Maximize education during butterfly release

Release of newly-eclosed butterflies has rich opportunities for teaching.  In another post, I described the mechanics of release.  This post is about what to teach.

If your time for release is very limited, here are tips how you can easily improve the experience:

• Provide a map showing where the butterflies are going, and in what direction.
• Challenge the students to identify the sex of each monarch.
• Describe behaviors the monarchs will show when released. Record the behaviors seen on a simple data sheet.
• Acknowledge your Spanish-speaking students--that we're now passing the torch of protection to our Mexican friends.
• Allow students to feed the monarchs honey-water before release.
• Create a little bit of ceremony.  "Adios!"
  

BULLETIN! Last chance to order eggs for 2025!

September 16 (Tuesday) is the last day to order eggs. Pickup could be a bit later.

You can order from either the Aldo Leopold Nature Center, or from David Thompson (davidthompson20@aol.com), depending on who is closer to you for pickup.  Caution: do not double order at both!

If you lost your monarchs due to some mishap, you can reorder, provided you tell us the circumstances, so we can adjust our instructions and help you improve.

Remember, only one teacher per school does the communication and pickup.  More.

Pickup Locations

• Aldo Leopold Nature Center, 330 Femrite Dr., Monona, WI. Monarchs@aldoleopoldnaturecenter.org; or...
• David Thompson, 306 Falles Ct., Madison, WI.  Pickup times by arrangement between noon and 10 pm.  Text: 608-692-5467

A checklist of butterfly behavior after eclosure

An incomplete list of easily seen behaviors during and after eclosure.

Inflating the wings. As soon as it emerges, the butterfly pumps fluid from its abdomen into channels in its wings, literally inflating them.  As the wings enlarge, the abdomen shrinks.

Shifting its grip.  As it emerges, the butterfly first grips with its claws the ridge around the top of the shell, a structure that probably evolved for this purpose.

Shifting to something like a twig provides a better grip.  It's also possible shifting evens out the forces on the leg as they harden, assuring they assume the right shape.

How to release newly-emerged butterflies

Releasing butterflies can be a wonderful experience, the culmination of a month's journey in the classroom.

Create some ceremony! Observe what they do upon release.  Make a list of possible behaviors, draw up a data sheet, and have one student record what everyone sees.

How to improve the classroom experience with monarchs

I'm grateful to teachers who offer their students a chance to see monarchs. I encounter many grown-ups who tell me seeing butterflies emerge was a memorable experience from their own childhood.

Here's a list of steps teachers can take to improve the classroom experience...

Make sure you don't miss eclosure

Isn't that one of the main reasons you provide monarchs? What a shame to miss it!  Eclosure timing is easily controlled.  Other transitions--hatching, molting, forming the J, and forming the chrysalid--are harder to see.  But possible... and rewarding!

Make sure monarchs are easily visible

Improve visibility.  House caterpillars or butterflies where you can easily see them through clear glass, or an open lid.  Glass aquaria aren't expensive; used ones are available.  Provide good lighting. Caterpillars like light.  LED lights won't overheat them.

How to encourage egg-laying during cool or cloudy weather

When the weather turns cool (below 70 F), cloudy, or rainy, laying slows or stops because monarchs are so affected by temperature.  They prefer 84 degrees F. 

Your potential for future eggs is good if you have several mated females.  When warm weather returns, they'll probably lay.  But what to do if you need eggs now?  Here's what I tried:

How to read a butterfly's mind

It's easy to read a dog's mind.  Dogs are wildly expressive!

Butterflies are slower to give up their secrets.

Those of us producing eggs for schools are under pressure to deliver the goods.  We need to predict if the butterflies will lay enough for the orders we have.  

So, we have to read their minds. "Feeling romantic?  In the mood to lay?"  Here's how to find out what's on their mind.

Watch a newly-hatched caterpillar deal with danger

When they first hatch, monarch caterpillars are only about 2 millimeters long. For tiny critters, the world is a dangerous place.  Watch a freshly hatched caterpillar deal with two hazards...

What do monarchs and penguins have in common?

 

Think carefully... the clock is ticking...  make a guess before clicking on "Read more."

How to ensure that females lay eggs

I've described the entire breeding strategy and setup elsewhere.

But if you opened the honeymoon hotel and no eggs appeared, here are some tips.

Because non-reproductive butterflies begin to eclose about mid-August, the proportion of non-breeders increases.

It's confusing...  How can you spot the ones that can breed, vs the migratory ones? And for the recently eclosed butterflies that might be breeders, how do you know when they are ready to mate or lay?

How to avoid injuring butterflies in the breeding tent

When working with tiny critters, injuries can happen.  But you'd be surprised what the most common injury used to be in my breeding tent--before I learned how to prevent it.

Butterflies spend most time clinging to the wall and ceiling of a tent--and most tents have mosquito netting. The mesh cubes used by teachers to hold butterflies have similar material.

Butterflies have two huge claws on each foot--used for clinging to foliage.  These claws attach very firmly to netting.  When you pull butterflies off netting to transfer or feed them, this can exert s huge force on their legs and claws.

It's astonishing how much force.  When I was unaware of the danger, sometimes when I picked up a butterfly, a large object it was clinging to would come along as well.

Data needed from classrooms

Please provide feedback!  I'm trying to find out what works best for teachers.

I'm trying to understand what happens after teachers receive their eggs.  I've enjoyed meeting teachers when they pick up eggs, but I hear very little about what happens back at school.

My guess is that dealing with hatching and feeding very small caterpillars is the hardest part for teachers.  One school reported 27% losses by the time caterpillars were small (not tiny).  After that, very few losses.  Just an occasional accident, like a dropped chrysalid, or a butterfly that fell down during eclosure and became deformed.

Changes in behavor as caterpillars grow

Eggs are nearly always laid on the undersurface of a leaf.  This provides shelter from the sun--tiny eggs
in the sun on a hot day could quickly heat to lethal temperatures.  The downside also shelters an egg from rain drops--giant wrecking balls in comparison to tiny eggs.  And eggs under leaves are much less visible to visual predators like birds.

Given these clear advantages of being on the underside, I assumed the same was true for newly-hatched caterpillars.  So, imagine my astonishment when I checked a milkweed with just-hatched eggs, and discovered that most of the caterpillars were on the top of leaves. 

The fall migration has begun

During the last few days, I've seen more monarchs stopping to nectar on my Liatris flowers.

One observation today suggested these are representatives of the migratory generation:  A male and female were nectaring side by side, with absolutely no mating behaviors, including chasing or aggression.  They just ignored one another.

Clusters of migrating monarchs have been seen.  The Journey North website reported a "roost" of migrating monarchs at the north end of the Pheasant Branch Conservancy in Middleton, WI.  Over a hundred were estimated huddling on three oak branches.

See this excellent article by Dr. Karen Oberhauser and Jacob Swanson.

How to feed monarch butterflies

Creating an "artificial flower"

You can't feed by providing flowers, which stop producing nectar as soon as they are cut. A 20 percent honey-in-water mixture is widely recommended for feeding adult monarchs in captivity--approximately 1 part honey mixed with 4 parts water. 

Our butterflies sip honey water from an "artificial flower," made from a plastic "scrubbie" held in a plastic dish of the same size.  Each dish is placed on a saucer with water to deter ants.  On an uneven surface, the dishes can be leveled by placing them on a small board with a small stone under the low end.

Teachers will receive 5 eggs per class this year

Thrive with five!

In the past, we've provided 10 eggs to most classes.  A few teachers have preferred fewer, saying that five are less work.

The switch to five was made to ensure we have enough eggs for everyone.  It's always a little uncertain whether our laying females will cooperate.  And they don't lay at all when the weather is cold or rainy.

Efficiency!

Working with only 5 eggs per class, it's very important you use the best methods, so most of your eggs make it to the butterfly stage, and especially, that your students actually see the butterfly emerge. Many teachers have a high % of success (number of healthy butterflies divided by number of eggs received).

Behavioral differences between male and female monarchs

 To distinguish males from females by appearance, there are two clues...

• 
  Males (upper in photo) have an enlargement of the vein on each rear wing.  It looks something like a spot.  It's actually a scent gland that helps the female identify a male by his odor.
• Females tend to have more intense orange coloration, while the black veins on the wing tend to be wider.  So, they appear more vibrant.

Sounds simple? Not so fast. The scent gland on the male is really hard to see, especially if the wing is partly folded.

Environmental educators & teachers: Apply for a free trip to wintering grounds

Apply for a free trip to see the monarchs on their wintering grounds in Mexico, air fare included.  

Dates of the drip are Jan. 6-11, 2026. 

You can apply online at this link, between now and the application deadline of Sept. 1.

See oyamel fur trees loaded with masses of sleepy monarchs!

Thanks to our volunteers during 2024 !

Many thanks to volunteers who picked up eggs, supplied milkweed, organized and trained teachers, and often recruited teachers new to the school:

Liz McBride, helped in many, many ways, including tolerating frass around the house, editing instruction sheets, and drawing illustrations for them.

Monarchs in classrooms--our statistics for 2024

Schools served                              41  (4.2 classes per school)

Number of classrooms served:  173

Eggs provided:                          1820  (a bit over 10 per class)

Grades served:  Mostly K and 1-4; some preschool, and some grades 5-8.  A few school libraries.  One school has a large display case where many monarchs in various stages of life are visible.