Monarch Butterfly

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences teaches over 5,000 students and community partners through more than 200 workshops each year about monarch butterflies which emphasize the importance of creating monarch habitats, and fosters personal connections with this vibrant, recognizable insect.

The beautiful monarch – with its bold orange, white spotted wings – is perhaps the most well-known North American butterfly. What may be lesser known is that this regal, yet delicate creature makes one of the most arduous voyages of any species, traveling as many as 100 miles per day and more than 2,000 miles during an annual migration from Illinois (or farther north) to their wintering grounds in Mexico. Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed. This one, very specific plant is vital to their survival. Without ample access to this species in backyards, fields and waystations along the migratory path, monarchs will perish.

Educators with the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum offer more than 200 workshops each year focused on increasing awareness about the monarch’s migration and need for milkweed. Illinoisans can plant milkweed in their gardens to help feed these butterflies.

Biologist Dr. Doug Taron also cites climate change as a potential impact on the monarch’s survival, as their waystations in warmer areas of Mexico and Texas play a key role in the migration. The butterfly does well when Texas is green and lush during its migration season – but when its milkweed is dried up, it lacks the resources the butterflies need to survive.

Their migration cycle is what makes the monarch a unique species to North America. While there are several generations of monarchs over the course of the summer, the generation that emerges from their chrysalises in August will adhere to the following migration schedule:

Want to lend a helping hand to our local monarch butterflies? Here are four easy ways you can get involved!

1. Plant milkweed varieties to provide ample host plants for monarch caterpillars. Adult monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed because milkweed is the only plant that the caterpillars will eat! Make sure they have plenty of food and habitat by planting milkweed.
2. Provide food sources for migrating adult monarch butterflies. While monarch caterpillars can only eat one plant, adult monarchs can feed on nectar from any plant. Choose flowers that will bloom from late summer into fall to ensure that the traveling adults will have access to food on their long journey.
3. Limit your use of insecticides and pesticides whenever possible.
4. Become a community scientist volunteer and help spot butterflies. Currently, there are over 100 people counting butterflies on behalf of the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network each year. This data is informing conservation strategies for butterflies across the state.