Community Science Opportunities
There are several ways to get involved beyond the Western Monarch Count:
LINK: Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper
LINK: International Monarch Monitoring Blitz
LINK: Journey North
LINK: Project Monarch Health
LINK: Monarch Larva Monitoring Project
LINK: Southwest Monarch Study
Rearing Monarchs
Rearing monarchs is not a conservation strategy for the species. However, captive rearing a few (<10) monarchs for education can be a great opportunity to see their life cycles up-close (although watching them in the wild is even better!). In California, a permit is required to handle, rear, contain or relocate monarchs; all other handling of monarchs is technically illegal. If you are rearing monarchs for community science projects, such as tagging or monitoring parasites or OE levels, you should still keep the numbers of butterflies you raise low. Never buy, ship, or move monarchs long distances. To learn more about this issue, read the blog “Keep Monarchs Wild!” and a Joint Statement Regarding Captive Breeding and Releasing of Monarchs.
LINK: Keep Monarchs Wild!
LINK: Joint Statement Regarding Captive Breeding and Releasing of Monarchs
Notice: Below is a list of 8 important links included on this page.
1. Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper
2. International Monarch Monitoring Blitz
5. Monarch Larva Monitoring Project
8. Joint Statement Regarding Captive Breeding and Releasing of Monarchs
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There are several ways to get involved beyond the Western Monarch Count:
- Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper: Help us learn where and when monarchs breed in each of the western states by collecting observations of milkweed and monarchs. Check out the website to explore data and add your own.
- International Monarch Monitoring Blitz: The International Monarch Monitoring Blitz a trinational effort to better understand the monarch butterfly’s breeding productivity, range, and timing in North America. Occurring annually from the end of July to the beginning of August, community scientists are invited to record monarch and milkweed observations across Canada, U.S., and Mexico.
- Journey North: Report your sightings of the monarch migration, the first eggs, caterpillars, pupae, or adults of the season, fall roosts, and other observations! Check out Journey North’s maps to watch the movement of monarchs across the country. The east coast is well represented, but they could use more data points from the western U.S.!
- Project Monarch Health: Monarch Health is a community science project to track the spread of a protozoan parasite, called O.e., across North America. Volunteers sample wild monarchs and collect any spores from the parasites that may be present on a monarch’s abdomen. Samples are then sent back the project’s lab in Georgia, where they are analyzed.
- Monarch Larva Monitoring Project: Researchers at the University of Minnesota Monarch Lab are teaming up with community scientists across the United States and Canada to collect long-term data on larval monarch populations and milkweed habitat. You can join their project to better understand how and why monarch populations vary in time and space.
- Southwest Monarch Study: The Southwest Monarch Study researches the migration patterns of monarch butterflies in Arizona and the western U.S. Volunteers can join the study by tagging monarchs in the southwest states and reporting sightings.
Rearing Monarchs
Rearing monarchs is not a conservation strategy for the species. However, captive rearing a few (<10) monarchs for education can be a great opportunity to see their life cycles up-close (although watching them in the wild is even better!). In California, a permit is required to handle, rear, contain or relocate monarchs; all other handling of monarchs is technically illegal. If you are rearing monarchs for community science projects, such as tagging or monitoring parasites or OE levels, you should still keep the numbers of butterflies you raise low. Never buy, ship, or move monarchs long distances. To learn more about this issue, read the blog “Keep Monarchs Wild!” and a Joint Statement Regarding Captive Breeding and Releasing of Monarchs.
