caterpillars. Hardly any leaf munching either. So I brought in a few leaves that had eggs on, just to watch to see what happened and they ALL eventually turned black before the caterpillar could emerge. I have no idea what is happening to the eggs, but none of the eggs outside seem to be hatching either. So strange. I can’t figure it out. But what a year it has been. It was so fun to release all of those 35 rescued butterflies. So satisfying to have saved those lives. And many of them hung around my garden for quite a while before taking off, so it was like a scene from a movie with monarchs, swallowtails, and dozens of other species that I didn’t identify, all flying around my garden for days. What a year.
I found a total of 41 caterpillars on my milkweed this year. 6 died but 35 made it to chrysalis form. I just released my last one yesterday. All 35 hatched & released. I was very happy.
I have been raising them for the last 6 years. I learned that transferring them to a screen cage immediately after finding them is the way to go my first 4 years of raising in the garden resulted in a lot of black death. Since using cages my success rate has gone up. I had 24 last year then 35 this year. Oxford, ME
September 5, 2025. Southeastern Connecticut
I have successfully raised Monarch caterpillars into spectacular butterflies since 2018.
That was not the case this year. I usually see them arriving at the end of June into the beginning of July. So I waited patiently, and was on the lookout, for their return. My Monarchs showed up sparingly, one at a time, at the end of July beginning of August. To this date I may see just one here and there on my nectar plants. My abundance of withering milkweed has gone to seed.
I let Mother Nature take care of the caterpillars this year.
I can only hope I never experience this again. I miss my little buddies.
First, I want to thank you Tony for your wealth of information over the years. I think I’ve been following you 9 of the 10 yrs you posted as being online. I especially love the quality and value of your habitat cages and supplies. They are by far the best out there on the market. You truly knew how to build the perfect cage to protect the caterpillars from predators. While I am sorry to see you closing shop, I am happy to hear you will still be involved with a blog. Your words of wisdom have been valuable.
Moving on to my experience this year. I live in Oceanside, CA so our summer weather is mainly in the 70s – 80s. We do have to watch out for the Santa Ana winds and wildfires so I tend to keep the monarchs indoors most of the day to keep them healthy. I have been raising (hoping to save) the monarch butterfly for close to 20 yrs and still always find a new lesson learned each year. I am no expert but am trying like everyone on this list to save a beautiful butterfly. I also raise Fritillary butterflies and Swallowtails.
This year I raised (119) healthy monarch butterflies. I thought I was through, yet I found (1) yesterday in my community garden and (15) in a 4 ft habitat cage I keep outside to protect milkweed at my home patio. Of those (16) total, I have (13) in chrysalis and (3) munching on milkweed.
The new lesson I learned this year is to keep the monarch in their habitat cage overnight before releasing the next day. They appear so much stronger and ready to take flight without issue. I have an abundance of butterfly bushes, zinnias and marigolds so I place a few stems in Tony’s floral tubes and place in the habitat cage. Many actually feed on the nectar before taking off.
Lastly, I learned from a Youtuber that a fallen monarch chrysalis can be saved by carefully wrapping the silk from the chrysalis onto a Q-tip. It worked on at least (4) fallen chrysalis and each monarch survived to adulthood.
Yesterday, August 31, 2025, my soon to be 8yr. old granddaughter Rae announced she released the last of her Monarchs on the previous day. She was mindful to release them on a sunny warm day. Together we had collected 27 caterpillars this summer. Most were found on Tropical Milkweed, followed by Swamp Milkweed and Common Milkweed. None were found on our Butterfly Weed this year. All caterpillars were healthy and were quickly transferred from eating Tropical Milkweed to Common Milkweed which was in abundance at Butterfly Haven where I live in rural Carp, Ontario. I was able to share feeding, raising and releasing of the Monarchs with my other granddaughters as well. They watched butterflies emerge from their chrysalis. We got many beautiful photos. My granddaughters have shared their awesome experiences with their family, neighbours, and friends. I see them as future ambassadors for the plight of the monarch.
Hello everyone, this is Debbie Alexander from London, Ontario, Canada. This year has been my most successful in 15 years. Mainly because I have more milkweed plants for the monarchs to lay eggs! The other successful aspect is picking the leaves with eggs as soon as I see the female lay her eggs! I have also limited how many caterpillars I put in a cage. Usually 7 seems to be manageable. I clean the cages using a computer keyboard vacuum which really helps when the cats are bigger and leave bigger frass.
I have had yellow aphids but I cut off the infested part of the plant to try to keep it from spreading. I really should buy some ladybugs as more are needed!
Lastly, I learned when a chrysalis is formed on the vein of a leaf, take that leaf away from the other hungry cats! I was able to save the cat in the J !
Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada
A very disappointing and worrying year. Last year – 2024 – was our best result in 7 years of raising monarchs, with 124 released. With have 2/3 acre here, planted with many pollinator perennials and three types of milkweed in abundance (common, marsh and butterfly). But very few monarchs made it to our property, despite good reports of overwintering in Mexico. We did hear stories of mass monarch deaths in the USA, and I fear that industrial scale usage of pesticides and herbicides is the cause. The economies of both Canada and the USA seem to be based on nothing more than population growth and putting more and more people into long term debt, while moving land and real estate into the hands of banks and large corporations – all of which is unsustainable and should be offensive to all of us.
But here we are. Losing species at an accelerating rate and poisoning our own environment while we keep electing puppet governments that represent wealth creation and corporate power above all else.
54 monarchs released this year. They will need some kind of miracle to complete their journey and create another generation.
And perhaps that will soon apply to many of us… People need to wake up from their complacent slumber.
I live in NW Missouri. This is my second year of raising monarchs. In 2024 I found 5 cats and they all transformed. I was hooked! So far in 2025 They have struggled with tacnid fly parasites that seem to appear in the J stage and I find the cats dead and the fly larva in the bottom of the cage.
So far we have housed 21 cats. The first one was found on 8-6-25. Currently there has been 8 deaths, 4 successful releases, 6 cats and 3 in the chrysalis stage.
I’ve learned ALOT this year! I will always check the zipper on the cage before I unzip it. I now wash all my leaves before they go in the cage. Next year I will go back to only 1 cat per cage. A fallen chrysalis was saved with dental floss reattaching it to the ceiling. Charting my results this year is very helpful.
Thanks for this opportunity to share.
I had 4 caterpillars raised from eggs this year, which may not sound like a lot, but I had none last year. I’m in SW Missouri.
One caterpillar died in chrysalis and 3 survived to be released-1 female and 2 males.
This is my 2nd year with raising these beauties in Minnesota. In 2024, I had 8 raised from eggs survive. 1 died in chrysalis. This year, I have released 11. I have an additional 2 in chrysalis, and 2 caterpillars getting big. I have had 4 die at very early stages (don’t know what from). Total released in 2025 (fingers crossed) will be 15. My learning this year has been about the milkweed. I used floral tubes to keep the milkweed fresh. I have a lot of common milkweed in the back but it is black, covered in ants, aphids, and wasps so I need to go get milkweed from other areas. I would love to know what to do about my own milkweed as my neighbor’s milkweed looks great.
2025 has been a very disappointing year, I’ve had zero monarchs released. 2023 was a record number with 135 healthy monarchs released, 2024 saw only 34 healthy monarchs released. I’m not giving up even though I’m not on the migrating path in north Alabama!! I’ll keep planting nectar flowers in my pollinator garden and I’ll keep planting milkweed for the monarchs!!
I raised 8 monarchs from eggs, I didn’t loose a one this year! Other years I lost maybe half, but this year I was much more careful about washing the milkweed leaves before feeding to the babies. I also came up with a way to keep the milkweed from wilting. Cut slots in stem, put into plastic container with a lid & holes for 2-3 stems, filled with water.
We came across your book on raising monarchs and took an interest in wanting to help. Our grandson was only three at the time, so we introduced him thru this process and we have had such memorable times. he is six now and gets so excited when we finds eggs and especially when he sees the little caterpillars grow. Today he found 2 more caterpillars, a medium size one and a little tiny one. I think the neighbors may have wondered what we did to him because he was screaming with excitement. We’ve released 2 butterflies so far and now we have 2 in their chrysalis , and 2 caterpillars. It has been so wonderful participating in such an exciting event and hopefully contributing to many more Monarchs. Thank you so much for all your advice and information. We Love it.
This year has been an unusual year for monarchs in my garden. I have been raising monarchs for 20 years. Here is short summary of my year so far August. 24.
This year my first monarch was about 1 month later than normal due to cooler than normal (below 70F) weather. Then I got an exception excess of monarchs. Between June 17 and July 13 I had raised, tested and released 300 monarchs.In. Which is more than I usually release in the entire year. Since then I have released 290 more. Since August 10 I have not had one survive to adult butterfly. I have caught more than 30 with my butterfly net and tested and released them., less than 10% had high OE infection. I mark every butterfly I release so I know I am but recapturing ones I have released.
2024 I started testing every monarch butterfly for OE before releasing it. I submit my tests to U. of Alabama after I ave tested them.Last year I raised and tested 265 monarchs. I have tested for OE and released 490 monarchs this year from my garden. Most of the 490 butterflies were raised by me and tested and released, a few were wild caught and tested. Since early augustI have not had one caterpillar survive beyond instar 4. Most are dying of Black Death., ie.they turn brown or black and die. A few have died of t-fly infection. I am almost out of milkweeds, but since I am having 0% survival of eggs or caterpillars, I have enough milkweed to feed the ones I have. I am following the same cleaning and sterilization procedures I always have.
I have over 300 milkweed plants and most are stripped except for about100 new plant starts and recovering older plants that I remove the eggs and cats from so they can get started.. I’m getting more eggs on the remaining few leaves on my starts and recovering plants almost every day. I have lots of new plants that get eaten before they hardly get started. In the last 2 weeks almost every egg and caterpillar is dying.
If you have any suggestions for what I can do to get eggs and caterpillars to survive I’d love to hear it.
Hi Bill, when you’re raising this many, disease issues often accompany this activity. It sounds like you are dealing with a virus or bacterial infection. My advice would be to cut back all your milkweed plants 6 to 12 inches and spray them down (and surrounding soil) with a hydrogen peroxide mix. In 2026, I’d suggest setting raising limits and sticking to them. It’s difficult for some, but it will be better for both you and for raising healthy monarchs…happy raising!
I don’t know how to set raising limits. Do I just cut back on the number of milkweeds and let the caterpillars die? The females lay eggs on any leaf or stem that’s left. This year was exceptional, I had twice as many as usual and every plant ( over 300) I had was eaten down to nothing, they survived on the recovering milkweed and my milkweed vine (Araujia sericifera) but I’m sure over 100 died of starvation. I did buy some plants, but that didn’t help much when I had over 500 that I raised, tested for OE and released.
This is my first year raising Monarch Butterflies. I planted a couple common milkweed in my vegetable garden. Soon the milkweed took over my garden (boy, can they spread!). I had just wanted to support the butterflies. I saw 2 caterpillars one day and the next time I looked they were gone. That’s when I realized the birds were eating them and I needed help. Thank you !!! After that I checked the milkweed every morning. I never found any eggs although I know they must have been there. I raised 11 caterpillars and they all flew away. Today I have 2 more cats to go and found a Black Swallowtail cat (so cute!) yesterday on my parsley. I believe these will be the last of the season but if I do find more I’ll do my best to keep them until it’s time to fly.
I raised 24 cats in cages, alternating cages with chrysalis stage, and released 22. The two which didn’t make it were smaller than nearby cats.
I currently have 3 cats and 3 chrysalis that are noticeably bigger than the previous cats.
Next year I’m going to investigate tagging them to follow the generation movements.
Bettendorf Iowa 52722
Released a male & a female monarch(s) on 8/19/25.
Townsend, Wi