Monarch nectaring on Joe-pye Weed. / © K.P. McFarland
From July 28 to August 5, butterfly watchers across North America are invited to take part in the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz to help provide a valuable snapshot of Monarch population status across their late summer range. Participation is simple: find a milkweed patch and look for Monarchs, counting the number of stems you examined as well as the number of eggs, caterpillars, pupae, and adults. Then, share your observations with Mission Monarch.
Reporting milkweed and Monarch observations together is necessary to address knowledge gaps regarding Monarch breeding habitat. For example, is milkweed availability limiting Monarch reproduction? How isolated are milkweed patches? In what landscape types are they and which are used by Monarchs? By gathering as many observations as possibly across North America in a short timeframe, and by repeating the effort year after year, the Monarch Monitoring Blitz aims to track Monarch and milkweed distribution across its summer range.
In the last two decades, the eastern Monarch population has declined by 80%, while the western population has declined by 90%. We still have a lot to learn about Monarchs in order to protect them efficiently, and you can help by taking part.
Would you like to help in the conservation of Monarchs? Take part in the 2018 International Monarch Monitoring Blitz from July 28 to August 5. It’s easy and fun! Visit Mission Monarch to create an account and learn more. Then, get outside and find milkweed plants, search for Monarchs, and submit your observations. Together we can help learn more about Monarchs and help with their conservation.
Coordinating organizations for the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz are from Canada, Mexico and the United States and include: Insectarium – Montréal Space for Life, e-Butterfly.org, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the Monarch Joint Venture, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales.
