Milkweed & the Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle 

That’s so great! Congratulations!

Bonnie Deibel It will! Milkweed is like one-stop shopping for Monarchs, so even if they’re not yet laying eggs on it, the flowers provide them (and other insects, too) with needed fuel. Best of luck to you!

Hi Bev! Thank you for watching and for your lovely words. I made this video to run in the background of a Monarch presentation I gave late last year. I have actually made a set of very detailed cards that I will have made into a manual/book on raising Monarch butterflies. I set it up as a slideshow and posted it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7QhGM-6xEk4.html It's not quite finished, as I am always adding to it. I'd welcome your feedback and/or comments regarding your experiences, although it should be noted that everything I do with respect to raising Monarchs is based upon the spring/summer populations and summer/fall Mexico-migrating populations east of the Continental Divide, as I am in northern Illinois. As you correctly pointed out, our native milkweeds differ, and I am not aware of the regional peculiarities of raising Monarchs in California, where they overwinter in eucalyptus groves in southern California, rather than in oyamel forests of Estado de Mexico and Michoacán. I wish you a wonderful summer season!

we live in Maine, I have no milkweed on my 6 acres..I've planted regular milkweed and also "swamp milkweek" as we have a 150' by 100' bog on our property. I have ordered seeds of the orange-flowered "rosa" which grows in Col, NY hope it can handle Maine.

The local farmers cut them down with the hay before the last cycle. I finally gathered some milkweed seeds this year. See what happens.

ck ck Sweet! I wish you much luck this year. Closing up their containers also protects them from potential predators. I’ve had issues in years past with spiders and carpenter ants managing to get inside the mesh of my boxes, so I am now always sure to check them regularly and thoroughly.

Viv Wallace Thank your watching! I hold the butterfly very carefully by all four wings, and I use a fine-tipped Sharpie pen with a light touch, and I mark them that way.

Rick Halverson - Thank you for watching and commenting! Butterfly and moth wings are actually covered in scales, arrayed on their four wings like shingles on a roof. The powder you are referring are actually these scales (Order Lepidoptera = Scaled Wings in Greek). The scales cover the membrane-like structure of the wings, provide lift, camouflage, warmth, and also help butterflies and moths escape spiderwebs should they ever become ensnared. They will lose some scales, but can usually wriggle free. Touching them and causing them to lose a few scales will not impede their flight ability, as they are very sturdy creatures. Remember, Monarch butterflies east of the Continental Divide in North America travel upwards of 2000 miles every fall during their migration, and many other species of butterflies fly as far and farther. I am glad you had those experiences with butterflies and their chrysalides when you were a boy - great memories, I am sure.

Great video and tutorial. Now I learned a bit more about butterflies.

Hannah Barton, thank you for watching! I do typically first allow them to walk onto my fingers. Some just don’t, however, and I grasp them gently, but correctly, by all four wings so as to not injure them. Remember, their wings are made of a protein called chitin, similar to the keratin in human hair, and covered in scales. I can not hurt them by clasping their wings, and their flight is not affected if some scales rub off. All the best to you!

I have heard it's best to gently grasp them where the wings meet the body. This way they cannot flap their wings and injure themselves. Thank you for helping the Monarch!

Wildflower, that’s exactly correct. Just make certain that you have all four wings. Thank you for taking the time to watch!

@@doridantoo You also should practice a hands off approach when rearing butterfly or moth larvae, I made the mistake of handling my catawba caterpillars very day (woops) the became stressed and sick then started dieing off

Hannah Barton I agree! I rarely ever touch caterpillars and move them for daily cleaning by handling the leaves they’re on. If they’re not on a leaf and on the enclosure walls, chances are they’re pre- or post-molt, so I leave them alone altogether and work around them. As for butterflies, I do handle them, as I mark and tag them and sometimes place them for photos before I release them. Our interaction is limited, usually short and sweet. Thank you for your comment, and best of luck with your caterpillars.

another mother Wow, what a kind, sweet thing to write. Thank you!

That's so great and what I do, too. Isn't it fun?

CHRISTINA CRUET 😂 Then why do you watch? There’s a saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything.”

I'll call the waaahmbulance for you.

Eddie Good You are 100% correct! I suppose if I were ever fortunate enough to visit Estado de México or Michoacán during the winter months, I could add some clips to this video. As far as how the adult butterflies, four or five generations removed from the previous travelers, know how to navigate their way not only to Mexico, but to the same forest, the same section of that forest, and oftentimes to the same tree and BRANCH, as their ancestors, I don’t think anyone knows for sure. Clearly there is a DNA component. They are encoded. I am pretty well convinced that the Monarchs that come to lay eggs on the ever-expanding milkweed stands on my little acre of property outside of Chicago do so because they are the descendants of Monarchs I released the year prior. See, if only 1% of all Monarch eggs laid make it to the butterfly stage, and by my collecting the eggs laid on my milkweed, I am flipping that stat to about 85-92% (mostly by removing predation risk), then “my” butterflies are making it to Mexico in greater numbers than the average, and their descendants know also to return to my yard in successive years. Totally plausible. Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to make a thoughtful comment!

Eddie Good (

Wow, that is totally amazing. I've learnt too much from this!!

Good morning! I don’t raise Monarchs anymore, but the last few years that I did, I always separated the caterpillars. No more than just a few when they were small, and only 1-2 in a box when they were large enough to pupate. And the ones I did keep together always hatched from eggs on the same date, so that they’d be of the same size and maturity. I agree with you that I noticed caterpillars that were not ready to pupate “bothering” the ones that were preparing to do so. Thanks for watching, and all the best to you!

Vintage Black Arabians Thank you for the kind words!

Very nice video of a beautiful butterfly! Is it a Scarlet Mormon, Papilio rumanzovia?

@@doridantoo What I have been told is, it's Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Few other videos like yours helped me a lot. Thanks 😊

@@rohandavidnoronha Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, Papilio glaucus, are *usually* yellow and black, although there is a dark morph female that is brown and black. The red spots near the tails are very unusual. Thank you for sharing!

@@doridantoo 😊😊

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That’s so sweet. I sometimes get butterflies that can’t fly for no obvious reason, and I keep them in a net and feed them a honey water solution until they eventually die naturally. They say that how a person treats animals and the weakest of creatures is indicative of their true personality. Congratulations on having a daughter with a beautiful soul.

Reasons why it tried to fly so hard is because of not correctly symmetrical wings or not correctly formed

I found a monarch laying on the ground outside, brought it in and put it on the counter. I assumed it was going to die and that i would then make some art with it. Well it kept slowly moving a bit over the next 3 days. I put it on my hand and went outside. Shortly after, it took flight! I watched it fly around my yard for many minutes, then it left. I hope/believe that it made it to Mexico 😊🙏

Rüdiger Hartmann • HIDDEN BIOLOGICAL EVENTS Danke schön!

terese lapree Thank you for such nice words. I wish you much success in your Monarch rearing!

♥ Awh thats sweet

Sherry 2 Thanks so much for the nice words. This video is a compilation of what I did over several years, up to 2017. I do some things a little bit differently, but yes, I have recorded a lot of detailed information for a good 10 or 11 years now, including male/female ratios. For instance, last summer (2018), I released 443 female monarch butterflies and 394 male monarch butterflies, making the ratio 53/47. It seems that early in each season, the ratio is heavily skewed toward the females, and then eventually, the males catch up to make the season much closer to 50-50. Thanks so much for watching!

MrZootalores Thanks so much for watching and commenting. I’m glad you enjoyed it. And isn’t the Monarch metamorphosis just amazing? I’ve been doing this for 14 years, and it never gets old. It’s also great you’re planting milkweed. I always say, “plant it, and they will come.” All the best to you and your family!

Thank you so much!

Cuppy UwU Random, but really nice. Thanks so much for watching.

Cuppy UwU Birds do eat butterflies, but the bright orange coloration of monarch butterflies tells birds that “we are really foul tasting, and we will make you sick to your stomachs,” or something like that.

@@doridantoo oh that makes sense lol I remember learning that somewhere but I guess I forgot. Thanks.

Thanks so much for your kind words. Happy New Year!

Thank you for watching and for your kind words. I have just begun collecting Monarch eggs in northern Illinois this season.

Thanks so much. My video skills are admittedly very rudimentary, so your words are very kind. :)

I don't know of Monarch caterpillars eating anything else except leaves from plants in the milkweed family. There are well over 50 species of milkweeds native to North America, and not all of them produce that sticky, milky latex in their leaves. Their flowers comes in a variety of colors, and the plants themselves can be quite different from one another in overall size and shape, as well as leaf size and shape. Perhaps you have a varieties other than the ones common where I am in the Midwest? I'm so glad your Monarchs are thriving! All the best to you!

@@doridantoo thanks for responding. I’ve done some research on the milkweed plant family. In Florida where I live there are a few plants that meet the needs of the monarch caterpillar. I was able to find the one that’s in my landlady’s flower garden. We probably have 10-15 hearty plants so guess I’ll check out some of the others at a nursery. Not usually the kind of plant someone would find in Walmart. So I’ll keep everyone updated! I kind of feel responsible for these caterpillars and looking forward to helping them out if necessary! 😍

@@donnadavidson3904 That's great you're able to find some milkweed plants! Just be aware of something: some nurseries treat their plants with insecticide. Even organic plants might be treated with organic insecticides, so it's important to check this before feeding any of its leaves to the caterpillars. All the best!

Just saw my answer. Love your videos. Beautiful

Jeannie Applegate Hi there. Thanks for the nice words. I actually don’t add the E anymore. It’s not a problem when done lightly and correctly. It is safe for the butterfly, and I’ve not had or seen any adverse issues. But I received criticism from those who thought otherwise because they don’t understand. And although not one of them could provide any evidence to support their beliefs, it wasn’t critical for me to make the markings in the first place, so I stopped, just to avoid further outrage.

Thank you for the kind words!

As the expression goes, "The caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets the glory." :)

a sand a c Thanks so much for watching and for your kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed it. 😊

@@doridantoo These are local: NW Tennessee We were always told to not touch them. They routinely take free-rides on my shoulder. I bought my Aunt a Butterfly Plant. She loved it, and it routinely was loaded with Butterflies. (She lived close to O'Hare, Chicago/DesPlaines, Illinois)

Matias Banzas All my boxes are wooden with plastic mesh “doors”. I buy 5-sided wooden craft boxes in all kinds of sizes from Joann’s or Michael’s. Then I sand them to ensure the surfaces are not rough or splintered, and I attached doors made from plastic cross-stitch mesh that I line with duct tape and attach magnetic tape to so that when the box is closed, there are no gaps around the doors. I like the wood because, as you’ve written, the caterpillars have no problem attaching their silken dots to the wood, like they might to a slippery plastic. I will try to post a link to some photos I’ve taken. All the best to you! Raising butterflies is so rewarding, and I hope your kids enjoy it!

@@doridantoo Thanks so much for this information!

Good evening! I mark the wings of each butterfly I raise with the letter "E" using a fine-tipped Sharpie, a different color for every day of the week. I do this so that when I see them around my yard and neighborhood days and weeks later, I know whether or not they came from my nursery and which day they eclosed. Thanks for watching! :)

There are special tiny stickers to place on their wing so that they can be traced all the way to Canada. An Oak Park, Illinois, girl did that and people miles away saw it and sent her notification. See the OakPark.com Wednesday Journal article. She could tell you where to get them.

Thank you so much for such a wonderfully photographed video and for using such wonderful relaxing special music. I love The Four Seasons -Spring! We have released at least 6 so far beginning from the caterpillar stage and our one egg just became a chrystalis this morning! What a miraculous life! We get more people to plant milkweed in their front and back yards, parkways, and get states to plant along highways, and in local parks. We have destroyed their habitat and need to replace their prairie plants for their source of food.

Sharpie ink is toxic. Even the makers of Sharpie markers said they shouldn't be used to mark anything except paper or an art medium. Monarch Watch took down their page that suggested using Sharpies. Use the approved tags or cut them in half to use to distinguish butterflies.

​@@caye3459 Thanks for your reply, but please cite your sources and check them for accuracy. Sharpie ink is NOT toxic. Granted, Sharpies should not be used on food or anything that comes into contact with food, but neither should fingernail polish or hair shampoo. From the actual FAQs on the sharpie.com web site: "Can I use Sharpie markers for marking on glass, baking, or ceramic dishware? While Sharpie markers are AP-certified non-toxic, we do not recommend using them on areas of items that may come in contact with food or the mouth. Sharpie has not been tested as an oven proof product and should not be used anywhere where a consumer could possibly ingest the ink. Sharpie markers are only recommended for use on ceramic or glassware when the product is being used for decorative or display purposes." Some people use Sharpies on human skin (including surgeons). Adverse reactions have been observed only if a person has an allergy to an ingredient contained therein. Also, it was from an entomology group that I first learned of marking butterfly wings with Sharpie ink. And finally, I mark only the wings of non-migratory Monarchs, not their abdomens or thorax. A butterfly's living cells do not absorb the ink used to mark its wings, so the ink (even if toxic, which it's not) poses no threat to the living creature. Butterfly wings are made of proteins and chitin and are akin to human fingernails. There is a particular marking technique that could potentially damage an insect's wing, and that is when an entire wing cell is vigorously colored in with a marker - it's been suggested that the colored-in cell could break down and "fall out". Take note that if and when I mark a butterfly wing, I do so very carefully and lightly. I do not and have not ever "colored" a wing cell, nor have I ever damaged a wing by poking or creating a hole.

아름다운 단어를 가져 주셔서 감사합니다. 나는 모나크 나비가 매혹적인 동물이라고 생각하며 나는 15 년간 그들을 돌 보았습니다.

Thank you so much for giving me your answer in Korean. I am not good at English and I wrote it in Korean because I was worried that the Google Translator would be misunderstood. I was impressed by your video and made my video. Some of the pictures I made of my videos are the footage of your video Thank you for your long work.

타라공간 Hello again! I have to do English this time because I’m traveling and can not access Google Translate. I hope the Korean words I wrote were correct! Thank you for the nice words. And your English is GREAT!

Susan Stiles Thank you very much! Most of the milkweed in these videos is what grows most profusely in the prairies here in Illinois - Asclepias syriaca, or common milkweed. It grows tall and blooms large, heavily-scented, lilac-colored flowers in summer. I also have Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed) which blooms compact orange flowers all summer. There are many different kinds of milkweeds, so I am sure there are several that will grow well by you. Thank you for the nice words and best of luck!

elgodinez1988 They could be! Were they very large the last time you saw them, 1 1/2”-2”? If so, they likely crawled away from the host plant to pupate someplace that is sturdy, sheltered, and safe from potential predators.

BB's Back to Basics The one with the zipper top I can’t remember where I got it, but the ones with Velcro came from Amazon. Thanks for watching!

It's a time commitment, but so rewarding. Thank you for watching.

carmen valentin, I move the caterpillars to the big wooden boxes with the mesh doors when they are too large to fit through the holes, maybe at 2-2.5 cm (1 inch). Thank you for your interest!

That was actually intentional for this video, as it was meant to be running in the background during a gathering when people were chatting and viewing displays. I’m sorry it bothered you.

Thank you for watching!

Thanks so much; I’m glad you liked it!

carmen valentin, I apologize for the delayed reply! The pink flowers are called Angelonia angustifolia. Is that the one you’re referring to?

Dori Eldridge I yes thank you so much 😊

Wolf Bradshaw, you are correct - there are also butterfly bushes (Buddleia) in this video. I surmised by her question that the OP was referring to the Angelonia that’s in my garden, too. Thanks for watching!

KillerGaming X That’s great! Isn’t it fascinating and rewarding? Do you take photos or videos and share them?

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elgodinez1988 Hi there! I buy 5-sided, pre-fab wooden boxes from craft stores and make a mesh “door” for them using plastic cross-stitch mesh (I cut it to fit), duct tape, and magnetic tape (so there are no gaps between the box and the door through which a caterpillar might crawl). The plant is milkweed (Asclepias genus), the only kind of plant Monarch caterpillars will eat, so it’s called their host plant. They will eat different varieties of milkweed, but I grow Asclepias syriaca, known as common milkweed, because it is very plentiful where I live (Illinois, USA), and female butterflies lay lots of eggs on it.

elgodinez1988 the plants are milkweeds

Thank you!

Donna Ward I am in northern Illinois, and my milkweed was not very healthy this year, either, due to very little rain. But I also didn’t have a lot of aphids, so that was a bonus. In wetter years, just like you, I get tons of the orange oleander aphids. The best method I’ve used for reducing their populations is to pull on my rubber gloves, and literally wipe them away with dampened rags. For flowering plants that don’t support Monarchs, I’ve also sprayed a diluted solution of water and dish soap directly on the aggregations, and that does the trick. If you’re referring to the tall spiky plant with the purple racemes at the top, that’s Liatris ligulistylus or meadow blazing star, and it’s AMAZING! It is a perennial, but mine lasted four summers before the chipmunks killed it from below. I am going to plant some more next spring. Thanks for watching, and all the best to you.

Usually a plague of aphids is followed by a calvary of beneficial bugs that eat the aphids. To lure these in, try planting some dill, Fennel and parsley and let flower. Hoverflies and other micropredators love the small flowers. Plus the Black Swallowtail caterpillars eat them. Also, plant Fleabane and Yarrow. These three plant types will bring parasitic wasps and hoverflies by the score.

Monarch caterpillars' antennae are very short and located just by their mouth parts and help guide the caterpillar, as their vision is very poor. Monarch caterpillars have two sets of black filaments called tentacles - one set just behind the head (the longer pair) and another set near the end of the abdomen (the shorter pair). These function as sensory organs. I've had caterpillars with a missing tentacle or one tentacle shorter than its pair, and I've never noticed any behavioral or developmental differences between these caterpillars and others.

Dori Eldridge I oh ok thank you

Dori Eldridge I I have another question does the butterfly come back when their born or when they form into a chrysalis

Angel21522 Mew Hi again! I collect the eggs that the Monarch butterflies lay on my milkweed plants and bring them inside my garage “nursery”. I then raise the caterpillars which eventually pupate inside special wooden boxes I make for them. When the butterflies eclose (emerge from their chrysalis), I mark their wings with the letter E and release them to the skies. Do they come back? Yes! I have seen my own butterflies days and weeks later in my yard, and local friends have seen them, too. How do I know? I see the letter E on their wings! Thank you for watching and commenting! :)

Dori Eldridge I UR WELCOME AND THANK U!!!

Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed it!