With all the buzz about human intervention possibly harming our monarchs, some people are asking, 

SHOULD WE STILL RAISE MONARCH BUTTERFLIES?

The answer is still… yes!

There are been a lot of discussion in recent years around the risks of raising monarch butterflies.  From a study ‘concluding’ that reared monarchs cannot get themselves to Mexico, to another that suggests monarchs are not at all threatened, monarch enthusiasts are wondering whether they should just let them be.   Some posit that indoor raising inevitably leads to disease.   Let’s look at each of the arguments against rearing, before we look at the significant part monarch rearing plays in conservation.

A study published in 2019 suggested that commercially bred monarchs might not properly orient themselves toward Mexico.  Commercially raised dult monarchs were put into a flight simulator, and they didn’t immediately orient themselves south.  Mainstream media exaggerated the results, as they usually do, leaving the impression that reared monarchs don’t make it to Mexico.   Of course, we taggers know that many of our reared tagged monarchs are in fact recovered in Mexico, including one of mine.   The point the scientists are trying to make, is that they are less likely than their wild counterparts to make it. 

The same authors as in the 2019 study, published again the next year, in an attempt to answer the many existing questions from the first study.  That produced more suggestions that captive reared monarchs, even when raised in natural light, were not as likely to make it to Mexico.  However, even the authors admitted that sample size was low.  ‘As we have only five indoor-reared individuals with multiple tests, we do not know if some proportion of the indoor-reared individuals is directional.’  A 2021 study from the University of Guelph concluded monarchs raised indoors are very capable of directional flight south.  

Bottom line.  The studies are few, with scientists disagreeing on the results.  They are talking about the migrating generation, and often testing commercially raised monarchs, certainly not those lovingly raised in small numbers by monarch enthusiasts.

Then there is the disease concern.  Scientists were firm that crowding spreads disease.  They are correct.  These days, most monarch raisers insure that each caterpillar has plenty of space, and rearing bins are disinfected between broods.  Some rear monarchs only from eggs.  My monarchs raised from eggs have rarely succumbed to disease.  Now I’m not saying the survival rate is 100%, but it is more than 90, and those that have died have died alone, not in an epidemic.    From the more mature caterpillars I have brought inside, I have had the odd case of npv, and  near the end of the season OE, but it did not spread to other caterpillars, because I, like others, monitor the health of my caterpillars, and isolate any that appear to be sick.  I have scoured the monarch rearing groups for years, and it seems like my experience is the norm in the regions where monarchs migrate.

And now, we are seeing articles that the monarchs are not in trouble of extinction, but of course, we knew that.  There are resident populations of monarchs in Hawaii, the southern states, New Zealand, and many islands.   People are confused.  If the monarchs aren’t in trouble, maybe we should focus our attention elsewhere?    

The reality is that while worldwide pockets of resident monarchs are somewhat stable, the migration of North American monarchs from Canada to Mexico, and back, IS still endangered.  Weather and habitat conditions need to be ideal or the migration can collapse.  If the oyamel forests in Mexico are over logged, if milkweed and nectar plants are not abundant along the migration routes and in the breeding grounds in the United States and Canada, the monarchs cannot complete their life cycle.  That would mean that most North Americans would never experience monarch butterflies.  And what a loss that would be.   And of course, without a diversity of nectar and host plants, the numbers of butterflies and other insects would decline dramatically, as well as birds and all the creatures up the food chain that rely on them.

How does the rearing of monarchs prevent their decline?

Anyone who has ever cared for a pet, no matter how small, knows that when you feed it, and keep it an its surroundings clean, you start to love it.  Maybe you have nurtured an injured bird, or taken a pet rat to the vet.  Personally, I have seen hundreds of people transformed by… yes, raising a single monarch caterpillar.  

The Save The Monarch movement is driven primarily by middle age women.  I have personally asked hundreds of them when they first became interested in monarchs.  The overwhelming majority said they were hooked after raising a few monarchs in their childhood.  What a shame it would be to deny our children of that life changing experience.

Observing monarchs in your yard, or watching a movie, does not compare to hands on experience.  Every teacher knows that.  That’s why students remember experiments they do more that demonstrations or movies.  

The best thing we can do to conserve insects is to plant habitat.  It’s the right think to do, but do we do things because we should, or because it excites us?  What truly motivates people of all ages is the awe we feel when we watch a caterpillar spin a silk pad, or allow the newly emerged butterfly, that we nurtured, cleaned and cared for, to hang and pump up on our finger. Then we send it out on its first flight, and wonder…. will it have enough to eat? Will it find a host plant to lay eggs on? That is what inspires people to act; their own excitement and joy, and the fear of losing it.

When people raise a few caterpillars, they will join the ranks of those who scream conservation from the highest rooftops.   They join the native plant movement because they love the results, first the butterflies, then the birds then all of the new wildlife they attract.  As they become teachers and advocates, the landscape of their neighbourhood returns to a more natural life giving state, then, the whole town.

How many should you raise?  

All the leading monarch conservation organizations recognize the importance of rearing monarchs.  These include Monarch Joint Venture, Monarch Watch, and the Xerces Society.

I recommend having 3 or 4 monarchs at different stages on hand throughout monarch season.  That way, when you show them at school, at your club, at the office, or to visitors at your home, you can best explain the life cycle.   And you would always have a caterpillar and/or chrysalis to give away.    Further, by caring for monarchs every day, you would be constantly inspired to think of new ways to promote conservation.  You will be reminded to check out my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/monarchcrusader, where I share stories of good work ordinary people are doing every day to save our monarchs.  

I have included links to many of the studies below, so that you can decide for yourself if there is real ‘proof’ for the call to stop raising monarchs, and how mainstream media has taken mere hypotheses to create shocking headlines and raise doubts about the good work citizen scientists are doing to keep the magic alive. 

And this, from Dr. Chip Taylor, world’s foremost monarch expert: “Monarch Population Biology:
Myths and Exaggerations. Without any data defining the scale of human activities or data on negative
effects due to those activities, we have been told not to plant certain milkweeds because they will cause
monarchs to break diapause and not migrate, or if raised on them they will not migrate. Neither are true.
Tags from monarchs reared on the target milkweeds have been collected in Mexico. We are warned that
rearing will lead to inbreeding and a weakening of the population.
Given that rearing involves 1-2 generations for most who rear monarchs and that females mate multiple
times such that serial paternity is the dominant form of reproduction, that’s nonsense. Selection works. It
eliminates the unfit. We also hear that breeding will promote the propagation of the protozoan disease,
O.e., that kills many emerging pupae, weakens adults and reduces their chance of surviving the migration.
On this point, there is data that O.e. has negative effects (Majewska, et al, 2022), but the assumption that
rearing leads to the release of a large number of O.e. infected and infested adults is unsupported by data.
Many who rear monarchs claim they go to significant lengths to eliminate O.e. It’s not difficult. In the wild,
the incidence of O.e. is the function of frequency and density-dependent interactions between monarchs
and milkweeds that vary spatially and temporally (Taylor, 2022). To me, these are non-problems, or

small scale issues that can be managed. Regulation of human activities with respect to monarchs makes
absolutely no sense. It’s a scale issue.

Dr. Ryan Norris University of Guelph    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210608154419.htm?fbclid=IwAR1eHvWf5gfdMOeDG9s6HOTL5JhLtEjcOHw_VlvAe9HFWFp0QQYZ_pMoZoo

https://www.xerces.org/monarchs/joint-statement-regarding-captive-breeding-and-releasing-monarchs   Even The Xerces Society recognizes the value of raising small numbers of monarchs for education purposes, provided you take proper care of them.

Monarch Joint Venture:  if you are rearing for enjoyment or education  https://mjv.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/documents/RearingMonarchsWhyorWhyNot.pdf  

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0922   This is Andy Davis’s study re grip strength and size

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1904690116  Supposedly demonstrates that reared monarchs don’t properly orient.