How To Raise Monarch Butterflies At Home

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How To Raise Monarch Butterflies At Home

Picture Monarch Butterfly, biologically known as Danaus Plexippus, is a milkweed butterfly. People say, it is the most beautiful butterfly, and hence, considered the “king of butterflies”. Thus, it acquired the name “Monarch”.Life Cycle of Monarch Butterflies
Picture Monarch Caterpillar Picture Monarch Chrysalis Picture Monarch Butterfly Emerging
Before growing these beautiful creatures in your garden, you must be aware of certain facts related to their growth. The life cycle of the Monarch butterfly has four stages and four generations. The stages are egg, larvae, pupa and adult butterfly, and the four generation means four butterflies passing through these four stages within a year. The previous generation’s adult butterfly lays eggs on the milkweed, when the stage one of the first generation starts. Within 4 days, the eggs hatch to form a caterpillar or larva, the second stage. At this stage, the larvae eat the milkweed on which it lives. Within two weeks, it attains full growth and attaches to some place like a leaf or stem by discharging silk, and undergoes the process of metamorphosis to transform into a pupa or chrysalis. In the next 10 days, continuous process of metamorphosis transforms the old body parts of the pupa into the beautiful parts of the future adult butterfly. The adult butterfly will emerge in the mid-morning time and fly away in search of food and a mate. They live a short life that ranges from two to six weeks. Within this period, it will lay eggs for the second generation. The second generation flies roughly one month after the migrating monarchs arrive and reproduce which would be anytime from May through July. It lays eggs for the third generation in July or August. The fourth generation process is almost same except one point. The fourth generation eggs are laid in the month of September or October, but they live more than eight to nine months. This fourth generation butterfly also has a specialty; it migrates to the warmer regions of California or Mexico. Thanks to www.learnaboutnature.com for their assistance with this article. Picture Steps To Raise Monarch ButterfliesCongratulations! The milkweed you planted is growing, or you know where to find some in the wild. You are ready for a wonderful adventure, which will bring you and your family closer to nature, and experiencing a new kind of awe.Preparations for Getting StartedYou are ready to raise monarchs in your own home. Here’s how.You’ll need two plastic containers, one for eggs and the caterpillar’s first week of life, and a larger one, for its second week.Check your milkweed every day for eggs. When you find one, cut the leaf that it is on and bring it in the house. Line your container with a paper towel, and sprinkle a few drops of water on it. Then put in the leaves with eggs on them, egg side up, and click the top shut. Young caterpillars are escape artists! Your little ones won’t need any more air, as you will be opening the container twice a day to check for mould, and wipe away any excess moisture. Keep all containers in natural light, way from direct sun.Clean all containers daily, by removing the leaves with the eggs or caterpillars on them, then dumping the little poops, wiping the container with water, adding fresh milkweed, then returning the leaves. You don’t need to move a caterpillar from its leaf. (Also, we have found a very economical set of mesh enclosures, provided by Todd Stout at https://store.raisingbutterflies.org which are perfect homes for the caterpillars. You can order any of the ‘Pop-Up’ enclosures offered there, and qualify for a 10% discount, by using the coupon code Monarchs10 at checkout. Their product is high quality and the price is very, very good. He has had many years of experience in the whole art and science of raising Monarchs.)In a few hours, your monarch will begin to flutter in the cage. When it is at least 3 or 4 hours old, you can wish it well, and set it free. If you’re like most people, you’ll want to do this again and again, and tell your friends, classmates and family members what you have learned, and share your joy with them.How To Get Started​
  1. The best place to get eggs and caterpillars is from the milkweed you grow, or in the wild. The hunt is exciting, and you will discover a whole community of insects living on the milkweed.
  2. But if you do your best, and still cannot find any caterpillars, you can order them from David Bohlke of Monarchs Forever. David runs the Butterfly House at many State Fairs across the US, and has had many years of experience in the whole art and science of raising Monarchs. (But these caterpillars are only available in September, due to high summer shipping temperatures.)
  3. Keep the eggs in an enclosure. They will normally hatch into caterpillars in 3-4 days.
  4. The caterpillars will immediately begin to feed on the milkweed leaves and on its own eggshell.
  5. Hence, when in a container, provide fresh milkweed leaves daily. You should also place a wet paper towel below the leaves to prevent them from drying out.
  6. The caterpillars are eating non-stop, so they generate quite a lot of droppings (frass). The paper towels in the bottom of the enclosure will be quite helpful in collecting the frass, which should be collected every 2-3 days.
  7. As the size of the caterpillar increases, the requirement of food also increases, so, make sure these creatures get a constant supply of fresh milkweed leaves.
  8. In the larvae stage, they undergoes five ‘instars’, which means they shed their skin around 5 times. At this stage, there is a chance of getting bacterial and viral infection. If any of the caterpillars is affected, then remove it from the chamber before it spreads to others.
  9. The caterpillar moves to the top of the container to enter into the pupa stage by sticking there with a silken thread.
  10. In this stage, the pupa will not consume food but remain idle for around 10 to 15 days, after which beautiful butterflies emerge.
  11. The adult butterflies should be given time to open its wings for flight. Similarly, do not touch them for 3 to 4 hours, until their wings dry.
  12. If you need to keep your adult monarch until the next day because of stormy weather, you can keep it in a mesh laundry basket, or order a beautiful display/flight mesh cage here from https://store.raisingbutterflies.org
  13. Not all of your caterpillars will live to be adults. If you need immediate answers to your monarch rearing concerns, you can get them from Facebook group, The Beautiful Monarch which you should join even before you start to raise your monarchs.
For more information about raising monarchs and what to expect, plus details on their migration and predators, how to attract butterflies your garden, what you can do to help, and a list of useful resources, we recommend How to Raise Monarch Butterflies A Step-by-Step Guide for Kids by Carol Pasternak. The book is just $9.We are grateful to Holli Webb Hearn, Carol Pasternak, David Bohlke, and Todd Stout, for their assistance in writing this article. They are all experts on the care and feeding of the Monarchs.​Best wishes to all of you!-Your Friends at Save Our Monarchs NOTE: You can also receive FREE SEEDS by sending us a self-addressed stamped envelope to: ​Save Our Monarchs | P.O. Box 947 | Chanhassen, MN 55317Please include a $5 donation with each request.​
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  • Monarch Story
    • Why Milkweed?
    • Monarch Migration
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    • How To Raise Monarch Butterflies At Home
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