How to Safely Release Monarch Butterflies for Fall’s Annual Monarch Migration 🍂

328 Comments

1. Hi there! I live in Belmont, NH and waiting for my last two monarch’s to hatch. it’s getting colder here. night temps in lower to mid 40s and day temps lower to mid 60s. I was thinking I’d drive flight and freedom in their butterfly mesh cage a few hours south in search or warmer weather. how long can I keep them in their mesh cage for? would 5-7 days with vases full of nectar plants be safe or should I just release on Sunday when the temps are 65 and rain won’t start till Tuesday? is that enough time for them to feed and start flying south?

   1. Hi Heather, your weather forecast looks fine if you keep them 24 hours to insure they have strong wings…no need to drive them south. Even Saturday looks good with full sun if any emerge today. good luck!

2. Hi Tony,
   I had a question about my last 3 monarch butterflies. I have 2 that e-closed today, and I plan to release them tomorrow. But I was just wondering if they can handle low 40 degree temperatures at night? Will they be able to survive? the highest temperatures seem to be 60 for the next two days and it seems to be sunny/cloudy. However I was wondering if I should wait because after Thursday and Friday of this week, it will rain on saturday making the temperatures go from a high of 59 and the lowest being 46. Will the rain make them even more cold and will they die? I hope I can get a reply soon. Thank you.

   1. Hi Alfonso, I would release on Friday if it’s partly cloudy…if they have time to stock up on nectar they should be fine.

3. I’m in Topeka, KS, and just released the last of my most recent batch of 6 monarchs on Thursday. Last Thursday, I released a female and a little while later saw a new female checking out my milkweed, before disappearing onto our raised deck. Following your instructions, I looked on new growth in the deck and found 2 eggs (my first). They are now getting close to 3rd instar.
   I’ve been looking for more every day, and asked my wife to help. In 20 minutes, she found 10 eggs and one small cat! I found a few more by accident two days ago (I broke a branch and was checking it before putting in for the caterpillars and spotted a couple of eggs).
   My worry is that if they take a month to make it to butterfly, is it going to be too late? But I guess the monarchs know what they’re doing … and inside is better than outside for those unexpected freezes (last fall, my dining area was full of flower pots when we had a rare early-October snow, to protect them for any migrators who might show up later).

   1. I have a similar question … but I’m further north – in northern Minnesota. The Monarch masses passed through a week or so ago and I had one butterfly come out the other day, and we released it yesterday. We also have two chrysalis hanging. I’m very worried for the one we released (the weather is cold and windy today) and we’re even more concerned about the remaining two! This is the first time I’ve ever TRIED to help the butterflies … and I may have hurt more than helped.

      1. Hi Paul, any stretch of remaining weather with low 60’s and up would be optimal. We’re releasing our final female tomorrow in the twin cities. The monarchs you have wouldn’t have had a chance without your help….give them the best chance possible…good luck!

   2. Hi David, you can try to raise and release them if possible…otherwise, they will serve the ecosystem outside in other ways.

4. My monarch just hatched, I’ll need to wait until tomorrow to release it now. It’s in the plastic box the butterfly place gave me to grow it in. Will it be ok in there overnight?

   1. Hi Jo, it should be fine as long as there is a little air flow…good luck!

5. Do Monarchs lay eggs as they migrate south in the Fall? We have a new cat on our Milkweed and it is September 25. That seems a bit late in the year to me. We live in central Indiana.

   1. it’s getting late but there could still be time for it to join the migration, depending on fall weather patterns. However, cold night time temps can slow down metamorphosis.

   2. I have 13 cryssalides, the youngest of which formed today. I live in Myrtle Beach SC. I think that means it will likely emerge mid October. Our mis October time time temps may dip below 55 but daytime temps will be in the mid 70’s – low 80’s. So I need to plan to drive south release the youngest?

      1. Hi Pam, those temps are fine for release…no need to drive south. good luck!

6. I just ordered my tags, but I’m concerned that my butterflies will emerged before the tags arrive. There may be a couple days between. How long can the butterflies be kept in captivity before releasing them?

   1. Hi Steven, keeping them for a few days is fine if you want to tag. The longest I’ve kept them (due to inclement weather) was about a week.

7. I have a question. I have successfully released about two dozens butterflies. However, today I read an article from a Garden Club member that states that ” captive breeding causes migration behavior to be lost.” What is your opinion on that?

   1. Hi Terry, check this out:

      Monarchs Won’t Migrate?

8. How long does a monarch feed after emerging from the chrysalis before commencing it’s migration south? It is getting late in September here north of Barrie, Ontario and I am wondering if these few chrysalises will produce monarchs with enough time to migrate. Will I have to drive them to Point Pelee to give them a fair start?

   1. Hi Rex, I think it depends on the weather conditions…they can feed all along the journey so there’s no need to stock up all in one place. Looking at your 10 day forecast, you are definitely good for release through the end of September with lowest high temps mid 60’s Fahrenheit…no need to worry at this point

9. One of my chrysalises hatched today. A beautiful female. We let her go after about 6 hours. Then about an hour later we found her wings in our garden. What on earth could have killed her?

   1. Hi Linda, sorry to hear this…perhaps a bird or mantis:

      Butterfly Garden Predators

      1. Hello..we have a female monarch that emerged September 12 sometime during the day on our deck. When we got home the 13th she was still there. We discovered her leg was stuck in the chrysalis so we used tweezers and gently got it out..we brought her inside and put her in the mesh cage but she isnt eating and it looks like there’s a “BROWN” liquid on the mesh from her leg. Will she be ok? We have a solution of sugar water in there for her.
         Concerned new butterfly mom here!

         1. Hi Thelma, With the chrysalis removed, hopefully this allows her to take flight. All you can do at this point is monitor and hope for the best…She doesn’t need to feed indoors

      2. I live in the middle of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and finally had my last butterfly come out. We’d had some very fall like weather and then late Indian Summer now. It’s probably been well over a month since it’s been in the chrysalis. It’s still wet. Is it too late to make it for the migration?

         1. Hi Laura, still plenty of time to release…congrats!

10. I live in the far northwest corner of Los Angeles county and raised my first monarch this year. I planted native Southern California milkweed varieties from seed in late April and was overjoyed to find 6 tiny eggs on August 11. Being a neophyte, I used an old net laundry hamper that looks exactly like the tall commercial butterfly houses to to cover the plants and protect my little “kittens.” Unfortunately, this wasn’t ideal because it was impossible to completely block off the bottom of the house, and two of the cats disappeared after they had reached 5th instar. I can only hope that they crawled off to find a nice place to pupate and did well on their own.

    Since my plants had not grown sufficiently to sustain all of the cats through pupation, I supplemented for a day with organic butternut squash (which they loved!) and homegrown organic cucumbers (which they were not thrilled with) until I could make a 60 mile round-trip to the nearest native plant nursery to buy some more native, pesticide-free milkweed. This was a hard choice: not contribute to the carbon footprint or feed the cats! I picked up a 7th little hitchhiker on one of the plants and all of the little fellows were delighted to move back to milkweed as soon as I put the new plants in their enclosure, so I guess I made the right choice. The first of the remaining 5 cats started to pupate 2 days later, with numbers 2-5 following suit over the next two days. Unfortunately, the other problem with my set up was that the holes were apparently just large enough to allow at least one tachinid fly to enter. One of my poor little cats died hanging form the top of the house before it could pupate. I found signs of parasitism in 3 more within a couple of days and removed them from the cage to a box just in case I was wrong, but I wasn’t. Since tachinids are beneficial for keeping other pests in check in my vegetable garden, I decided to just let nature take its course and not destroy their pupas. I found a way to close off the bottom of the house and moved it inside. I’m not sure if tachinids can parasitize a pupa after it forms, but I didn’t want to take the chance.

    Last Tuesday, I was blessed with my first healthy butterfly! I had set up my GoPro to record her eclosure as soon as I saw the change in color in the chrysalis but delayed turning it on because I assumed it would still be hours off. I turned my back on the house for 15 minutes and when I turned back, the little lovely was fully eclosed! Since I had to leave for a while, I put the house on a table in the shade on my patio. When I returned an hour later, “my” girl had crawled out of the house and was sitting on top of it. When I approached to get a better picture, she flew off about 20 feet and alighted on a rose bush, where she finished drying her wings. Since then, I’ve seen a single Monarch flitting around my lantana now and then–maybe it’s her (oh, and definitely female — no black spots on the wings). The milkweed has made an amazing come-back but so far no sign of more eggs. Apparently in So. Cal., it is still possible to get eggs until mid-late October since our monarchs don’t really migrate. It will be interesting to see what happens this year, though. This summer has been incredibly hot (over 100 deg. every day since the end of June) and it has finally “cooled off” to the mid 80’s today, but will be warming up again over the next several days. If Fall temps stay high, it’s possible that the milkweed will enter dormancy later than normal (unless dormancy cues are light based–anyone know?)

    Whether I get more eggs or not this year, I’m looking forward to hopefully getting earlier milkweed growth and more caterpillars next year–I will be sure to buy some real houses with more secure mesh!

    1. Hi Roma,
       I raise Monarchs down in SD for 4 summers. I remove all eggs from the plants and use enclosures now because of the Tachinid flys. It’s the only way to have more life than death.
       Good luck to you.!
       Jane

11. This is my second year raising Monarchs and I am proud to be a Monarch mother. I have a big gang now in Charleston SC going to the top of a 3 foot high cage. There are 18 crysalis and 9 on the top making their Js. My question is why are the cats all headed to the same side of the top where all the previous crysalisis are hanging? Only5 are in other areas The last batch in July-Aug did the same thing on the same side. I washed and bleached and rewashed the cage but??

    1. Hi Annette, most likely a safety in numbers instinct kicking in.

12. September 11 2019.
    I am Canadian, but I honour the lives lost in the 9/11 disaster.
    I expect it was NO coincidence that today 11 Monarchs pupated, ALL FEMALE!
    I am a Lyme Disease sufferer who can no longer work gainfully, but nearly every summer of my life (some 55 years, since I was six years old, growing up, summers, on my grandparents’ farm in southernmost Ontario near the Eastern Migratory stop-over site, Point Pelee, in Leamington) I have rescued, raised and released Monarch or Swallowtail butterflies. In previous summers this decade, I have released between 50 – 314 Monarchs, successfully. But this year, 2019, I set my goal at 500 releases. I will likely meet that goal tomorrow, since my last release today was number 477.
    I have been documenting my experience,, observations and challenges on Twitter under the handle @rosemurray almost daily, since June 22 (until I was shockingly and peremptorily suspended by Twitter this morning! I had a large and faithful following until Twitter suspended me, but I will take up my fight with them on legal grounds, if I have to.
    Nevertheless, I will almost certainly meet my goal of 500 releases, my highest lifetime number, since I still have one “fat cat” and more than 50 pupas yet to eclose.
    I have shared my experience with local schools, homeschoolers, summer home-cares, family, friends and online followers. More than 200 of my Monarchs were released by children (12 by my grandson who turned 5 on August 12th 2019, and a few for his 2 year old sister), about 18 by curious adults, and I released the rest, always naming each one, and sending them off with a prayer and benediction to “go forth and POPULATE”, and “Have a safe trip to Mexico!” for the later generation releases.
    As a person living with Lyme Disease, on, admittedly, “borrowed time” (I’ve outlived mydoctors’ prognoses by over 8 years, but NOT following their western medicine/allopathic advice and prescriptions) have dedicated what days, months and years I have left of my life to attending to the needs of pollinators. Over a decade, I’ve built a strictly NO-GMO, NO Monsanto products or similar (and have asked my immediate townhouse neighbours to do the same in their yards) organic garden, and incorporated pollinator flowers and plants, including several varieties of milkweed, into my gardens, front and backyard. I have engaged ALL the children in my life in the pursuit of finding Monarch eggs, larvae and caterpillars. I have donated “kits” containing an egg, a larvae, a caterpillar, a pupa and a newly eclosed Monarch butterfly to families and local elementary school teachers.
    I have had my share of “failed” ecloses, have dealth with “Black Death”, unknown bacteria/viruses/toxins, insect pests, and “birth” deformities. I have had to mend deformed wings on 5 Monarchs by gluing on prosthetic wings “harvested” from dead Monarchs I’ve found. Three successfully took flight with their repaired wings, two did not. I DO get sad at those moments, and I smudge them and offer tobacco, and give them a mindful “burial”, capped with a prayer and promise “to do better”. But the failures are few and far between. By my last calculation, I’m operating at a 97% success rate, so far, which is a blessing and miracle, when you know how FEW Monarchs survive in the wild.
    I’m lucky to live in a suburb so near Conservation Authority forests, an hour north of Toronto, so the availability of Monarch eggs, larvae and caterpillars is limitless. When I meet people in the forests and fields where I harvest them, I always engage people in conversation, who ask me what I’m doing, and I’ve “recruited” quite a few fellow “Monarch Nannies”, this year.
    Overall, this has been my BEST YEAR, LARGEST RELEASE NUMBERS and HAPPIEST EXPERIENCE, raising and releasing Monarchs. In my entire 61 years, I’ve NEVER seen as MANY Monarchs out and about and especially in my garden, as I have, THIS YEAR, 2019.
    May that continue on through the years, until we can restore the number of Monarchs back to ONE BILLION, or more.
    Bless ALL the Monarch Nannies in North America! I love and honour you ALL!
    Rosemary BC, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

    1. Well done! Thank you for your inspiration. Cerci s

    2. This is my first year finding monarch eggs on my 2 year old milkweed. I have hatched 4/5 eggs and am joyfully watching these goofballs grow. This is my second year with Swallowtails and have had a much bigger number this year over last year. I am totally addicted and aspire to get larger and larger numbers of both each year. Bless your heart!! 500!WOW500!

    3. What you are doing is amazing. Thank you for all your loving hard work to keep the Monarchs flourishing.

    4. Dear Rosemary–
       My heart is touched by your sweet story, not the least of which was your tribute to those we lost on 9/11/01. For some reason that date has had particular significance to me this year. Bless your Canadian heart! I LOVE you Canucks!! Living in Minnesota as I do, I feel as if we are kindred spirits in navigating through the cold winters.
       My condolences on your Lyme disease…I can’t even imagine what living with that is like, but you sound like a fighter. Thank you for sharing your story; it has inspired and uplifted me.
       Congratulations on your 500!! What a great accomplishment–all those butterfly lives to which you have given a loving boost! I have also noticed that there seem to be more Monarchs around my area, and while I forgot to keep count, I know I have released more than in any other year as well. My last dozen chrysalides I donated to my son’s special ed class, which he teaches in Minneapolis. He says the teenagers in his class have really enjoyed watching the Monarchs emerge, and then releasing the butterflies on the park grounds near their school. Since their school mascot is (get this!) the Mighty Monarchs, I thought it was very appropriate to donate the chrysalides to them! I told my son to tell his class that the Monarchs they are releasing REALLY ARE the Mighty Monarchs, since they are the ones that will be flying all the way to Mexico!!
       Thank you again for your post—my best wishes for your continued good health and outliving the doctor’s prognosis!!!

    5. WOW, what an inspiring story! So glad you are doing this and writing about it. What a successful run you’ve had. Inspiration to us all. Thank you!

    6. You are an inspiration. God Bless

    7. Dear dear Rosemary, thank you for sharing a truly remarkable experience. The attachment between the monarchs and the raisers (nannies) is real. When you see one of your newly released babies unfurl their proboscis and have a sip of Tithonia nectar, it fills your heart. May we keep on keepin’ on.
       Most of what I’ve learned in 3 years is from Tony Gomez…….what a guy!

       1. What you are doing is wonderful. Congratulations. I live in the backward province of Nova Scotia where the Mersey Tobeatic Research Centre which sells Milkweed plants and has a Monarch butterfly club which costs $10 to join is telling everyone they are not allowed to move Monarchs or raise Monarchs. I don’t know what gives. It must be a provincial grumble although I thought Monarchs were an endangered species and a federal matter. I wish I lived somewhere else about now!

13. Tony,
    Where do you get all your Milkweed? I have over a dozen plants of various kinds and I still run out come mid-September. I don’t have any more room in my garden. The aphids & other bugs destroy it. This year I planted several Common milkweed thinking the large leaves would help, but now they are so pale & full of holes, I don’t think they can still have much nourishment.

    1. Late in the summer we use tropical milkweed or giant swan milkweed becuase they have fresher leaves…I’ve also heard native Asclepias perennis keeps fresh leaves later in the season

    2. This is our 6th season of raising.for the first couple of years, we had the same problem of running out, but here’s a couple of tips I’ve learned over the seasons:
       1. Instead of taking large cuttings from your plants, take smaller ones, more frequently. My general rule of thumb is no more than 2 clippings per plant each harvest. Try to gauge the size of your clippings to the size of your caterpillars. You may need to harvest more than once a day as your cats get bigger.
       2. Stay ahead of your crop pests!!! Early on, I made the mistake of thinking , “Oh, those few aphids won’t do any damage”. I couldn’t have been more wrong. That year, we lost about 20 late season cats because we ran out of food. Never again! I use rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle to kill them. As for the beetles, if you knock them off into a jar of soapy water, they drown. Of course, make sure you don’t get alcohol on any of your eggs or cats, and rinse your milkweed well before you use it. I hope this helps! don’t give up…keep up the good work! We’re all in this together.

14. We’ve released 58 healthy monarchs this year and have 14 more chrysalis left to hatch. Also 11 caterpillars.
    I never expected to have this kind of result but my wife has been very diligent in finding tiny cats and I’ve found a bunch too. The milkweed is right outside our patio which appeared last year by the grace of God. I scattered some of the seeds and the milkweed has been plentiful. The large cage and the tubes and yellow stands have worked like a charm. Never expected to have this result.

    1. What a wonderful story! Bless you and your family for your diligence, love and care for the Monarchs and milkweed!

15. Birds immediately ate the past 3 monarchs I’ve released in 3 different days. Morning doves and a cardinal. The butterflies were so strong and flew up and away at a fast pace into the open air from the mesh cages, but immediately were grabbed by birds. I am not home midday to release. This occurs in the late morning or 2-3p hour. It is so disappointing.

16. Tony, I have a mix of tropical and native milkweeds here in Hampton Virginia. I will have about 50 monarchs eclosing on or about September 27th. Should I release them away from this area to discourage them lingering?
    Wayne West

    1. Hi Wayne, tropical milkweed is a great nectar source for late season monarchs. In our northern region, they use it to fuel up for the long trip, but they leave whenever the winds blow north…even with viable tropical milkweed in the garden.

17. I have released 15 so far and I have another 35 in chrysalis. Earlier in the summer I released 18. All of my Milk weed plants are now bare. I had 24 and had to buy 5. Still had caterpillar and no milk weed. Next year will triple the plants. First year for doing this and I am amazed that I have had great success.

    1. My suggestion is not to buy too many plants: they spread underground, as well as by seed! I have a field behind my house where wild milkweed grows and find my eggs and cats there. I have Never planted any milkweed plants in the butterfly garden around my house, but they eventually got seeded there by the wind I suppose. Every summer I pull these milkweed plants out of my garden, (always checking first for any eggs or baby cats on there) but they have grown prolifically in numbers in my garden, as their roots are not always entirely dug out when I pull the plant out, and so they Spread! Maybe this year you ran out of plants, but my guess is that your plants will double in numbers for next summer!

    2. We live in the mountains of western NC and have had a bumper year with monarchs. In fact, we are having a very hard time finding enough milkweed to feed them and are having to leave some smaller ones on plants as we may not have enough milkweed to feed them until they form the “J.” We are going to be starting to get the effects from Hurricane Florence in a couple of hours. We released 3 earlier today but still have 3 on our screened porch. A friend said we should go ahead and release them in spite of the upcoming bad weather as we have two females and one male and the male will try to mate with the females if they are kept in an enclosed space for more than 24 hours. Tomorrow is supposed to be very bad weather–heavy rains and wind. If I keep them it will be monday or Tuesday before they can be released. Advice, Please.

       1. I personally would keep them in the screened in porch. Their chances of survival are increased even with the male and females together. TheyDO need a source of food. I’ve cut flowers and put them in a small vase and Tony has some ideas about some cut fruit they can nectar from. Other reply’s are invited

18. To date, I have released 16 healthy Monarchs and currently have 13 chrysalides and 6 growing cats. If all goes well with these last 19, I will have released 35 butterflies this year. However, all has not been rosy with the raising effort. One of my first caterpillars formed his chrysalis on the bottom of his growing out container. It was badly malformed and he emerged with crumpled wings; one was folded under his body, limiting his ability to walk. After that wing fell off, “Fella” was able to get around much easier and lived for 2 months in an empty 20 gal aquarium nectaring on orange gatorade. I have lost numerous caterpillars though. Many newly hatched cats did not eat and shriveled up, a few instar 2 and 3’s died, 1 instar 5 died and 2 climbed to the top of their containers, spun their silk buttons, then hung in a straight line and died. Very sad! All the milkweed I used for feeding was grown in my pasture, so pretty sure no pesticides. Not sure why so many died. I don’t think many would have survived if left outside as I’ve seen paper wasps, mud daubers, ants, spiders and Japanese beetles on the milkweed leaves.

    1. I ❤️ that Fella lived for 2 months! ???
       Were the little ones that died raised from eggs? I started with raising only eggs due to having a lot of parasites last year from live ones I raised, but then I was compelled to raise live ones when I was gathering common milkweed from a highway divider that was about to be mowed. I collected about 250 caterpillars and so far of that group over 50 had parasites. Mostly visible due to chrysalis discoloration (not in wing area) but about 10 had tachinid fly maggots busting out when they were still cats ?… so maybe yours had t-fly parasites?
       Of the caterpillars I left outside on the swamp milkweed in my garden NONE have made it past the age of 1 week, I’m guessing due to predators.

19. During several days or cold and rain in January, I had to keep monarchs inside in a tall cage. I has success feeding several monarchs by cutting up a tangerine one day, and another by cutting slices of an orange, and placing the fruit in a plate at the bottom of the cage.
    I have pictures and video of the monarchs enjoying the citrus.
    As soon as the day was sunny, I took the cage outside in the sun for a couple of hours. Then I released the monarchs and they flew away.

20. Just raise my first eggs & caterpillars in plastic containers. Four have turned to chrysalis and are due to hatch soon. The problem, they don’t look right; one looks a little wrinkled, two are not totally transparent, and they all look brown rather than black and yellow. One of the four hatched two days ago, falling to the floor of my porch. Wings very crumpled. It appeared to have fallen immediately with no drying..maybe too sick to hold on while drying…any ideas?

    1. Hi Joy, this sounds like possible:

       Heavy OE Infection

21. Hi – I had a monarch emerge this morning. Due to work, I won’t be able to release it until 5 pm this evening. While I left it with a food source, it has not been in the sunlight. I live in Western, New York and sunset is at 7 this time of year. Would it be ok to release it today or should I wait and do it tomorrow afternoon?

    1. I would wait until tomorrow afternoon unless it’s warm and you see other butterflies flying around…good luck!

22. I am a teacher at a small Christian School. We have raised 8 monarchs. 2 may not have been able to fly good enough to get to survive but the others flew away quickly. 3 Chrysalises are left and one cat. So we shall see. I’ve lost count on the number of swallowtails this year, probably close to 30.

    1. Fantastic Rhoda…sounds like a great experience for you and the kids. congrats!

23. Hi Tony,
    I am new to this – let milkweed grow in my yard this year and bought 3 flats of butterfly weed.
    Had a beat-up female make it to my yard in July and she laid eggs for several days.

    It has been wonderful watching the caterpillars, which have been forming chrysalises on my
    siding. I have a chrysalis hatching out today, September 16th, and still have caterpillars forming
    chrysalises. Isn’t this too late?

    I feel like I should drive them south so they have a chance. I’m kidding, I’m not really going to
    drive them south, but isn’t this way late for SE Michigan?

    1. Hello, in most regions they still have plenty of time to head south. Here in Minneapolis, we had 12 caterpillars form chrysalides over the weekend. They will be released the final week of September.

    2. At Point Pelee they go until the middle of October.

24. It is September 15th and I have 5 new caterpillars on my milkweed!!! Will they be ok this late in the year?

    1. I read on Monarch Watch that this is peak breading season. So, if that is correct, and you are not way north, I would think they should be okay. Are you going to bring them in? I released my first one ever today! (9/15/17) and have 3 more chrysalises. I also just saw two more caterpillars in the garden today and I am going to bring them in for safe keeping and rearing.

    2. I’m wondering this too! I live in upstate NY and we have a small caterpillar and two chrysalises! I’m wondering what their success rate is this late in the season.

       1. Hi Cori, I think their chances are good as long as there hasn’t been a hard freeze yet, and there is nectar available along the migration path…there is no research data on this I’m aware of.

    3. Where do you live Joyce. I live in STL & am just now looking forward to the butterflies coming from North to leave their eggs here for my third “litter” this season. I gather you live a little further North?
       Nancy

       1. I one just going into a Chrysalis. I live in st Paul mn. Will it be too late for it to migrate say 10 to 14 days from now?

          1. Hi Terri, we have 12 that just formed chrysalides this past weekend in Minnesota. We still have plenty of time to send them on their way…

25. I have 5 monarchs in chrysalis stage at the moment in North Carolina. I have released three in the past week. So rewarding. Unfortunately, a female who emerged on Sept 12th had a wing deformity. She can only “fly” for short bursts. No trip to Mexico for her 🙁 The forewing is not completely connected to the thorax.
    I have moved her around the yard to several different blooming flowers, to give it a little sense of being a healthy butterfly. A shame indeed.
    If anyone is in the NC area, the September 30th plant sale at UNC botancial garden ( chapel hill) sells milkweed!

26. Our second Monarch emerged this morning, a rainy, gray day in Massachusetts (9/15/17). She eclosed before anyone got up so it may have been an hour or so, her wings look fully extended and there was a puddle at the bottom of her enclosure. We’re concerned because there is some orange substance in the water – is there reason to worry?

    1. Update: the sun came out so we released her and she’s fine.

    2. Hi Eunince and Suzanne, that’s meconium (metabolic waste) and completely normal:

       Emerging Monarch Butterflies

27. Hi, My five monarch chrysalis emerged today. I live in the San Jose area of CA. Do you think these will be the butterfly generation that will overwinter in Santa Cruz? I was successful with 7 out of nine caterpillars that I found on my milkweed in the garden. I will be releasing them tomorrow.

    1. Hi Debra, since the western population is much smaller, there isn’t as much data on the western migration. However, with much warmer weather, the mating season might not be over. I would check with some western resources for more info:

       Western Monarch Resources

       1. Another place to release butterflies could be the courtyard of a residential hospice

          1. Also, share with elderly neighbors or neighbors with children.
             As all of you are aware, any age person is just thrilled to watch this process.
             Pay it forward!

28. Great day yesterday as I released 5 Monarchs from my Monnie Farm. Two as you described flew straight up to hang in tree leaves overhead. Three hung out on the Zinnias I had set them on. My son, the future chiropractor, feels it is a good thing for the Monarch after it ecloses to stay in the mesh cube for an overnight for its brain and wings to get comfortable w each other, better to fly w authority the next day. I doubt there has been any study to verify this but they sure do take off to the trees like they know what they are doing.

    1. Most of the monarchs I have released (5 last year, 6 this year) don’t seem to be ready to leave for 24 hours. Your son may be right. I did have one that left the first day, but most seem reluctant to leave until day 2. So wonderful to see them fly off!

29. Another suggestion of someplace to release your butterflies would be at a group home for mentally handicapped/disabled persons. They would delight in watching the butterflies fly away. It would be something they otherwise would never get to see and they would really enjoy this. There are also children and adults who are homebound due to illnesses and/or physical handicaps. They could possibly watch from a window of their home. I think this would be something that would certainly brighten their day. A daycare would also be another suggestion.

    Thanks for your very informative website. I have learned so much. This is my first year to attempt raising butterflies. So far I have been successful and if the remaining chrysalides and cats I have left are successful as well, I will have released 3 black swallowtails and 18 monarchs. My husband and I were very lucky one year and came across hundreds and hundreds of monarchs resting in the timber one evening during their migration time. They apparently had stopped to rest for the night. Words cannot describe how pretty it was!

    1. I love the group home idea!

30. I have several butterflies hatching here in GA. We are under a hurricane watch. I’m not sure to release or not. It’s windy, overcast with no sun. Tomorrow the rain and stronger winds are expected. Advice? I also have a lot of chrysalis’ that will be hatching as we go through this weather. We were observing them in my classroom but school has been canceled so I bought all of the tents home.

    1. Hi Wanda, in extreme weather instances, I would advise waiting for the storm to pass before release…

31. This is my second year raising monarchs. Last year was a learning year, NO success. This year, I released 14 monarchs. I found ALL of my cats on tropical milkweed. I also have common and butterfly weed, but did not find any cats on either of them.

    I am in PA and am a little worried about my last emerged monarch, today 10/5. It is a little late, but from what I read, she may still make the migration. Thank you for this website and all of the information you offer

32. I have one monarch that hatched sometime during the day today. The forecast tomorrow includes scattered showers with temps around 70. To complicate things, the hurricane is headed this way on Saturday (I’m in Virginia). Should I try to release it tomorrow morning? It would be around 7 am before I go to work. Would it have enough time to get strong and safe before possibly getting stuck in a hurricane?

    1. Hi Laine, I would release tomorrow if possible…your monarch will have plenty of time to get situated before the storm. Congrats and good luck!

       1. I’m in the Piedmont of North Carolina near Greensboro 200 miles from the coast so am a long way from the hurricane. I’ve had seven monarchs eclose this morning with a few more ready to. They are inside near large open windows and are under screens. Some are moving around quite a bit and spreading their wings and seeming ready to move. There will be no sun today or tomorrow. Temps in the mid-60s to 70 today, showers this afternoon and probable heavy rain and wind tonight. Probable heavy rain and wind tomorrow. Sunday will be clear with temps up to low 70s but with high winds 15-25 mph. Should I keep them inside today and tomorrow and feed them if possible, then wait for better but very windy weather on Sunday for release? Or allow those that want to go do so this afternoon knowing that they will have some real weather to deal with tonight/tomorrow? Thanks for your excellent site and info.

          1. Hi Paul, either way should be fine as long as they have a few hours to feed and find safety from the storm. Windy is not an issue if their wings are dry. I’ve watched them over the years and it almost looks like they enjoy blowing around in the wind??

33. Oct. 3, 2016 – Beautiful day in Flower Mound, Tx. We have 18 monarchs hatching today and the tags should be delivered in the mail today. Can I keep from releasing until tomorrow for a tagged release?
    .

    1. Hi Phyran, that would be fine. Good luck with your release!

34. I have a butter that eclosed the day before yesterday. It’s been pretty cool here in Central Illinois, so I decided to wait for some sunshine to release him. I noticed that his proboscis had not come together as it should have. Is there anything I can do to help it, or is euthanasia the best option now?

    1. Hi Nan, typically they fuse the proboscis quickly. If you’re on facebook, there’s a video in this group of a woman that has tried to ‘help’ with the fusing. I’m not sure if it will work, but it never hurts to try:

       the Beautiful Monarch

35. Our first Monarch hatched from the chrysalis this morning. Fortunately for us my hubby was home sick today. We live in NE Iowa and the temperature is right at 70 degrees with a sunny sky. “Monty” has been sitting in the sun for the past hour and is just starting to flap his wings. This was our first attempt with raising a monarch and we came upon him by accident when we found him on our milkweed plants that were almost done for the season. We brought him indoors and it was a good decision as the temperatures at night have been down in the 40’s. This was such a cool experience and we plan to raise more Monarchs next year. Thanks for all the great information on this website.

    1. Congratulations Nancy…it sounds like you and your husband helped “Monty” get off to the best start possible for the long migration ahead.

36. Yesterday i found a monarch sitting in the most peculiar spot. Im from new york so it was a wet cold day. She wasnt flying and when i tried to move her from this strange place she landed on me. She wasnt flying well more like falling with style so i brought her inside to warm her up a bit. I fed her a 10 teaspoon 1 teaspoon mixture sugar water i saw her drink once…i was planning on setting her free this morning but when i brought her outside she didnt fly off just acting funny ao i brought her back in. Is my butterfly sick or dieing and does she want to migrate for the winter . She seems like to be pretty comfortable with me, but i want her to migrate if she is a 4th generation

    1. And im also 5 months pregnant if my butterfly has a parasite can it transfer to me or my baby

       1. I have never heard of any monarch disease/parasite that can be passed on to us. As long as you don’t ingest milkweed or wipe milkweed sap into your eyes, you should be OK. congrats and good luck!

    2. Hi Gina, it’s hard to say. If you found her outside, she may be reaching the end of her lifespan. I would try releasing her when it warms up. If she chooses to stay, it sounds like she found a good home.

37. Hello! I just came across your website (great info!) and I wanted to ask a question… so I raise monarch every year (find them on my milkweed pants as young cats and raise them to release) this year ive had four successful releases, but I’m worried about my remaining ones. They are clearly about to hatch any minute now, but it’s storming out and will have heavy rains for the rest of the week! Should I try and release between storms, or feed them and keep them inside until there’s better weather?

    1. Hi Rachel, these are always judgement calls. If it’s warm (at least seventies) and they have a few hours to feed they should be fine. They will find shelter in trees. Otherwise, you can keep them in the mesh cage for a few days if you feed them.

38. I went to a memorial service where they handed out packages of monarchs and we all release at the same time. I had read recently that monarchs were dwindling so everyone should plant milkweed to help their migration. I was wondering if this ritual was helping or hurting the population? They were all alive (fed-exed in) and landed on nearby bushes. What do you think of this practice?

    1. Hi Jacci, I would feel a little better about it if it was done locally and the butterflies weren’t mailed in envelopes…just my opinion.

       1. We have used these same “folded as instructed”, envelopes, for local events, but hand delivered, with absolute successful release, in paticular if recipient’s are instructed on how to open them , in the correct mannerism as to not harm the beautys inside!! We also use deco. stickers to close each envelope, that match the theme/color/symbol/or request, which seem to make the process, much more interesting, and symbolic in nature, wether for personal, or educational release!! We also offer envelopes containing monarch tags, and envelopes of milkweed seed, to those that would like to begin their own contributions to the program, or begin their own gardens for the following years!!
          Do you believe this is a construtive, and or acceptable way, to spread necessity, and awareness of the monarchs plight??

          1. Hi Fonda, it sounds like you have put a lot of thought into improving the process, so that the butterflies aren’t damaged. You’re also adding an educational component to the process, which is a fantastic idea!

       2. Please check professional opinions and research by Dr. Chip Taylor (monarchwatch.org) or
          Dr. Karen Oberhauser (formerly U of Minn, now Arboretum in Michigan I believe).
          I agree with Tony – stay away from the commercially bred monarchs and go local to be safe.

    2. I’m concerned. I am in CT and had 2 monarchs hatch yesterday. I took them outside after a couple of hours of wing drying and set them on a butterfly bush together. Hours later, one was still there. It was chilly and cloudy yesterday so around 4:30, I brought her back in. She’s alive, but not touching the sugar water soaked sponge. Temps right now are 55 and supposed to rain after today for the next 4 days….what do I do with her?

       1. Hi Marianne, that’s too cold for release if it’s raining. I would keep her in the cage and keep offering her food daily. When she’s hungry enough, she will eat. good luck!

39. I’m in first Lego league and this year for our serves project we are building a butterfly garden and plan to release monarch butterflies. Do you know any thing about milkweed? Like how tall they grow, where to get it, and how far apart they need to be planted? Please reply.

    ~ Wesday First Lego league

    1. Hi Haru, check out our milkweed resources page for info on 25 different milkweed species:

       Milkweed for North American Butterfly Gardens

40. This is the 2nd year we have raised monarchs so we are true novices. Last year, we started with about 10 eggs and we were only able to release one butterfly. The others didn’t make it to crysilys. This year we ended up with 4! The 1st release went well, the next 2 not so much. The 1st emerged and we kept her inside overnight because of weather, the next morning we set her outside in the sun in a mesh cage. We checked on her a few hours later and she was dying at the bottom of the cage. We tried to feed her and she seemed to eat but she died about 1/2 later. Needless to say, it was a very disheartening experience. We thought maybe the problem was that we kept her over 24 hours (like 25 or 26).
    The next one emerged mid morning, we didn’t want to make the same mistake so after an hour or so, we transferred her to the mesh cage and again put her in the sun for her wings to dry. We came back a few hours later to release her and she was dead. What are we doing wrong? Please help, out last one is going to emerge this morning!

    1. Hi Anne, sorry to hear you are having problems…is there any mosquito spraying going on in your region? Are the butterflies weak and/or deformed when they emerg? If so, they could be heavily infected with OE. Here’s more info:

       Monarch Diseases

41. Hi Tony,
    Thanks so much for all your info.
    I live in Orillia ON. I have one female hatched yesterday and one male hatched today. They are together in the cage on the front porch getting sun now. If they mate and the female lays eggs, and I raise them to adulthood, would it be too late in the year for the adults to be released which would be sometime in mid-late October?
    These are my first monarchs raised at home.

    1. Hi Ellen, congrats on successfully raising your two monarchs. These are migratory monarchs and they will be sexually immature. Even if they weren’t, ‘siblings’ should not be paired as it can produce less healthy butterflies…good luck with your release!

42. Just released my first indoor raised butterfly this morning in San Diego, at 71F temperature. I let her
    stay all afternoon/night indoors to make sure she (female) had strong wings; I lput some sugar water and fresh flowers but she did not seem
    interested.
    I have 10 more chrysalides waiting to hatch!!

43. A very dissapointing year so far. I have nurtured aver 40 MWs but have only seen a few Monarchs with no cats to show. I raised 8 cats to release last year. I keep looking for eggs but getting a little late.

    I have MW seeds that I did not get planted this spring. Can they be planted this fall for an early start next year? If so, when and how?

    1. Hi Dale, fall planting and winter sowing are both options for planting milkweed seeds. Winter sowing will give you a bigger head start:

       Winter Sowing Milkweed

44. It’s September 11, 2016 and I have a female still laying eggs on my MW. I’m in Northeastern Pa. About an hour from the New York border. Well over 80 cats so far. I’ve fostered about 55 to friends, as my swamp and common look sad. I worry that these Monarchs will be very late getting to Mexico. Maybe I should buy them a plane ticket. Thanks Tony for sharing all your knowledge with us. #lovethishobby

    1. Hi Dorothy, hopefully they know something we don’t about the fall weather. As long as you bring them in on cold nights, they should have a good chance to get out before the cold sets in…good luck!

45. My 2nd monarch of the day emerged after 3 o’clock. Live in Illinois and sun has been setting about 7:15, although the trees shade my backyard a bit sooner. Would it be okay to keep him in his aquarium overnight in the house? Or should I leave the lid supported outside in the backyard overnight? The low temp tonight is 54 and no rain.

    1. Actually, I won’t worry about this as she warmed up super fast in the sunshine! I watcher her fly away with a good hour of sunshine left. Stay safe little one.

       1. good news Linda….yes, I often let them dictate whether they should be released or not. It sounds like she was ready to go!

46. Where do get the tags to tag females?

    1. Hi Tracie, you tag all the butterflies, not just females. Here’s more info and you can contact monarch watch for further questions:

       Monarch Watch Tagging Program

47. Hi there… I’ve released approximately 300 monarchs this year so far. I’ve learned some things on the way that might b helpful… I live in Los Angeles and I constantly run out of Milkweed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the MW from OSH (Orchard Hardware Supply chain ) is great for my babies, not one sick from these plants. Also, when I release I first put them on my finger and then I transfer them to my shirt while I de-aphid the plants, water etc. I don’t have tags but I mark my batches w s different color shsrpie and see them return all the time. I’ve learned a lot from ur website . Much appreciated by me and my lil butterflies and the dear sweet Catties of course! Thx!

48. For 8 summers I’ve lived on a 2 acre clearing in some old forest woods in the top corner of NW Alabama. I have a lot of butterflies but no Monarchs. I have wild passion flower growing everywhere and have lots of various black butterflys plus have had tiger swallowtails stay all summer this year, lots of smaller ones. I have plenty of food for the adults (10 butterfly bushes plus lots of wild flowers, I don’t have a yard I have a wild meadow), now have about 15 milkweeds. Two springs ago I had a female lay eggs on her way up in the Spring migration. They hatched but I didn’t have enough milkweed to feed them and I had no plants close by for them to go to to cocoon, plus black dirt that was hot and dried them out. I only saw one butterfly out of the whole batch.

    I’ve got about 15 milkweeds now, plus plants close by to cocoon to, and the ground is covered with white mulch, the output of our shredder. I haven’t seen one monarch all summer, until the other day, I went out to fill the bird feeder and there was a female laying eggs!

    I got so excited I almost peed in my pants. Of course, at my age that’s not a real accomplishment. But there she was, moving around the plants depositing eggs, right in front of me. And I’m all prepared now so should have a good survival rate and, hopefully, some of them will return “home” next year.

    1. how exciting Bill! It sounds like this has been a long time coming so congrats and good luck with all your little monarchs…

49. Hello! I just found this site while trying to find out how cold the cats and cases can stand since it’s supposed to get to 33 tonight and 29 tomorrow night here in south jersey. I work at new moon nursery and we sell various asclepias species and hybrid plugs, natives. This is my first year but there have been many dozens of larvae and certain hoop houses with many chrysalises and butterflies all over. I had seen one with deformed wings but didn’t know it was from disease. I see two cases completely black; what causes that? I also found a black swallowtail case hooked to an old lettuce stem in a container garden that had carrots and many mimic b swallowtail caterpillars. Will this hatch soon or overwinter.?
    Thanks for the great site, still some caterpillars around and cases maturing. I was pruning some other plugs not asclepias and found a monarch j ing so left the seedling it was on, and next day came back and it was a case. Also lots of wooly bear spiky larvae just starting to darken its ends

    Good luck to all the caretakers here 🙂
    Charles

    1. Hi Charles, while I would never recommend releasing monarchs in temps this cold, healthy butterflies who have been able to stock up on nectar can survive temps these cold. I saw a butterfly flying around our garden the next day after it had been 31° F.

       As for caterpillars and chrysalides, they can survive those temps too but it slows down metamorphosis, which is not an option this late in the season. I would bring them indoors if possible. (Swallowtail chrysalides will overwinter until spring)

       Here is more info on monarch diseases and prevention you might find helpful…good luck!

       7 Monarch Diseases and Prevention

50. Hi all, I’m in central Ohio and am waiting on my last chrysalis to mature. It’s starting to darken so I know it will be soon. Our nights have been in the 30’s a couple of nights, and continue in the low 30s through Sunday night. I’ve brought my cage in for 4 nights. It looks like by your posts, it would be ok to release on Monday. Monday and most of next will be lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s. That won’t last here – so I think it will be my only chance. My question is what if it hatches and won’t eat for 2-3 days. I will try everything I’ve seen on your site and release on Monday around noon. Any suggestions? This is my 3rd year and I always run into inclement weather in the fall for releasing.

    1. Hi Vicky, I have had the most luck with cotton balls dipped in hummingbird nectar or sugar water. You can either try to get them to eat on the cage floor or put the cotton on top of the mesh cage and they can stick their proboscis through the mesh. If the butterfly won’t eat for a couple days I wouldn’t worry about it. It will eat when it is hungry…good luck!

51. This our first year raising monarch caterpillars in central Oklahoma – we planted three tropical milkweed plants and ended up with more eggs than we could reasonably handle inside! Currently we have nine chrysalides, two caterpillars and one newly-eclosed female butterfly gearing up in the sun for her trip. Your site has been a great help, thanks so much!

    1. congrats Kathy on a successful first season! I am glad you have found the info here helpful. Good luck with your remaining monarchs…

52. Hi to you and all the great people that are making our world a beautiful place to live. My friend Lynn started monarch rescue a few years back . She showed me how to find the eggs , feed the cats and clean the clear shoe boxes, watch for the J and then the chrysalis. I have been doing this about four years. This year I learned about diseases and fungus and so on. I really felt just awful when I would lose any cats, crysalis and even the butterflies that were born crippled. I really had a bad year for sickness. My daughter, husband and friends would remind me they had a better chance for survival with me. Today I am going to wait a extra day to let them leave. I have never let them stay longer then 30 hours. It has been so cold and windy in lockport near chicago.I have put flowers and watermelon with honey water. I have eight going to Mexico and one staying with me because he has bad wings. He is eating so I will feed him and he will spend time in the sun. I could keep writing . My friend has let 250 monarchs and a few swallowtail go. Her mom who is in her 80 s let 54 go. I have let 182 monarchs go and 28 swallowtail. Wish me luck with my nine left. I will tell you about the swallowtail next time. Thanks for all your good advise.

    1. Hi Helen, congrats on your successful season! I’m sorry you had to deal with more disease issues this season, but I hope you were able to learn some good prevention tips from Raise the Migration. Good luck with your final monarchs and have a wonderful fall season…

53. We have 6 caterpillars & 14 chrysalis outside in butterfly cages/tents. Temps here in middle Tennessee are going to be in low 50’s, high 40’s overnight for a few nights. What’s the lowest temp that they would survive?

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Susan, I bring ours in at night when it gets below mid-fifties so metamorphosis doesn’t slow down. Monarchs can survive temps into the low twenties from what I’ve heard. Thankfully, I’ve never had to test that theory. They have problems flying below 50° F.

       1. Thanks! We did bring them inside & 2 of the cats formed chrysalis and 6 butterflies emerged! It’s cloudy & rather chilly, mid 50’s today & the butterflies don’t seem to interested in leaving just yet.

          Love this site and all the info you provide!

54. Hi Susan, monarchs can fly in 50 degree weather if it’s sunny. Unless it’s pouring rain, you don’t have anything to worry about with mid-60’s temps. good luck!

55. Hello everyone,
    This is my first year raising the beautiful Monarch Butterflies. I have concerns about butterflies that should be emerging in the next several days, should be around 20. Our weather here in central Indiana has turned very fall like and is forecast to stay quite cool in the mid 60’s . What is the minimum temperature that the butterflies can tolerate without affecting them and their flight home?
    Thank You!

56. Hi Tony, I need an opinion on when to release. I am in southeast PA. I have one monarch that emerged late yesterday (Monday) afternoon and two that emerged this morning, maybe 6-7 a.m. At this moment, it is cloudy, calm, dry, and 75 degrees. The forecast is drizzle today with very heavy rain overnight. Unfortunately, the next several days it is supposed to drizzle and/or rain with daytime highs in the low 60s. The next possible chance for release looks to be Sunday or early next week. All of this rain is coming up from the south so, of couse, the direction these guys need to go! Should I release them today if it is still dry in the next few hours or hold them until next week? (I am leaning on the side of holding them.) Thank you for all of your responses to these posts–they have helped me a lot!

    1. Hi Lisa, you could release them today if the conditions stay favorable and they have some time to stock up on nectar in your garden. Monarchs are ok in rain and will find shelter in the trees. It’s really a judgement call…I typically release if I see other monarchs flying around the garden. Good luck!

57. Hi Tony,I love all of your information. I planted milkweeds among other pollinator plants, and collected over 40 caterpillars. Raised most of the cats on live plants in pots I put in my garage and stalks I brought in there; some of the smaller ones on leaves in boxes. Have over 35 as crysalis now, some that attached to the plants, some to a mesh enclosure we put up and some who found inappropriate spots that I carefully tied off and transferred to a rack we made so they’d have plenty of space to stretch and dry their wings. Five beautiful butterflies released so far, some sat in the milkweed garden for awhile but some flew right off, with 4 more in the process of changing now. I am very excited – I was concerned about letting them go when it didn’t seem like they had eaten anything. But from what I’ve read you say it’s okay that they head out on their great journey without eating first, right? Thank you again for the inspiration. I’m in Raleigh, NC.

    1. Hi Cyndra and congrats on all the success you are having so far. Monarchs definitely don’t need to feed before you release them, unless you have to keep them for more than 24-48 hours because of inclement weather. Good luck with the rest of your monarchs!

       1. Tony, I’m getting a little worried. I released the very first hatchers, but now I’ve had some for 2-3 days. It’s been very rainy and windy here. I’ve put flowers, pieces of watermelon, banana, cantelope and plums, and the sugar solution I prepare for our hummingbirds in the enclosures, but haven’t seen any butterflies eating. Should I go ahead and release them? Drizzle is predicted off and on for today and tomorrow with lows of 67 and highs of 75; Tuesday is forecasted to be mostly cloudy with a high of 81. Would love your advice, we currently have about 25-30 butterflies with 10-15 cryslis’ about to hatch.

          1. Hi Cyndra, your temps are warm enough to let them go, even if it’s cloudy. They are fine if the rain to fly in light rain. good luck!

58. #4 and #5 hatched today in Woodbury, MN. #2 and #3 released weeks ago but found them dead days later. Wonder what went wrong? It wasn’t too hot or cold or raining. I thought it was perfect. Maybe early in the evening release was too late in the day? Please advise.

    1. Hi Carol, did the butterflies look like they had been attacked by predators? If not, is it possible pesticides could have been sprayed in your area? As far as releasing toward evening, it depends on weather and condition of the butterflies. I like to give them at least 3 hours of sunlight.

59. I’ve already released two butterflies so far but this third doesn’t seem able to fly…He was fluttering around in the enclosure quite frantically so I tried for a second time to release him but he just won’t go. Sits on a bush for hours… Not sure what to do if he can’t fly….

    1. hi Rachel, if he still isn’t able to fly you can leave him in the garden or bring him inside to care for him. Depending on whether he is healthy, he could survive for weeks and can be fed nectar flowers or cotton balls/swabs dipped in sugar water (4 to 1 ratio). If he is sickly and can’t fly, it is best to euthanize. congrats on your other 2 releases!

       1. Thank you for the info! He flew away today! I guess he just needed an extra couple days to get ready. 🙂

60. Thank you for all of your advice. It is very helpful.

    I am concerned about one thing. Putting a butterfly cage in full sun for 3 hours could be a problem if it’s warm. Butterflies can overheat. If putting it in the sun, a towel or something should be put over one half of the cage to provide shade, so the butterfly can retreat to the shade if it feels too hot.

    A friend of mine netted a butterfly one day and put it in a cage to show me. It had only been in the cage in the sun for 10 minutes, but when we went to look at it, it had died.

    1. Hi Caroline, the mesh cages are very breathable and the clear plastic side should be turned away from the sun. Since monarchs typically hatch in the morning they are out in the cage by 9 and released by noon. I have never had an issue with overheating butterflies and done this for years. I would not suggest doing this in a hard plastic cage like the kritter keeper. A white mesh cage works well…

61. Hi Tony, thanks for being so generous with your time, advice, and patience! I have 5 monarchs that eclosed 24 hours ago on a terrible weather day in Chicago (thunderstorms) and 1 that eclosed this morning. Today’s weather predication is partly sunny (but so far it’s cloudy, no rain), high of only 68 and winds 17 mph. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, high of 71, and lighter winds. I have put cut flowers, cotton balls with sugar water, and melon slices in the mesh enclosure for the monarchs that eclosed yesterday, but haven’t seen them nectaring. Better to release today or wait for the better weather tomorrow? I’m worried that if the older ones don’t eat today they will not be in good enough shape to fly tomorrow. Thanks so much!

    1. Hi Diane, it shouldn’t be a problem keeping the butterflies for two days. You could also try to feed them cotton balls/cotton swab dipped in sugar water. Even if they don’t eat, they will be fine to release tomorrow. good luck!

       1. Tony thank you for patiently answering all of our various forms of questions about when to release. Having shepherded monarchs to the butterfly stage, some of us feel anxious about giving them the best possible chance to survive–and migrate–when we can no longer assist them. Wouldn’t it be be nice to have some sort of algorithm (or computerized decision tree!) based on today’s weather (temperature, wind speed, rain), when the butterfly eclosed, weather prediction for the next few days, etc. Just plug in the figures and come out with a recommendation–release today? tomorrow? 2 days hence? Just a thought. Thanks again.

          1. ha…all we would need then is an accurate weather report 😉 Keep in mind, monarchs with dry wings and a full stomach are a lot stronger than we think. I have seen monarchs flying around in the rain, and saw a monarch flying around our yard a couple years ago when it was 40 degrees one morning!

             The only time I keep them is if it’s cool and cloudy or raining. That being said, it isn’t going to hurt a monarch to keep it overnight without feeding it. Its wings will be stronger the next day…

62. Hello tony.
    I have a problem and i am needing advice. I have at present 60 monarchs in chrysalis, my first two have hatched the last 2 days. Both of them have had wings deformed/curled up and unable to fly. I am raising them in butterfly pop up bags and large kritter boxes. I believe they fell from their perch too early but am unsure. Is there anything i can do to help the wings to roll out? is there a special “golden time” that the wings need to dry out that once passsed cannot be uncurled? thank you for your insite on this, i have been quite disheartened by it. Suzanne in pleasant view

    1. Hi Suzanne, curled/deformed wings are a common symptom of severe OE infection. If they fell in your mesh cage, they should have still be able to scale the wall to dry their wings properly. Another symptom that usually accompanies this is weakness, falling from their hanging spots. The wings should be completely uncurled within the first half hour, and then it takes them a few hours after that to fully dry. Depending how curled the wings are, they might not be able to fly. If they are sickly, I would suggest euthanizing them, but if they are strong, you can always feed them sugar water and keep them in a separate cage. good luck!

63. Just had my first monarch hatch into a lovely, healthy butterfly, and I have two more in chrysalis, as well as one more caterpillar. We live in a very rural area of the midwest, which means lots of natural predators, but the ones I’m most worried about right now as I’m releasing butterflies are the birds. Are birds a big concern with regards to eating monarch butterflies? The one I just released decided she was going to park on a branch at the very top of a bush where birds like to nest and perch, so I was pretty worried that she’d get snapped up by a hungry beak!

    1. Hi Gaby, congrats on your first release! I’ve never seen a bird go after a monarch in our Minnesota garden, but they have been reported to eat some along the migration route. The stronger the monarchs wings are when you release, the better the butterfly will be able to avoid predators. good luck with the rest of your monarchs…

64. This is for the first time as a Monarch admirer. I have been interested in the plight of the Monarch butterfly after watching a documentary on television about their diminishing numbers. I was talking to one of my neighbors about locating milkweed to attract butterflies. She thought I had some on my property which I did not. I began searching for plants. I located a few in a field that was about to be mowed. I knew the plants would not have survived the mowing so I removed them and planted a few near my garden then some in a planter on my patio. I was pleased to see that they were growing since the Common Milkweed species has a trailing root. One day I was watering the planters on the patio when I noticed something had been chewing on the leaves of the milkweed. After close examination I found three large Monarch caterpillars on the plant. I verified they were Monarchs through this website. The next day I checked on them and found only one. I looked on my others planters but I could not locate the other two. I placed the third one in a mesh cage with some milkweed. The following day I observed it hanging from the top of the cage in a “J”. The following day I saw that it had formed into a Chrysalis. Several days later I came out to check the Chrysalis and found the Monarch butterfly had completed its metamorphous. I waited an hour or so and placed the cage on our patio table with the opening faced up. He crawled out of the cage fluttered his wings several times and flew off. I was surprised how fast and how well he flew. He disappeared very quickly. A few days later I was watering the plants again and upon checking the milkweed plant I found five more Monarch caterpillars. They were very tiny. I left them on the plants until yesterday. They are I believe in their fourth instar and I did not want to lose them to predators. My grandson is very interested in the caterpillars. When he gets to our house he rushes to see their process. The strange thing about all of this is I have only seen one Monarch butterfly around my neighborhood. I am not complaining. I am now in the process of finding out how and where to raise milkweed to attract more Monarchs. This website along with a five Youtube videos produced by Rich Lund has helped me immeasurably. My concern now is I hope the weather holds up before the can be released. The five caterpillars I have now will be making the long journey south. I live in York County PA. Hopefully everything goes well.

    1. Hi Dennis, congratulations to you and your grandson on successfully raising your first monarchs. You will find as your garden grows, more monarchs will stay around your garden each summer so adding more milkweed and nectar flowers is a great idea.

       Each fall, many start to worry the weather won’t hold out for their final migration monarchs, but usually, you will find a good window to release them. I’ve released butterflies as late as October 10th in Minnesota, and we have one straggler that might break that record this season. On nights with the low under 55, I’m bringing the cat inside so metamorphosis won’t slow down. You should still have plenty of time to successfully release yours. Good luck!

65. Help! My monarch eclosed yesterday but her one leg (front right) was stuck in the chrysalis.
    I was able to remove the chrysalis material from her front leg (not the femur but beyond) and discovered that she does not have a pretarsus and no tarsal claws. There was nothing torn in the removal of the chrysalis from her leg. Is she a candidate for release?

    She can fly some and she has eaten this morning.
    She is otherwise healthy and beautiful no matter what.
    When she perches on a piece of fruit, one can see that the front leg doesn’t touch or come into contact with the fruit while all other legs are on the food.
    This was the best way to describe the situation. Definitely a femur, definitely a tibia. The tarsus ends in a little knob but not pretarsus and no tarsal claws.

    Thank you!

    1. Hi Gloria, I am sorry to hear your monarch didn’t fully develop. I haven’t experienced your exact situation before, so my best advice would be to continue to feed her and monitor. She will let you know if/when she is ready to take flight. good luck!

       1. Hi Tony –
          As always, you’re right!
          My butterfly became increasingly ‘wild’ by her second day with me as I continued to evaluate her condition. I took that as a sign.
          She was released yesterday, a hot and sunny day with no wind.
          Thank you, Tony!

          With Gratitude from Gloria

          1. not always right, but thank you and I’m glad everything worked out…

66. Hi Tony, it’s pretty windy where I live. How windy is “too” windy for letting my monarchs fly away?
    Also am wondering, if I release my monarchs 1 or 2 at a time, will they find the other monarchs to migrate with, or will they fly solo? Thank you so much for providing all this helpful information!
    Rae

    1. Hi Rae, it depends on whether it’s a cold wind. a warm 10-20 mph wind is fine for the monarchs…I sometimes get the feeling they actually like getting blown in the wind from watching them fly around the garden on windy days. You can release them 1-2 at a time….somehow they figure our exactly where they need to go. The are pretty amazing!

67. Sorry, they are on the Curassavica and I don’t have any more of it so I want to feed them something else when they run out of food. Is one of the other species OK for them or must they eat only what the hatch on?

    1. yes Lynne, you can switch them to other varieties of milkweed if you run out of tropical. If you run out of milkweed entirely, caterpillars have been reported to ear butternut squash or crunchy cucumber…good luck!

68. I have found 6 Monarch Eggs on some Swamp Milkweed which I bought recently. I don’t think this plant is going to have enough to feed them all. I also have Whorled, Prairie and Curassavica. Could I transfer some of the small Caterpillars to another variety of milkweed in order to have enough for them to eat?

69. Hi there!

    My first monarch came out of her chrysalis a couple hours ago. It is 58 degrees out and really cloudy. It is supposed to rain for the next 2 days. Can I keep her in the enclosure till Friday when it is warm and sunny?

    1. yes Rachel, she will be fine in an enclosure until the weather takes a turn for the better…good luck!

       1. Thank you so much! This is so much fun! 🙂

70. Firs time monarch raiser. I have now 30 chrysalides. 6 have eclosed, of which 3 flew away. One butterfly died, unable to fly. Another is currently 24 hrs old and has a deformed front wing, incompletely unfolded just in front of rear wing. Four of the six have fallen from the attachment site of the chrysalis, which was attached to a stick from the milkweed used to feed the cats. One of those four is the one that died, and another has the deformed wing. One flew. The last is currently holding onto the mesh side of the cage. Anything I can do better? Would hate to lose more than I have to.

    1. Hi Bob, the process that I have outlined throughout Raise the Migration is the one I use to raise with an over 90% survival rate on a consistent basis. Deformed butterflies are a common symptom of OE infection. The best way to avoid OE is by proper cage cleaning and rinsing milkweed. Here is more info on monarch diseases and prevention:

       7 Common Monarch Diseases and Parasites

71. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks so much!

72. Hi Tony~ love your website and appreciate all the info! I live in Bloomington Indiana and have been raising Monarchs since 2002! I have never had eggs this late in the season. We saw a female laying eggs on Labor Day. I have 27 new cats and worry about their release date, which will be in October. I remember reading somewhere how to send them to a friend in Louisiana or Florida. A special permit is required! Just wondering if you’ve done this and any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,Mary

    1. Hi Mary, we found over 60 eggs in our northern garden over labor day too. I must admit, I’m a little relieved that most of them don’t seem to be viable. She was laying blanks! I have not shipped monarchs before but you need a permit to ship across state lines.

       If the weather holds, you might not have an issue releasing them in Indiana. We’re supposed to have a lingering summer because of El nino…good luck!

73. I like that video; I’ll have to try that one-handed pick up she does. I’ve been steadily releasing butterflies all month so far, and have scores of chrysalides to go. I like to take the butterflies out one at a time and place them on the flowers. Some feed and some don’t but I like to think they at least know I have yummy flowers and that they should come back to my garden in the spring.

    Anyway, I also like to keep an eye on them when they make their maiden flight if I can. I’ve had a few that fluttered around a bit only to fall to the ground exhausted. Not a good place for a butterfly so I pick them back up and put them in a safe place.

    The other day I found one of my tagged butterflies on the shaded tomatoes waiting for the sun. It was a butterfly I had released the day before but he crawled on to my finger when I offered and I put him on the asters that were in the sun already. My wife thinks they remember being handled and don’t really turn wild for a while.

74. I have had my first ever experience rearing a monarch! Your site has been a great help! the monarch I have stewarded from tiny caterpillar to butterfly (emerged about 3 hours ago) will be released tomorrow as getting late and icky today. I am still concerned about the flight to Mexico from Southern Ontario and what the Monarch will see and find when (yes WHEN) it gets there. Do you have any updates on the state of wintering habitat in Mexico? Thanks so much for all your help! Leslie

    1. Congratulations Leslie on your first successful raising experience! If you want up-to-date sightings and news on the monarch migration, check out this website:

       Journey South Monarchs

       1. Thanks so much Steve! You are a Monarch rock star! Checked out Journey north and will report tomorrow once have released the little girl….

75. I looked at the video about the alternative method of picking up monarchs. I had been taught from childhood that you don’t touch the butterfly’s wings because it wipes off a vital coating that allows them to fly. Am I wrong?

    Also, I was outside earlier and watched a monarch lay her eggs on my milkweed. We are in very sunny and hot Southern California. I can’t remember how long it takes the egg to hatch. I’d never actually caught one “in the act” of laying. Pretty amazing!

    1. Hi Connie, what you learned has some truth behind it, but is an over-exaggeration for sure. You don’t want to scrape scales off the butterfly wings, but it you handle them carefully like in the video, you wont…I prefer to let them crawl on my finger.

76. Hi Tony,
    Just found your great website. I’m raising my first batch of monarchs ever and have just released three. The first flew away, but two and three are still hanging on my butterfly bush. It’s 4:00, 63 degrees, breezy with sun and clouds. It’s going to be 49 tonight with the same conditions tomorrow here in Indianapolis. Will they be ok? I’m going to try to release four tomorrow, Five is still in chrysalis.

    1. Hi Rita, if they were in the sun, I’m guessing they have flown off by now…if not, they should probably be safe overnight. You could also keep them in a mesh cage over night for extra protection and release tomorrow. good luck!

77. I recently ordered some live Milkweed Plants. I am building a butterfly garden and thought that I might see some Monarchs next Spring/Summer.
    I have not seen one here (Central Tennessee)in many years. My husband and I were remarking about maybe having seen a Monarch just the other day.
    I was checking for aphids on three Curassavica and I found a total of 6 Monarch eggs. I don’t think I have enough of the A. C. but I have some A.Incarnata and a friend has some common Milkweed. I also have some Prairie Milkweed. If it appears that I will run out of the type they hatched on, can I transfer them to another type?

    1. congrats Lynne on your late season surprise…yes, monarchs will switch milkweed varieties without issue. The only problem I have heard is try to switch to A. tuberosa….good luck!

78. Hello Tony: I purchased a Monarch butterfly kit from butterflies and roses.com (they raise butterflies near Toronto, Ontario). Two Monarchs emerged yesterday, Friday Sept 11, 2015. We wanted to release them today……. but it’s raining today and probably tomorrow as well.

    Question: How long can we keep them them in the Large butterfly house, 13.5 x 13.5 x 24″? SAFELY? I put in fresh butterfly bush flowers and the butterflies have been feeding on them yesterday. Not today.

    The next sunny day should be on Wednesday, September 15th; that means the butterflies will be in the cage for 4-5 days!

    Help! And, of course, Thank you!
    Hedy
    Ottawa, Ontario
    Canada

    1. Hi Hedy, it can take them a few days before they eat in captivity. In my experience, they seem to like cotton balls that have been dipped in sugar water. good luck, Tony

       1. Merci Tony! Following your advice I put in two cotton balls, dipped in sugar water, in the cage. I also placed slices of orange, watermelon and pineapple on a plate………. I would like to offer the two female Monarch butterflies a “**** dinning experience…..” for the next couple of days! I’ll let you know the future of our guests. Weather here is looking better; will probably release them Tuesday.
          Best,
          Hedy

79. my cats took a dump this week i think with the extremely hot weather, the one from yesterday had strings and looked like the life was sucked out of it. any clues?

    1. Hi Kim, sounds like tachinid flies. Check out this post:

       Monarch Diseases and Parasites

       1. thanks, but i haven’t actually seen these but i know what you are talking about how small are they actually?

          1. you will be able to clearly see the white maggots or red pupae on the cage floor…

80. I saw three monarchs in my backyard who lighted on sunflowers.
    Does this mean the flight back is going through Chicago at this time, or are these butterflies
    waiting for others coming from the north to join them, or what?
    Thank you for letting me know.

    1. Hi Kathy, you can check the journey north website for the most recent sightings…the migration goes in waves. You are probably on the decline, but will still have monarchs coming through. In Minnesota, we typically see our last monarch before mid-October.

       Journey North Reports

81. Hi. We just had our monarch hatch at 4pm today in ontario canada. She has been drying in the sun for 2 hours now and is spreading her wings and appears very active. Should we wait until morning to release her? Its 70F now at 6:30 pm… It is to drop to 57F overnight and will be 65 and sunny by 9 am.
    Thanks

    1. I would wait until tomorrow…no need to feed her overnight. She will be fine until her release…good luck!

82. My most recently emerged monarch is flying in a small room dedicated to monarch rearing. It has a window and some freshly cut flowers. It’s raining right now, albeit lightly, and I have seen mixed predictions about tomorrow’s weather, from intermittent rain to partly cloudy without rain. Any thoughts?

    1. Hi Ann, if it’s at least 60’s and partly cloudy those are good conditions for release. It can be even cooler if the winds are calm.

83. Hi Tony,

    I have been raising caterpillars to Monarchs with some success (we’ve released five so far). I’ve made lots of mistakes and had three caterpillars die, as well as two try to form a chrysalis, but instead turned into something out of a science fiction film. I had two chrysalises left and one hatched yesterday. Unfortunately, the boy had fallen while drying out his wings, and I found him clinging to the tulle at the front of the box I have set up as his cage. I sat with him for two hours, helping him dry out his wings and I even placed the box in the sun for him to get some sunlight. I placed a bit of tulle material for him to sit on instead of the cardboard box.

    When I came home later, he was still alive, in the same position.

    It’s been 24 hours and he’s still alive, but he can’t fly. What should I do? I tried giving him some fresh orange juice from an orange I cut open, but he hasn’t eaten anything since that yesterday.

    1. Hi Dana, if he is not able to fly you could keep him. If he appears sick and weak, it would be best to euthanize. You can also try feeding him hummingbirds nectar by soaking cotton balls in it, or making sugar water with 4 parts water, 1 part sugar

84. Hi Tony,
    I recently posted a question that you responded to, and cannot find the answer again!! How do I know when to start tagging my monarchs for migration? We just had a female eclose this morning, have 3 more in chrysalis, on ready to pupate, and a bunch more in various instars. I read that we can release up towards the end of September here in Minnesota. Just not sure if the newly hatched butterfly will mate or migrate, along with the rest! Please help!

85. Tony how do you tell if your Monarchs are the Migratory hatch? I have 7 chrysalis in my cage, 9 cats and 6 eggs. Should we wait until September before tagging?

    1. Hi Bryon, whether you monarchs migrate depends on whether they go into sexual diapause, which is dependent on environmental factors like amount of daylight and temperature. If they enter (and stay in) diapause, they will complete the migration. If not, they will attempt to mate. I would contact Monarch Watch to find out when you should be tagging. good luck!

86. I was, in fact, being too anxious. I returned to find it having made its way out of the netting and sitting on top of the plant. I took the plant outside, and she was on her way! 🙂

    1. Good news Dannielle! for future reference, it take them about 2-3 hours to dry their wings before they can take flight.

87. My first monarch and it’s still on the milkweed, hanging from one of the branches. It’s been over an hour and after taking it outside, it doesn’t seem to be in a great hurry to move on. It has expanded its wings several times. Should I take it and release it, or will it know when it’s ready? Here in south Florida, it’s warm and sunny, 88F. Am I being too anxious as a first timer?

88. I would like to recommend NOT tagging your butterflies for two reasons: (1) They can be injured by those trying to “catch” a tagged butterfly, and more importantly, they lose their protection from potential predators. Studies have shown that birds that will not go near an untagged monarch WILL, however, catch and eat tagged ones, as they view them as a different species of butterfly. See: Bruce Petersen’s paper in the Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society, “Monarch Butterflies Are Eaten by Birds,” University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, available online as a pdf document.

    1. Hi Sofia, perhaps more research needs to be done on tagging. I think digital tags would be much more useful since the butterflies could be monitored while they were alive and the tags would only be recovered after the butterfly expired. The tags could also be any color since the butterflies would be monitored remotely.

       That being said, birds have been reported to eat many monarchs without tags. Much of the current monarch research seems to show that more monarch research is needed:

       https://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1960s/1964/1964-18(3)165-Petetersen.pdf

       1. I have met Dr. Chip Taylor at the Univ of Kansas’ Monarch Watch Lab. He is the midwest’s guru about monarch research
          and has decades of scientific experience. There is no way he would host such a prolific tagging program if it harmed monarchs or
          was a risk at all. You can certainly look at the monarchwatch.org site or contact him directly. He is a wealth of information and will
          respond or have one of his assistants answer your questions. (They also do a spring and fall Open House that is very much worth
          attending!)

89. Hi Eva, I’m not familiar with specific predators in your region but I’m sure there are others besides the bolbols. If you let new monarchs dry their wings outside in their mesh cages, they can dry sufficiently without being harassed by predators. I have done this for a few years now and it works great.

90. I live in Kailua, windward side of Oahu, Hawaii. I’m raising twelve monarchs. Three hatched this morning. Today is rainy and windy, will put them in my enclosed orchid garden. Will release them tomorrow, if weather is better. Will have some sliced orange and watermelon for them.

    1. sounds good Eva! They probably won’t be hungry during the first 24 hours so don’t be concerned if they don’t go for the fruit. good luck…

       1. Aloha Tony,

          Good news, all twelve butterflies made it. Released last two a few minutes ago. Not too familiar with monarchs, found the twelve caterpillars on my crown flower plant when I saw the bolbol birds flying around that plant. As I understand, these birds are the only ones that eat monarch butterflies and caterpillars, here in Hawaii. Are you familiar with growing monarchs in Hawaii, any recommendations? Thank you for any help, advice and or referral.

91. Hi Tony. I’ve been taking your advise and bringing in the cats when they are in their 5th instar, I think thats the right word. Its lovely and warm here in San Diego but it can turn chilly. Now I am wondering, at what point do they know when to stop eating and go up to the top of the mesh hamper and become a chrysalis. I’ve noticed some go up in a few days, some right away. One little guy went up and made his silk button but never hopped on. Just sorted drifted away while still hanging next to the button. Can the cats become butterflies only when they have progressed to their 5th stage, and how long do they stay in the 5th instar and what is the trigger to stop eating and go “chrysalis”. Some seem smaller than other when they go “up”. Thx.

    1. Hi Josephine, when you wait until they are 5th instar caterpillars to bring them in there’s a higher likelihood that they could have parasites or other disease issues. If they are 1-2 instar, there are fewer issues.

       As for pupating, they know what they need to do. If they are having problems, it’s likely a disease issue. And think of people…how many of us are exactly the same size? There is variation between monarchs too.

       If they’ve been parasitized by a tachinid fly, they are also typically smaller (and start getting noticeably skinnier) when they pupate.

       There’s not a lot you can do besides monitor them and hope for the best. good luck!

       1. Thanks Tony. I will google tachinid fly and learn about that. I also “keep” bees and there are so many different issues going on with those guys. I’m amazed how strong they are. Ok, I will rethink how I can bring more milkweed inside and bring them in earlier. Thanks again, really appreciate your help!

92. Found some side opening mesh pop ups on another website. Thanks again.

    1. Hi Josephine, I’ve been editing some of the links on the site….if you ever need more raising resources they have been updated

       Monarch Raising Resources

93. Hi Tony – Update – Its 3hrs later and she’s still on my broccoli plant. Her wings just did not fully expand. Looks like maybe 70% and dark orange. Wish I knew what happened. I will bring every one in from now on. (and what should I do with her – she can’t fly)

    So Tony, I don’t know when to bring a Cat in. Some of mine go in J mode when they are on the small side, some pretty plump. Do you just pick them off your bush and bring them inside? Do you wait until they wander to another plant? When are they ready to go into J mode?

    I did have a butterfly emerge in my hamper this afternoon though. A Queen (I think), not a Monarch. She looks very good, but she hooked up on my kale branch that I snapped off and taped on a branch inside the hamper.

    Thanks for all the answers Tony

    1. Hi Josephine, it sounds like she may have OE disease or could have been damaged from falling. If a butterfly falls before its wings dry, it won’t dry properly or be able to fly.

       As for bringing caterpillars in, I would do it before they hang. You will have to feed them. I usually put cuttings containers inside the side opening mesh cages that we use, or potted plants in the 4 foot cage.

       Here is more info on the cages we use:

       3 Caterpillar Cages

       1. Thanks for the info Tony. I couldn’t kill it. It’s just hanging in a pop up mesh basket and of course I have nectar for it at the bottom. Let me know if you think this is cruel. I really don’t want to do this for weeks and weeks though. I read an article about euthanizing it in the freezer or squishing it, and I just can’t do either. I will if this is cruel to let it just hang. Its seem happy just to hang at the top of the mesh but I do use this for my other “guests” that are coming in since we are having great summer weather right now in San Diego.

          Would love to get the side opening mesh basket but did not see it on the website any longer in the link you had at the bottom. Thanks for all your communications. I am trying to get some of my friends to plant milkweed and raise some Monarchs. I saw on a news blog that a government agency is going to try and plant more milkweed to help the monarchs. Hope it works!!

94. Hi Tony, Thank you solo much for your wonderful website. You helped me before in December.

    I planted a couple of milkweed to help the butterflies but had no idea what I was getting into with all the babies that c0me with it. So I have taken a lot of your advise and purchased a mesh laundry hamper and I have 3 in chrysalis mode right now hanging from the top. They are safe and warm inside. I try to grab them when they wonder off, or hook up on a branch. I feel very responsible now for them.

    One hooked up outside on my brink overhang and I thought I would let it do its thing since we tend to have comfortable temps here in San Diego for Jan. and I can’t take the brick off. If it hooks up on a plant or bush I will trim that now and bring inside. So . . .I got home from errands this morning and went right outside to check on it (it has been turning dark for a few day – getting close and seeing the wings) but I found it on it back. It emerged sometime this morning 9-12am. It looks like its wings are still soft but only 50% in length, and a little bent on the ends. It wasin the shade while emerging but its about 77 degrees today. I don’t think it could hang long enough, there was lantana nearby but I guess it couldn’t get to a good branch to hang from.

    So I got it on my finger and propped it up on my milkweed but it couldn’t settle. sShe was very wobbly. She is know sitting/hanging on a broccoli plant. Her wings won’t close in the up position. Just straight across like when I found her on her back. So I am wondering is there still time for her to recover? Just how long of a window do these little things have to get their wings stretched out and strengthened. One emerged last week and dried in the sun and was gone in 3hrs? Is it too late for this one??? I don’t want it too suffer. And why don’t they hang themselves in a better spot??

    Again, thanks for all your help!!

95. So on November 13, 2014 I found a monarch in my back yard on the ground and it was cold and wet out because we just had some heavy rains I brought it into my house and have had it ever since. I don’t know anything about monarchs. This monarch I have sitting in a medium bowl and I have been giving it a careful of bottled water and also have added some sugar to it as well. Just today I got some humming bird nectar. It doesn’t have any problems feeding on what I have given it. But it does not fly. It can move its wings so I am not sure why it doesn’t try to fly. I haven’t tried taking it outside because I read that this is not the right season for them . I lompoc Calif and i was afraid ot was to cold. I don’t know if its in some kind of hibernation mode but I dont want it to die. I was thinking of either calling or going to this monarch sanctuary in Pismo Beach california which is Maybe 45 minutes away from where I live but decided to comment here first for any ideas. Oh and its wings dont look to be damaged so again I am not sure why it won’t fly. I did find it just sitting on the ground. I appreciate any advice. Thank You.

    1. Hi Stephanie, if you have had this monarch since November and it can’t fly, there is probably a serious injury or disease issue. I would not introduce it into the migration population. I think the best thing you can do is continue to care for this butterfly as you have been. You can always set it outside on warm days (60’s and sunny) and see if it is able to take flight, but that sounds unlikely. I don’t typically advise people to keep monarchs as “pets”, but in this case it’s probably the best option. Good luck, Tony

96. Thank you for the great information Tony! I’m happy to report that all 7 chrysalises have eclosed after bringing them inside the house. I now have 4 males and 3 females and plan to release them at my local Botanical Garden this Friday. The weather should be ideal for them, but the best part is that they’ll have plenty of host plants and nectar to feed on. This was an amazing first experience for me and am looking forward to the next time.

97. This forum has been a wealth of information. Very glad I stumbled across it. This is my first experience raising butterflies and 4 chrysalises eclosed within a 4 day period. I still have the first one that emerged on 1/7/2015, but it’s calling for rain today and tomorrow in So. CA. How long can I keep them in captivity? And secondly, can I let them go with light rain on a cloudy, overcast day? Thank you!

    1. Hi Sheralyn, I had to keep several for a week last fall. You can dip cotton balls or cotton swabs in sugar water or hummingbird nectar if you need to feed them (after 24 hours). If you have a mesh cage you could even place the nectar filled cotton on the roof and let them feed from inside the cage. If it’s cloudy, mid 60’s should be fine for release if there are light winds. congrats on raising your first monarchs!

98. Good Morning, thank you for this great site.
    I will be releasing my first butterfly today. Though it came out of its chrysalis on Friday it was 55 here in San Diego yesterday. Today it is supposed to hit the 70’s so I thought I would wait. He has not shown any interest in the flowers or melon that I put in his enclosure, so I am a little concerned. I do have a butterfly bush but there are no blooms at the moment…the only thing I have in bloom is milkweed so I am hoping he will feed well on it before he takes off today.
    I have two more crysalis, I am hoping for a male and female…I am so wanting more caterpillars! Or is that naive being that we are in early January?This is such an interesting and rewarding hobby.
    Just an FYI for any Southern Californians, there is Butterfly Reserve, if you will, in San Marcos. They have loads of milkweed plants and other butterfly plants in their nursery, they are just off the 15 and very nice people

    1. Hi Mary,

       butterflies don’t typically show any interest in food for at least 24 hours when in captivity. I’m guessing, he’ll be happy to be released on the milkweed blooms today though.

       For your two remaining butterflies, if they are from the same mother, I would not try to encourage inbreeding because there can be potential health issues. Once the monarchs find your garden though, it’s only a matter of time before a female stops in to gift you with more eggs…

99. Hi Tony – I’m also in SoCal, (close to Disneyland), and I started planting milkweed in my yard after reading about the plight of the monarch and other pollinators. I have about 2 dozen plants and I’m adding more through cuttings and seed, but the thing is that it’s so temperate here that my plants are always growing and blooming. So when do I prune them back? Also, they’re loaded with caterpillars all the time – right now I have over 60 inside in different stages of development, about 20 in chrysalis, and 10 butterflies that I’ll be releasing tomorrow. My question is, will the ones I release actually migrate to the coast or will they just hang around here?

    1. Hi Rosie, maybe you could cut back plants at different times so you can cut them back without starving the monarchs, and eventually get all your plants cut back. I’m not sure if monarchs still migrate this time of the season out west. I’m hoping someone does a study on this soon…it would be interesting to learn more about the western monarchs behavior in your region. Good luck with all your monarchs!

100. Hi Tony – Another South Cal question. My monarch was eclosing this cold and windy afternoon after being a chrysalis for almost a month. It was getting dark (4:30) so I brought it in and put it under a big straw laundry basket. It fell from the large leaf after I did that but most of it is still in the clear chrysalis. I put a soft cloth down but it’s about a third out. It’s still pretty cold in my house (too large to heat the whole thing) , so would a warm room help it out? It’s also on it side, and I can see it pulsing. Anything I can do? Seems gravity is not in its favor.

     UPDATE> I brought it into the office which is warm and in 10min it just popped out while still on its side. I brought a 1 gallon Asclepias bush in from the deck and put it under the laundry basket and its sitting on it drying out and tomorrow I will move it outside to start the cycle all over again. Wonderful things these monarchs. I did not realize how one butterfly weed bush would attract so many cats. I go out and watch them in the morning to see who has moved on and who has moved in.

     Do you think I should become more proactive and help them emerge into butterflies (sheltering them inside) or should I let nature take its course. Tonight, I don’t think this little one might have made it if it had fallen in the dirt below being cold and damp out, but I don’t want to give myself too much credit either.

     1. Hi Josephine, happy to hear your monarch tale had a happy ending. It’s amazing that they can stay in their chrysalides for that long during periods of cool weather. I always bring large caterpillars inside to pupate, and have actually never found a chrysalis in our yard. I would bring it in if I did, because of all the predators lurking about. Only 1-5% on monarchs survive outdoors but by following a good system indoors, you can raise with at least a 90% survival rate. If you plan to raise monarchs in the future, check out my raising guide or search for specific topics on the website. Good luck!

        Raising Monarchs Guide

101. Hi! We live in Southern California, Los Angeles to be exact. Our milkweed plant from last year came back to life in early November bringing us 14 monarch butterfly eggs. Two butterflies successfully emerged although we brought the last one inside because it was raining and we noticed it was having difficulty drying its wings. It’s been in its own mesh cage in our bathroom to keep it safe from our curious kitty. It’s day 3 already and the rain hasn’t stopped. We’re suppose to get sunny weather tomorrow but I sure hope the gal is ok until then. She seems to get antsy every once in a while and tries to fly inside the cage which worries me. Then she’ll settle down and hang from the top or sides. We have 5 more in chrysalis stage and 5 still chomping…so much that I’ll need to find supplement plants. I have those safely netted in our garden with a makeshift roof over their heads. Love watching the transformation process…magical!

     1. Hi Thea, glad to hear you are finally getting some rain in California…good luck with your butterfly releases!

102. Newby Monarch raiser here . . . it seems late in the season and I still have lots of monarch caterpillars on my plants. I just brought in 2 big fat ones that looked ready to pupate and sure enough I have one “j” already. Will they still migrate when they are ready to release in a couple weeks? Also, should I tag them?

     1. Hi Lisa, there are some regions where there are monarchs almost year round including central/south Florida, south Texas, and southern California. There is still much we need to learn about migratory behavior, so I can’t say with certainty where your new monarchs will be headed. If you have tags, I would tag them so you can potentially help with research. Good luck!

103. Hi Tony! I have a late bloomer! Just this morning emerged. I found the cat & brought it in & it went into crysallis Oct. 29. I have been rearing, tagging & releasing. I live near Point Pelee National Park, most southern point in mainland Canada. Before this cold front comes in I have only two 60 degree days to release. Tonight will be 50 & warm yomorrow but cold coming in Tues night. Winds are not favorable out of the south.
     In looking at the long term forecast it appears, if it holds true, that warmer temps will return last week of November. Being that I am in Canada I don’t believe I can drive/mail it across border. The furthest south in Canada that I can get it is Pelee Island accessible by ferry, getting it closer to Sandusky , Ohio. I shall feed it; I still have nectaring flowers & will give nectar.
     If the weather does not cooperate, I have a nearby butterfly conservatory or….should I keep it as a pet overwinter? What are your thoughts & what would you suggest? I will do what’s best for it. Thank you!

     1. Hi Darlene, so sorry for this late reply…I just found your two comments in my spam folder. I can’t imagine releasing Canadian monarchs in November, but I suppose they would have a chance if you were having unseasonable weather. As for keeping them as pets, they probably wouldn’t have lived to long because they would have come out of diapause living in the warmth of indoor temps. Personally, I would have opted for the butterfly conservatory if they were willing to help. I hope this worked out for you!

104. A couple of weeks ago, I brought in a chrysalis that I found in my garden because of frost warnings. To my surprise, it emerged today – November 6th – in Maine. Our temperatures for the next week are only in the mid and upper 40s so I don’t know what to do. I don’t think it will survive if I release it here. I could find it a ride as far south as NY in a few days. Any advise for feeding, caring for and transporting a monarch?

     1. Hi Stephanie, it’s definitely too cold to release butterflies in Maine…if it’s at least 50’s and sunny in New York, it might have a shot. The easiest thing to feed monarchs is cotton balls that have been soaked in sugar water. you can do a 4 to 1 water/sugar ratio or dilute it even further up to 10 water to 1 sugar. It may not eat the first couple days, but it will get thirsty/hungry at some point. Make sure your butterfly has at least one good meal before release. I would transfer the butterfly in a small mesh cage. Otherwise you could also try a mesh laundry hamper like this:

        whitmor collapsible mesh hamper

        The butterfly can also be kept in the hamper until release…good luck!

105. Tony, I am happy to report that my last Monarch left today. 🙂

     1. Great news Denise…congrats on a successful end to your season!

106. Hi Tony. So glad I found your site. I wanted to relate to you what has happened this year followed by a question. I live in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Towards the middle to end of September, I found nineteen Monarch caterpillars at various stages of growth. I brought all of them in to raise. Nine were victims of the tachinid fly. This was a first for me to see the fatal damage they cause. If I’m ever lucky enough to spot any of them next year, they will never know what hit them (and I don’t like to kill anything)! The other nine eclosed within this past week. They were very slow to leave and I had to bring them back into the house for one or even two days. I have one more chrysalis left. This particular one had fallen while spinning it’s silk and ended up forming it’s chrysalis some time during the middle of the night. I checked it many times before going to bed and it was still lying on the bottom of the container. When I checked in the AM, it was a chrysalis. I had read not to touch a newly formed chrysalis but by this time, it was hardened. I tied dental floss around the cremaster and hung it onto a stick, realizing even then, the butterfly could possibly be deformed. I couldn’t just leave it there. Anyway, he looks ready to eclose any time now. I’m hoping for the best, but the chrysalis had some issues about it and seems smaller than the others were. During this whole process, I have worried constantly about the weather and having enough nectar plants for them. We have not had a frost so far and I still have tropical milkweed and zinnias. My question is this: did I do them more harm than good raising them at this very, very late date in PA? Would it have been better to leave them outside? I had mixed feelings on this the whole time and this situation has never happened to me before. Prior to this brood, I had only raised four out of five successfully. I will truly appreciate any and all help or information you can give me regarding this matter. I do love my Monarchs! Thank you!

     1. Hi Denise, there was a lot of late season monarch activity in northern regions this year. It could have been that there were just more monarchs, but I also get the feeling monarchs would make better weather forecasters than the ones we see on TV. We had late egg laying again this year and I worried about the weather when we had unseasonably cool weather at the beginning of October. Well, my last monarch eclosed October 11, and we have had above average temps ever since, giving them plenty of time to migrate south. I have never had monarchs lay eggs “too late” in our region, but I always raise late season eggs/caterpillars indoors so metamorphosis isn’t slowed by cool temps. I would suggest to anyone growing tropical milkweed to do the same or cut back their plants so monarchs can’t lay late-season eggs on them. Since only 1-5% of monarchs survive outdoors, you definitely helped the ones you brought in, and they still had time to leave before it got too cold.

        I can’t tell you why they were slow to leave, but if you are wondering about your raising process you can always search for article on my website or check out my raising guide:

        Monarch Raising Guide- How to raise more monarchs with less effort

        Hope this helps, Tony

        1. Hello, Tony. Thank you so much for your reply. I had an “expert” tell me that I should not bring the cats indoors. I did not listen to that advice because I have always brought them indoors and will continue to do so. One thing I have learned this year is to be more diligent looking for eggs so there is less chance of the cats being victimized by the tachinid fly. I feel better after reading your reply that it was the right thing to do to raise them indoors. Thank you. I appreciate hearing that.

107. I have 2 males who eclosed around noon yesterday. It’s going to be 62 degrees today, partly sunny. My dilemma is the wind.

     It’s NW winds at 15-20 mph, with gusts to 30 mph. Tomorrow won’t be much better wind-wise, high 65 and sunny with NW winds at 10-15 gusting to 25 mph.

     They really need to get going, so is it worth it to keep them overnight just to get an improvement of winds of only 5 mph?

     Sometimes their wings are still a little soft even the next day (today will be 24 hours since eclosure at noon), I don’t know how much that is impacted by windy conditions.

     Thank you for any advice.

     1. Hi Tara, it’s kind of a judgement call on this one. if there’s not much sun and it feels “cold” outside with that NW wind I would wait until tomorrow. If conditions are more sunny you could consider releasing today…good luck!

        1. Thank you for the advice. I was going to release, but then I went outside and some of the wind was so bad, I figured I’ll wait until tomorrow and just stuff them with lots of food in the meantime. Then maybe they won’t have to stick around and they’ll leave right away.

108. I have a chrysalis inside that should hatch around Nov. 2 in St. Louis, MO. From reading the posts, it seems that the adult can be kept until the weather is suitable, sunny and above 60 F, as long as it gets fed. Is that right?

     1. Hi Chris, if the weather holds out your butterfly should have a chance. I would keep the butterfly 24 hours after hatching to insure it has strong wings. You won’t need to feed it indoors if you still have nectar flowers outside. They prefer nectar over sugar water or fruit. Make sure to sprinkle your plants before placing it outdoors. Butterflies need water…good luck!

     2. Also, during normal daylight hours, if you can put the chrysalis about a foot-and-a-half away from a good light source, that might help to speed it up. But you want it to have normal day/night cycles, so it is oriented to the normal day length when it emerges. I’m not sure that’s as important when it’s a chrysalis as it is when it’s a caterpillar (day length helps clue them into whether to be a migrator or not), but better safe than sorry.

109. Hi! I live in Indiana and it is about 50 degrees and sprinkling. As I was outside, I saw this monarch fluttering and crash into my parked car. I picked “him” up, he tried to take off again from my hand, flew down a house or two, then crashed back down in the ground. Is he one his way migrating and tired, or is he dying? I have him in my house now on a rolled towel in the window, and gave him a slightly warmed orange slice. He is flapping and seems to want out. Should I let him rest a bit then release, or keep him overnight. I really want to help him.

     1. Hi Heather, try soaking a cotton ball in a glass of sugar water. You don’t have to add much sugar…maybe 10 parts water to one part sugar. The cotton balls absorb a lot of water and they like that. Regardless of whether he eats, release him the next time it’s sunny on a nectar plant. Good luck!

110. Hello! We live in Wisconsin and right now it’s cold and rainy. We got two monarch caterpillars on a hike a few weeks ago and one just turned into a butterfly this morning. The problem is, the highs for the next few days are only in the low 50’s. We don’t have a cage big enough to hold it so it can fly. What should we do? Thank you 🙂

     1. Hi Heidi, the monarch doesn’t need to fly in the cage…just to Mexico! When it gets sunny and a few degrees warmer you can release. low fifties is OK with sun and calm winds. Good luck!

111. This was my 1st year growing milkweed and raising Monarchs. I successfully raised and released 13 beautiful Monarchs! The last ones were released on October 5th. I am located in Lakeview, AR which is about 5 miles south of the Missouri border. No issues with disease or pests! I used the large pop up cage for them and it worked great. I am going to overwinter the tropical milkweed to get an earlier start on next year. Hope all my Monarchs make it to Mexico safely.
     Thanks for all your great information, it really helped me along the way.

     1. congratulations on a successful season Alice, and good luck overwintering your plants!

112. Thank you so very much for all of the information and advice concerning monarchs. I live in Ohio, and have five monarchs which have eclosed within the past three days. Two chrysalides look to eclose within 48 hours. As with previous posters, I have been very concerned about releasing in the cooler, rainy weather which we have been having. Today and tomorrow are expected to be sunny, reaching into the 60’s. Because of your wonderful information, I feel so much better about releasing them today. I certainly want to send them on their way under the best possible conditions. Your website contains such a wealth of information. . . thank you again. It is so much appreciated!

     1. Hi Lesley, I’ve actually seen monarchs flying around our garden when it’s been in the 50’s and cloudy. If they are strong, healthy monarchs and have had sufficient time to dry, they will be just fine. I will be releasing our last Minnesota butterflies this weekend. I found these final two caterpillars outside after temps had dipped down to 37° F…monarchs are a lot tougher than we think! Good luck with your releases…

113. I don’t think I actually intended to raise monarchs, I just found myself in a position where some needed protection and did what I could.

     Two weeks ago I realized there were 16 caterpillars on my milkweed plant. Later the same day I saw a wasp attacking one. I had a roll of screen in my garage because earlier in the year (April) I read a newspaper article that described a screened box someone built to protect caterpillars from wasps. I realized that wasps were probably responsible for the disappearance of the caterpillars on my young milkweed plant in April and purchased a roll of screen intending to build a similar contraption. Never the built the box, but did use the screening to wrap the plant after seeing the wasp attack two weeks ago. I now have 12 chrysalises. Two caterpillars found their way out of the screening; one pupated on a fence post, the other on the roof eave. Eight hung from the screen and two from plant leaves. I expect the one on the fence may eclose tomorrow. Because it is out in the open, I am not sure there is anything special I can or should do? The 10 I removed from the screened plant are hanging in a large plastic box located on my back porch that has three walled sides. Will simply opening the lid a couple of hours after one emerges to let it fly away be okay? Not sure I really have too many options at this point, but am worried after reading all extensive steps people seemed to have taken.

     1. Hi Carol, glad to hear wrapping your plants worked to protect the monarchs. As for your plastic box, if they receive sun inside they should probably fly out. If they’re not getting any sun it may take them longer, depending on your temps and you might have to remove them to hang out in the sun. For your chrysalises in the open, if you don’t want to remove them, I would just leave them as is. They’ve made it this far…

        As for cages, I’m not to high on the DIY cages because they are often made of materials that are hard to clean. These are the cages I use…in the summer, I just hang the mesh cage outside on a sheperds hook (after they eclose) and let them sun dry in the cage. a couple hours later, I open the door and off they go. Good luck!

        Is your Caterpillar Cage Killing Monarch Butterflies?

        1. Someone I know who has been raising butterflies for many years told me that butterflies can overheat, so if you put them in the sun in a closed mesh cage, they should have a shady spot accessible to them in case they need to cool off. Maybe putting something over the top of one half of the cage to create a shady spot inside would be adequate.

           I haven’t had much experience with putting butterflies in the sun in cages, but I can imagine on warm days it might be a problem.

           Just thought I’d pass this on.

           1. Hi Tara, they should only be in the cage in the morning hours while their wings are drying, and then released. Also, I turn the clear plastic side away from the sun.

114. I have just had a Monarch hatch indoors about two hours ago. I’d like to release today. Temps in high 60s, but very breezy. Thought about tomorrow, but windier yet and cooler. I’m in PA. The weather doesn’t look so good for the next few days. What to do?

     October 7, 2014 1:56 pm

     1. Hi Joanne, because of the cooler temps, I’ve been keeping mine 24 hours to strengthen their wings. Monarchs can survive cold temps…I’ve seen both caterpillars/butterflies that have survived lows in the mid-thirties. I’ve heard they can even survive below freezing, but I hope I never have to put that theory to the test! If your butterfly can get a few hours in the sun, releasing today should be fine…good luck!

115. Thanks Tony. I just figured since it was so late in the season, I had the migratory batch last month. Lesson learned to keep an eye out throughout Sept AND Oct! Thanks to you and your website, I will be better prepared next year. We had a cool front hit Fri and Sat and the high was 78 today, with warmer temps next week. Should be okay as long as the rain stays away…Any issues, I’ll be posting again for help. 🙂

116. Tony, I am in northwest Mississippi and released 40+ monarchs earlier last month. The one who had a lot of females? I feel like a bad “parent”. I was just outside refilling my hummingbird feeders and happened to take a look at my tropical milkweed. Lo and behold, I saw a caterpillar! A nice sized one. Upon further inspection in another flower bed, I found another one! (My swamp milkweed and common milkweed are looking pretty rough now.) Thank goodness I had sanitized all the cages last month in preparation for next year and now they are safely in their own cages. What does this mean? I thought I was raising the migratory monarchs last month. Is that not the case?

     1. Congratulations Toni, If you remember back to the beginning of Raise the Migration, I revealed that I was doing this “early” from Minneapolis so those north of the border could participate too. These caterpillars are your TRUE migrators, though some from your last batch could have migrated too. It depends on whether or not they went into sexual diapause or mated.

        The migration is a little behind schedule this season (because of a long period of south winds) but this is not a huge deal. There’s still lots of time to finish the migration, and your butterflies will be fine if you release them when it’s at least 60’s and sunny…not an issue in your region. Enjoy your bonus butterflies and the migration as it comes through!

117. Hi,

     I live North of Chicago. I just had three adult monarch’s emerge and the weather is much colder today, Sat. Oct. 4th. There have been some flurries. The weather forecast is calling for the temp. to not get above 60 degrees until Tues.. Can I feed them and hold them for that long a time considering the time of year? I also have one late bloomer -a monarch chrysalis that just formed two days ago – and I hope the weather gets a bit warmer for that one which I don’t expect to emerge to adult for another week! What’s the consensus – do you think that one will make it in time before the cold to reach Mexico?

     Thanks for you help.

     -N

     1. Hi Nancy, I’m holding ours in Minneapolis too. This unseasonable weather is too cold for release. Releasing next week will give them their best chance to reach their migration destiny. I have had the most success feeding mine by soaking cotton balls in hummingbird nectar. They’ve also fed on orange slices. Don’t be surprised if they don’t eat right away. They will when they get hungry… (I offer them food once a day in the morning)

        1. Thank you for your quick reply. I greatly appreciated it. I have a few more questions. Will they feed on their own? They seem to remain at the top of their cage. I’ve been hand feeding them. Taking them down, unfurling their proboscis and dipping it in honey water. One butterfly will feed on the honey water for 3-4 minutes. The other butterfly only for 1-2 minutes. The honey water is on soaked cotton balls but the butterfly walked on top of the soaked cotton balls and his wings dragged across . He had a difficult time folding his wings back together. He clung to the netting on the side of the rearing cage and didn’t move for sometime. Would you have dipped him in water and tried to rinse the sticky liquid off? In conclusion, here are my questions below.

           With all your experience: #1 Should I be concerned that they don’t come down to the bottom to drink on their own or will they eventually come down to nectar if they are starving? I am a teacher and they are in my classroom which is not a close commute. I’m thinking, maybe I don’t have to make the commute in on Saturday and Sunday if they are going to eventually come down and nectar on their own. But since I didn’t know for sure. I drove in. #2 If they walk across the cotton balls which are soaked in a mixture of honey and water, is there a danger that their wings will get stuck together (which can’t be good). Am I inadvertently damaging them? #3 They emerged on Friday. I’m feeding them but Monday weather is only a possible high of 59 degrees F with Tues. being a high of 60 degrees F. Just a degree but do you think, given the facts, it is better to wait until Tues. or to release them on Mon.?

           I look forward to your reply. Thank you very much ahead of time!

           1. Nancy, I have had to keep some for about a week now and they are getting restless. I have 9 so its hard to keep track of who’s eating when, but I am not worried as long as they keep moving around. I have not seen any eating on their own, but it’s possible since I leave the plate with cotton balls and fruit inside. I have never had to keep monarchs this long before…hopefully I can release them soon. 60 degrees is OK with sun and calm winds. If it’s cloudy, I would wait. Good luck!

              PS…I would imagine the honey could get a bit sticky. I know you can dip them in water if they appear sticky. I have never heard of their wings getting stuck, but I suppose it’s possible.

118. Hi Tony, Well we know the temps here in the Twin Cities are gonna stay low for the next weeks. I still have 6 bf’s to go. 3 eclosed and 3 still in chrysalis. Do they stand a chance of migrating? Hubby and I both joked about making a run to Iowa to release them. Don’t you still have some not gone yet?

     1. Hi Mary, I am releasing mine next the next week when it warms up a bit (if it’s sunny). I’ll be shocked if we don’t have any more days mid 60’s to low 70’s….otherwise, IOWA or bust!

        1. Carpool? Heh, I thought Monday might be good.

           1. Hi Mary,

              I released 9 butterflies in our garden a few days ago and they all drank nectar before heading south with the north winds. Our final two chrysalides will hatch tomorrow and I’m releasing them Saturday Oct 11…my latest MN release ever. (Those were the two cats I’d found after it dipped down to 37° which slowed their growth) Looks like they will have some nice weather to start their migration! I hope you had a successful release too…this has been quite a season!

119. Hi Tony, I have two questions.

     My cats all started doing a kind of head dance today. I opened the cage and all of them started bopping their heads back all at the same time.
     It didn’t last long but it was weird.

     Next question. When you have the cats in an enclosure how do you change them to another plant when they have ate all of the leaves? I have been plucking them(gently) off the bare branchs and putting them on the next plant.

     Thank you Tony for running an awesome website.

     1. Hi Jackie,

        try going “Hoot Hot” like an owl into the caterpillar cage and see what happens… (this is a normal response)

        If you can pluck them off gently, that’s not an issue. However, I typically recommend putting a new cuttings container (or plant) next to the old one so they can crawl over themselves.

120. Hello:
     I live about 2 hours north of Toronto Ontario. Monarch caterpillars leave my milkweed garden and use the siding of my house to become chrysalis. I still have 11 hanging on the house. Nightime tempertures will be mid 30’s F next few nights. Will frost kill the chrysalis? Should I bring them inside and hang them in mesh cages? Even if they do successfully leave the the chrysalis in the next few days have they waited too long to start/survive their migration south?- as not too many flowers left around up here and tempertures especially at night will remain cold. Thanks Dave

     1. Hi David, I just found 2 caterpillars outside and we had a low of 37 a few nights ago. As long as they don’t freeze, they’ll probably survive. However, cold temperatures slow down metamorphosis. I would hang the chrysalides inside and wait for at least 60’s and sunny to release. They still have time to make it migrate. Good Luck!

121. Help – should I release four newly eclosed today Monarch right now at 6 PM, stopped raining and cloudy, 56 degrees, with mph wind, tonite to be 47 degrees, but no rain. They are very active inside and want out, and it tried darkness -but still wan to leave. I let one out yesterday and it is still hanging onto a flower outside. It is to be sunny and warmer at 66 degrees tomorrow, but it don’t want them to bet themselves up inside. So let go now or wait to morning???

     1. I would bring the other one back inside and let them all go tomorrow. They will calm down and be read to migrate when you set them free tomorrow. Good luck!

        1. Got dark fast last nite, so didn’t bring her in and wished for the best by placing an umbrella over her spot. This morning she is gone with the warm morning lite. The others are stirring so will release them soon. I have one chrysalis left who should eclose by tomorrow or next day – then I have photos and memories of a great experience. I can’t wait for next year, plus I have a new nickname of “Mama Butterfly”. Thank you for you advise.

122. Hi there,

     My monarch released from it’s chrysalis on Tuesday – I’m guessing midmorning or midday because when I got home from work it was out. I waited 2 days so that it’s wings could fully dry and since then the weather has been rainy, super windy, and around 50-55 Fahrenheit. The weather this week has not been good for releasing it (in Toronto, Ontario). I’ve been putting fresh cut flowers, as well as fresh cantaloupe in the enclosure everyday for it to eat. But I’m wondering how long can a butterfly stay in an indoor enclosure? Everyday I’ve been ready to release it but I don’t want to release it if the conditions outside are poor. The weather in the next few days is supposed to get better. Is it better to wait for the best conditions? Or after awhile is it just best to release it, even if the conditions are not good? Thanks for the help!

     1. Hi Krystal, with those weather conditions you are doing the right thing keeping them indoors. You can keep them indoors as long as you need to. As long as they start taking in flower nectar or other nourishment like sugar water or gatorade, they will be fine. I hope your weather improves soon!

123. Woo just saw one riding a thermal at 30 stories up from my downtown office building in Chicago!

124. Tony,
     Thanks for all of your lessons. This one helped a lot, since those of us here in southern California are still seeing mating pairs and ovipositing females. My plants are dotted with a whole lot of eggs!
     My question is how long should I let my plants be accessible for ovipositing? Is there any research about limiting the mating/ovipositing season for our warmer climate here?
     I know we have overwintering spots nearby. But shouldn’t the butterflies be encouraged to move on to the overwintering site.
     There doesn’t seem to be a lot on this western population of monarchs and how to handle this ‘year round’ population.
     Thanks!

     1. Hello Nancee, if I lived in a region with the potential for a year-round population I would cut back milkweed to about 6″ twice a year to promote healthy new growth. I’m not sure of the pros/cons of monarchs migrating to overwintering sites in California. It would be interesting to know if the majority of California migrators are in diapause, or if they continue mating throughout the winter.

125. I have found that if I have to keep them overnight they settle down when their cage is put in a dark room or their cage is covered. Thanks for the great tips Tony.

     1. Thanks for adding that JoAnn…I have found the same to be true in my experience.

126. I had an impromptu “block” party. The kids released 3 queens and 4 monarchs. They were able to see everything from a second instar to a j and chrysalides in both monarchs and queens. I’m not intentionally raising queens, but I can’t tell the difference in the eggs or first instar, so I get both. It was actually fun for the kids to compare them at all stages. And release them.

     Second point, what is to hot for the chrysalis. S. CA is heading for hot temps. You mentioned in a previous post that you almost had one melt. Mine are outside in butterfly cages. I have covered them so they don’t get direct sun beating down on them. But?

     1. This is great. Helping now and spreading awareness to the youngins’.

     2. I wish I could have been at your party Shari… it sounds like a wonderful event for the kids plus it would have been exciting to see some Queens! As long as your caterpillars were sufficiently hydrated, there is good air flow, and the chrysalides aren’t in direct sun, I think they should be OK. It’s probably been close to 100°F in our 3-season porch. The only time there was a problem was when the one got direct sunlight…the butterfly survived though!

        1. Thanks Tony. That’s what I was hoping. I released two more monarchs this morning. I was excited about these because they were two fallen chrysalides and I used your technique of rehanging and they eclosed beautifully. I appreciate the information you’ve provided over the last month, it’s been a steep learning curve.

     3. I had a caterpillar (wrong term, I know,) and it finally hung from the screening on top of the butterfly bush pot. Now it has hatched and the Monarch is hanging under the screen. I put the screen there because other caterpillars have tried to climb out of the pot. And also to protect them from birds. (mockingbirds)
        I just put a butterfly bush flower in the pot and plan to release him/her later today. I think this a good idea. I live in San Diego. Any comments?

        1. Hi Pat, if I’m understanding correctly, the plant is in your garden, and not in an enclosure. It might save them from some birds, but they are still accessible to predators, so you’ll have to see if any will go after them…the chalcid wasp comes to mind. They lay eggs in the chrysalis before it hardens. If you see a dark spot on a chrysalis, that could be the reason. Good luck with your experiment and keep us posted!

127. I put a small pot of yellow mums in the cage, they like to sit on it. I have read that Monarchs will feed on mums, is this true? I know that’s a flower we can all find to cut and put in a little container of water for them if they like them.

     1. I wondered that too, but I’m not sure about mums. I put some cut flowers in the cage tonight from my yard, but they still haven’t ventured down for a taste.

     2. Hi Kate, butterflies will take nectar from many sources in captivity so I would definitely try mums. However, if you recently bought them, make sure they have not been sprayed with pesticides! Garden flowers are best if they are available. You might also try try lightly misting the mums with water.

     3. I had a Monarch visit my yard 2 weeks ago that ignored all the other flowers still in bloom and went directly to a pot of yellow mums on the deck. It nectared for at least 10 minutes before continuing on it’s journey south. I don’t know about Monarchs in general but to this particular Monarch, mums were the “fleur du jour.”

        1. Hi Lynne, I am sometimes baffled by what individual monarchs choose to nectar on. I think it depends on how hungry they, what else is available in your garden, and maybe even individual taste preferences??. A few “less common” choices that have surprised me over the years have been our popcorn plant, collarette dahlias, cramer’s amazon celosia, and hollyhocks. I have also heard other reports of monarchs on mums…

           I saw a migrating monarch nectar for a long time on our “showy” goldenrod the other day…that is not a variety they typically feed from and that’s the only monarch I saw on it all season….great pollinator plant though!

128. I have 6 that need to be released, but I won’t be able to do this until Saturday. I have had them two nights now. I have orange slices and Gatorade in their cage, but they are on a plate on the floor of the cage. The butterflies are hanging from the top of the cage…4′ tall. Will they sense the food down there, or do I have to raise the food up on something? I haven’t seen them eat yet and it’s been two days.

     1. Hi Amy, you will have to introduce them to the orange slices. If you’ve had them two nights they should be hungry. It may be easier to get them to nectar on cut flowers since they can also sit on or hang from those. The orange slices will need to be fresh. If they are drying out, they probably won’t eat. If they start eating, make sure they don’t make a break for it. The become amazingly strong flyers after a few days of life are combined with a little nourishment. I’ve learned my lesson after chasing a few around the house in past years…

     2. Hi Amy, you will have to introduce them to fruit. I added a video to the post showing an alternative method of picking them up. If they are hungry and the orange slices are fresh, they should uncurl their proboscis’ and start sipping. Same with the gatorade. You can also try cut nectar flowers. Try misting the flowers lightly with water. Good luck!

129. About when to release……Monarch Watch recommends keeping them 24 hours…..they are better able to fly and escape from predators.

     1. Hi Judy, if you have them in the mesh cage drying in the sun, all they need before release is 2-3 hours and they come out strong flyers. If you’re tagging them for monarch watch you may want to wait a little longer.

130. Tony, thanks for the excellent advice! I have 4 chrysalis, 1 about to change, and 1 still feeding. Here in Iowa a cold spell as well. Hoping. weather warms soon.

     1. great news Matt. Warmer weather is just ahead…I look forward to your next update!

131. My monarch eclosed this morning 9-11-14 at 10:02 am, Chicago suburb at 50 degrees. I put it outside to leave at 12:20 am, 54 degrees and no sun/cloudy and waited for it to leave. At 1:30 pm, she is still here, so brought her back into house and I guess I’ll wait for tomorrow when it is supposed to be sunny and some warmer. It might get some sunny in a few hours and up to 60 degrees. I wonder if I should try a release again yet today. Any suggestions?

     1. If it’s going to be warmer tomorrow, I would keep her overnight. She should be rarin’ to go by tomorrow. Congrats on your new butterfly!

        1. Actually they say it’s going to colder here at least tomorrow night! Hopefully there is some sun tomorrow to help it along.

           I saw another smaller swallowtail on the dill today too. Wasn’t expecting that so late but I know little about the species yet. Poor cold little dude.

           1. Thanks Derek, we are west of you in Minneapolis. It’s going to be in the 30’s here, but the weather is going to rebound starting Saturday…there is still a good window for butterflies to leave the upper midwest. Just not tonight!

        2. Miss Betsy Monarch is off today for Mexico. She was active late this AM and with a little sunshine and some warmer weather, she left, heading south on a breeze from the north. Yes, I name my butterflies as well as number them in my journal. Betsy is #2 as Alex was #1 who left three days ago. I now have seven more to eclose and release, probably by over the weekend.

           This is the first time I’ve “raised” monarchs which started by getting them away from the hungry birds and the suggestion and instructions of a friend who instructs outdoor education to kids. My three grandsons (ages 7, 10 & 14) are enjoying the experience. We plan on doing this again next year too, plus are going to recue our swallowtail cats that the sparrows always eat off my parsley. We will be planted some more milkweed too.

           Betsy and I thank you for the advise, and wish us well with her cousins.

           DD

           1. Hmm crap I am sorry to hear that sparrows eat swallow tail cats; I hoped that with their active defense they might be better protected against such.

              1. Birds (and I think wasps) love the BST’s. I don’t raise too many but it’s always obvious after the rue has been picked clean. I saw a bird violently shaking one of our lilac bushes to shake off some type of green caterpillars…it worked!

132. With todays weather, when should I release the ones I have inside the house? What is the night time low that is too cold?

     1. Hi Mary, check out your local forecast…60′s and sunny would be a good day for release. Monarchs can survive freezing temps, but at this point in the season there is no reason to subject them to cold weather. There is still time for most of us to hold out for warmer weather.

133. Yipes, I left 2 almost black, ready to hatch chrysalides outside this morning and the high is only 56 today.
     They should probably be okay but what about tonight when it gets down to the 40’s and tomorrow night
     with 30’s possible? Derek and I had similar questions in the previous section on adult monarchs.

     1. hi Terry, I would wait to release them on a day that’s at least 60’s sunny. Then they’ll have plenty of time to fill up on nectar, and start the long migration south. If the nights get cold they will be fine nestled in the trees (as long as they have that first day to get nectargized!) In Minnesota, today and Friday are going to be frigid, but starting Saturday we have a nice stretch of milder weather. That’s when I would release mine.

        1. Okay, nobody leaves until Saturday! I was just out on a little bike ride and I found a male adult sitting in the grass on the side of the road.
           He might have an injured wing. I hope he’s just cold. I put him on some goldenrod in hopes that he’ll ‘nectargize’ and get his flying powers back.

           At the Monarch Festival last Saturday by Lake Nokomis, there was a mesh cage with 3 butterflies inside going nuts trying to get out.
           It was hard to watch. I hope mine remain calm as we look forward to the nice weather on Saturday.

           1. Terry, they were going nuts because it was sunny and warm. they will be calmer indoors. I got lucky for this cool spell. Almost all of the migration monarchs hatched on Monday/Tuesday. There is one left and it looks like it will hatch on Saturday. They planned that perfectly! 🙂

     2. I just released the first butterfly of the 5 chrysalis I have in an aquarium. He emerged this morn at 11:00 am and at 3 we took him out to the cone flower garden. I put him on my finger head first and off he flew!! Right up into a maple tree with no problems. I went to get my camera, came back out and he flew out of the tree into the woods behind my house. No picture! But I did not want to miss his flight. I was surprised that he took off right away. There is a breeze today and 83 degrees out. I had a ceiling fan going in the room I keep the chrysalis in to help circulation and drying of wings. Took off just like that, what a champ. Tomorrow another will be emerging if not tonight. Hoping for one pic of the 5.

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