Sustaining Monarch Migration

If you have been following along, you now have some sort of milkweed growing in your monarch habitat. No matter if it is just one plant, or a field of Asclepias, sooner or later (I hope) you are going to notice that the plants are being eaten.  This is a very good thing!  This means that you have successfully created a Monarch “Nursery.” Who cares how the plant looks-- as long as it helps this species to survive!

Now that monarchs are arriving to our area, here’s some specifics of Monarch life-cycle to look closely for, PG Version:

On each hind wing, male monarchs have a dark spot that release attractant pheromones, and also sport small claspers at the end of the abdomen (I assume you know what those are for).  Females  are slightly larger, with darker wings and thick wing veins. 


The female monarch will lay her eggs only on the underside of milkweed leaves. Usually, she lays only one small whitish egg . She is capable of producing 100 to 300 eggs in her lifetime. Eggs hatch within three to four days into tiny dark caterpillars.  Each “very hungry caterpillar” starts by eating its own eggshell, and then will start to feed on the milkweed plant on which it was laid.

As the caterpillar grows, it becomes black, white and yellow striped. This larva will molt its skin five times when the skin becomes too tight. The sheds may be eaten before the caterpillar munches on more of the leaves.  The scientific term is for the five caterpillar phases is instars, not to be confused with On star!  But  tracking of Monarchs does occur. More on this later.,

In about two weeks, the caterpillar crawls off to a protected area for its final shed to create its next development stage, the pupa or chrysalis.  It hangs in the vegetation, protected from weather and is well camouflaged. In this stage, they are defenseless against predators. So, please do not disturb! This beautiful jade green pupa with gold spots develops for 10 to 14 days and then turns dark, then clear, right before your eyes.

Finally, the miracle of metamorphosis is complete, and voila, a beautiful winged adult butterfly emerges.  In the summer, adults live 2 to 5 weeks and have one main purpose: to reproduce   another generation of monarchs. No more growth occurs in the adult stage, but Monarchs need to obtain nourishment to maintain their body and fuel it for flight. Nectar from flowers, which is about 20% sugar, provides most of their adult food. Monarchs will visit many different flowers. And once again, this is where we come in. By growing milkweed and nectar plants throughout the season, we can help the monarchs and other pollinators like bees.

Early in the fall, the last generation of monarchs do not mate-- they become eating machines. They must put on weight for the challenging 3000 mile journey to overwinter in the mountains of Mexico. Each day on migration, they navigate and fly the equivalent of a marathon race, looking for nectar in flowers, dodging birds and other predators, and dealing with severe storms.

The following spring, they finally mate, and start the cycle again. These females lay eggs on milkweed on the way back north, usually in Texas. That next generation then continues another leg of the trip stopping for two to three more generations finally to return to our northern gardens by early summer in New York and Canada.   West of the Rocky Mountains, the monarch populations migrate to California instead of Mexico. There is a small population in Florida that do not migrate since they do not need to avoid the cold winter weather. For more details about the monarch life cycle, go to Monarch Watch’s link: http://www.monarchwatch.org/biology/cycle1.htm.

The book, Four Wings And A Prayer is for a reader who comments here.  It addresses the heroics of both the people who study them And the Monarchs that Migrate.  Links to info on following the migration can be found here: http://www.wildones.org/learn/wild-for-monarchs/learn-about-milkweed/.

 Wild One, Native Plants, Natural Landscapes has a new Wild for Monarchs website: http://www.wildones.org/learn/wild-for-monarchs/ where you can find a list of plants preferred by butterflies, especially monarchs.

Here’s a list of good plants for our area to grow in your garden to help monarchs. There are certainly enough choices for most garden conditions we have here in Huntington. 

Spring Flowering Nectar Plants:

Shrubs:  

Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea, Amelanchier sp.)

Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

Pussy willow (Salix discolor)

Wild blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)

Perennials:

Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

Spring beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Wild strawberry (Fragraria virginiana)

Common cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)

Foxglove beard-tongue (Penstemon digitalis)

Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaracata)

Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp.)

Common blue violet (Viola sororia, Viola spp.)

Summer Flowering Nectar Plants:

Shrubs:

New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus)

Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

Sumac (Rhus typhina, Rhus glabra, Rhus spp.)

Perennials:

Nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum)

Dogbane (Apocynum  cannabium, A. androsaemifolium)

Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata)

Wild blue indigo (Baptisia australis)

Swamp thistle (Cirsium muticum)

Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata, Coreopsis spp.)

Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida)

Blazing star (Liatris spicata)

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)

Joe pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum, E. purpureum)

False sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)

Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa, M. didyma)

Dotted horsemint (Monarda punctata)

Common cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)

Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum)

Yellow prairie coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)

Orange coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida)

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

Purple stemmed aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum)

Hoary vervain (Verbena stricta)

Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)

Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) 

Fall Flowering Nectar Plants:

Shrubs:  

Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)  

Perennials:

Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)

Calico aster (Symphiotrychum laterifolius)  

Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)

Showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)

Heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides)

Smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laevis)

New York Aster (Aster novi-belgii)

New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

Ironweed (Vernonia gigantean, V. noveboracensis)

Most of these plants listed are available, if not in nurseries then through like-minded neighbors.  In fact, I have found a number of these plants at neighborhood garage sales.  In the future, I do hope to host a Native Plant Swap.

Until then, keep up the milkweed maintenance, keep your eyes open for caterpillars, pupae and big beautiful orange and black Monarchs and post your comments here for a chance to win that book mentioned earlier.