Monarch Magic - Tina Tobias

Raising Monarchs

Last Year’s Pics & What’s Ahead!

click / tap gallery photos

Two newly emerged monarch butterflies hang upside down from their empty chrysalises inside a mesh enclosure.

Monarchs that emerged on the same day. If you’ve never seen the entire emerging process, you need to! Inside that small, clear chrysalis shell, this beautiful creature is tightly wrapped. Now, they hang to dry their wings.

Me, outside the nature center, with large fabric monarch butterfly wings attached to my arms.

Last summer, I volunteered at a nature center, helping to educate children as well as adults on butterflies and their life cycles.

My bay window with a row of clear plastic containers along the bottom sill - each containing a caterpillar and milkweed leaves.

What my house looks like when Monarch season starts... nurseries in every window. It’s important for the cats to feel as much natural temperature and light change as possible when kept inside.

A Monarch butterfly rests atop a Monarch Waystation sign. The sign details the purpose of the waystation, which is to aid and support migrating monarch butterflies.

Perfect picture! This is my Certified Monarch Waystation sign, and I caught a ‘visitor’ resting on it... as if to say thank you.

A monarch butterfly perches on my hand, preparing for its first flight.

It’s always a joyous occasion, no matter how many times I do it, to open my net enclosures and coax the ready Monarchs out — many times getting to enjoy them resting on my hand before taking flight.

A newly emerged monarch butterfly clings to its chrysalis as it exercises its wings.

Just a beautiful sight — watching a monarch exercise its wings in anticipation of release. So delicate, with unbelievable detail and grace... almost like breathing.

Small monarch butterfly eggs are visible on the green milkweed leaves shown here.

Newly harvested leaves from my garden milkweed with several Monarch eggs. I bring the eggs into the nurseries so other insects and bacteria can't harm them. Tubes of water or moist paper towels keep the leaves fresh until they hatch.

A monarch caterpillar hangs upside down in a J-pose from the lid of it's plastic rearing container.

A Monarch caterpillar that has eaten its fill and whose internal clock says it’s time. It then works its way to the top of the container, weaves an area to adhere to, and goes into its J-pose position to begin its transition into a chrysalis.

Looking Ahead

There’s something truly special about watching a butterfly take its first flight from your hands. Raising monarchs is a rewarding, educational experience that may also help ensure these butterflies continue to thrive in our world.

How did my journey with butterflies begin? Here’s my story.

I’m an avid gardener, and my sister, who lives in the city, loved when I would bring her fresh herbs and lettuce. So, one spring, I decided to plant an herb garden in her outer window box with a little parsley, thyme, basil, and rosemary so she could enjoy fresh herbs whenever she wanted.

All was going well with this idea until about a week or two later when she called and said she had a butterfly hanging around her window box daily—and now there were some kind of little bugs crawling around in the leaves.

I visited her apartment to see what was happening. Based on the butterfly, we both guessed that the "little bugs" were actually caterpillars on the herb leaves. The butterfly had laid eggs in the garden, and now the caterpillars were feeding on the leaves, specifically the parsley. After some research, we determined they were black swallowtail caterpillars (based on both the butterfly and the caterpillar markings).

I gathered some of them up and took them home in a container. Luckily, I had plenty of parsley and dill at home to feed them. While raising swallowtails is similar to raising other butterflies, they have some unique traits of their own. I watched them grow, emerge, and then released them.

The experience definitely made me curious to learn more.

As if it were meant to happen, just a few weeks later, my girlfriend and I got together for lunch. Our birthdays are just days apart in June. During lunch, she handed me a birthday gift bag, and inside, I found three small Tupperware containers with holes in the lids. I have to admit—I was a little confused. She said, “Open one.” So I did.

Inside each container was a wet paper towel, a leaf, and something on it. Since this all happened so soon after my recent research, I had a feeling I knew what it was. I asked, "Are these butterfly eggs?" She smiled and said they were Monarch eggs! She has a field behind her home, and whenever she sees a female Monarch laying eggs, she collects them and keeps them in enclosures near the house.

I was ecstatic! I told her all about the swallowtails, which she knew nothing about. And just like that, I was hooked—my first three Monarchs to help along in their journey. I had to do more. I needed to know more!

That was back in 2019, and every year since has been its own unique journey. I continue to learn new things, prepare better for the season, and, most importantly, I remain amazed and mesmerized by these incredible creatures and the challenges they overcome to live and share their lives with us.

Raising Responsibly

When raising monarchs, it’s important to follow responsible practices. Below are a few guidelines to help ensure our efforts support nature’s balance. .

If you are raising monarchs you will need to plant and provide sufficient milkweed for the butterflies to lay their eggs. And to feed those hungry caterpillars, or cats. The cats will need fresh milkweed almost daily.
Help protect their breeding habitat; plant native milkweeds and nectar plants alike and avoid using pesticides. If purchasing plants from a nursery, be careful that they haven’t been sprayed.
Collect immature monarch eggs locally from the wild; I do not endorse the buying or shipping of eggs, chrysalis or monarch butterflies.
When raising monarch cats it's best practice to keep them in individual containers to prevent any spread of disease. It is critical to keep the individual containers clean during rearing and before a new cat is introduced.
Be prepared to clean up an amazing amount of caterpillar poop (frass). At least once or twice a day when the caterpillars are full size and nearing chrysalis stage.
Keep rearing containers near outside light, but out of direct sunlight.
Some use a moist paper towel or sponge in the rearing containers to provide some moisture. Be careful mold doesn’t appear.
When finally releasing monarchs try to do so where they were originally collected. Also, try to do releases during optimal times, not too cold, not too windy, not in the rain. I’ve had to house monarchs several times until the weather improved for release.
Don’t try to mass produce, this is not a contest. Only a small amount of monarchs should be raised in captivity. 10 per individual or family is the recommended limit.
It's important to release only healthy butterflies because sick butterflies can spread disease and genetic defects to wild healthy ones. Be diligent in observing your cats, chrysalis and butterflies for any signs. As sad as it is, you may have to humanely euthanize a diseased butterfly rather than releasing.

Pay attention to the different generations of monarchs. Sometime in late spring or early summer—depending on your location—the first generation returns from Mexico. The second and third generations focus on mating and laying as many eggs as possible throughout mid to late summer. Finally, the fourth generation, born in late summer or early fall, undertakes the long, obstacle-filled journey back to Mexico.
You may see some information on the tagging of monarchs - personally, I do not participate in this activity. I think the monarchs have enough obstacles to overcome.

Good Resources

How to Raise Monarch Butterflies: A Step-by-Step Guide for Kids, is a great resource for those just starting out. You can find it in the public library, on Amazon, or on Hoopla Digital (if your library has that service).

Monarch Watch, https://www.monarchwatch.org
Monarch Joint Venture, https://monarchjointventure.org
The official society for protecting Monarchs is The Xerces Society, https://xerces.org/monarchs

2025 Monarch Season
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