Monarch butterflies raised at the College of Western Idaho (CWI) by biology students under the direction of Assistant Professor Dusty Perkins have been released since their Monarch Research Project began in 2012. Miracle was raised and released by student Vance McFarland who doubted she’d make it to California because October 29th was a late date for release and the weather wasn’t favorable.

“I kept her at my house for a few days hoping the weather conditions would improve, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen anytime soon. I figured this is what it’s like in nature, so I just let her go.”

Miracle’s second record was that she is the first butterfly released by the CWI program to be seen in the overwintering colonies. Here is the photo taken at Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz by John Dayton that allowed identification of the butterfly as B-3930 released in Idaho.

B-3930, Idaho’s Miracle butterfly, in a Monterey cypress tree in California.

For the CWI project, eggs and caterpillars are taken to the college from nearby Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge to raise into adults, tag with distinctive numbers that identify their origin, and then returned to the refuge for release. The project is one of many funded by science and conservation groups to study monarchs and their habitat in Idaho, an area considered a data gap for the western subpopulation of North American monarchs.

Another significant achievement of Miracle and her human project team is their contribution to filling in this data gap. Idaho was one area with insufficient information to evaluate summer habitat features like milkweed host and nectar plants, monarch abundance, and migration corridors. Scientists aren’t sure if all monarchs from Idaho migrate to California, or if some migrate to Mexico. And what determines where they overwinter? All the intermountain western states lack adequate information on monarchs and their habitats.

One objective of Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) the collaborative program of over 50 organizations and government agencies working to conserve the North American monarch population, is to fill in these data gaps. A collection of citizen science programs (see list at end) covers all phases of the monarch’s life cycle, while other programs are run by universities, NGOs, and agencies such as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS manages National Wildlife Refuges) and the Bureau of Land Management.

MJV works to consolidate existing data and to gather new data on habitat characteristics like soils, water sources, vegetation types, and land use/ownership (primarily from wildlife refuges) and how these are distributed across the landscape. What areas are important monarch breeding habitat? Is milkweed a limited resource in the west and if so, in what areas? Approximately half the land area in western states is under federal management and designing Best Management Practices for monarch conservations on these public lands is essential.

Monarch numbers are declining in the western U.S. and we don’t know why.* To counter this trend we need to know the contributing factors. Monarch decline in the eastern U.S. is associated with milkweed habitat loss due to glyphosate (Roundup) use on crops like corn and soy. Crops modified to tolerate the herbicide are planted in large monocultures that exclude native habitat strips. Use of glyphosate at higher levels (due to crop tolerances) also eliminates weeds and native plants that offer nectar and host plants for monarchs.

Population data from The Xerces Foundation’s annual Thanksgiving census of California’s overwintering monarchs from 1997 (left) to last season 2015 (right). The green shows total monarchs and the blue line is the number of sites monitored. More information on California overwintering habitat is here. Data from this year’s census will be officially released in January.

Research has identified three features in the west that may contribute to the loss of monarchs.

In the Columbia Basin and Snake River floodplain, glyphosate is used for milkweed eradication on rangelands due to actual or perceived milkweed toxicity to livestock. Grassland acreage that includes native plants and weeds serving as host and nectar plants is reduced by conversion to croplands due to a push to produce more corn for biofuels. Use of land for energy and extractive industries (gas, oil, mining, logging) loses over 5,000 acres to development annually.

Information on the monarchs themselves is also a data gap for the western subpopulation. We don’t know for sure how many generations monarchs in the west go through during summer. When does their summer breeding begin and when does it end? Multiple generations, perhaps three, is suspected but life stage data hasn’t been worked out for the western subpopulation, unlike the eastern. How does their migration timing differ? August 15th is the start of migration in the east. In the west, monarchs show up in California’s overwintering sites beginning in September and October, with peak occupancy in November although this is now questioned. Perhaps peak occupancy is around the new year?

All this uncertainty is as remarkable as the one intrepid butterfly who was the first to leave late in the season from so far north and arrive safely in California for the winter. The first time western science documented monarchs here was in October 1816 when a a Russian expedition of 27 men made landfall in what is now San Francisco. Two naturalists and an artist were among the crew. They collected one specimen and illustrated their observations. They didn’t note if they saw a single butterfly or overwintering clusters, no other information was recorded but the solo butterfly.

A plate illustrating a monarch butterfly taken in the vicinity of San Francisco in October 1816. Two hundred years after first seen by the Russian explorers, monarchs still migrate to California from summer ranges west of the Rocky Mountains. But thanks to MJV and associated programs, we now are gathering more information on the habitats, populations, and even on individual butterflies like Miracle B-3930 from Idaho. A monarch tagged on September 20th in the southeast corner of Arizona was seen feeding on rabbitbrush flowers at Joshua Tree National Park on October 9th. She traveled 369 miles in 19 days. One tagged butterfly released in Corvallis, Oregon was found nectaring on the balcony of a high-rise apartment in North San Francisco on September 18th and then again spotted in Santa Cruz on October 11th. Nearly 7,000 monarchs were counted in Pacific Grove’s colonies by November 4th. Pismo Beach’s colonies hosted 8,000-10,000 by early November. Lighthouse Field, one of several overwintering sites in Santa Cruz, hosted 12,000 in late November. Over 400 sites in California from north of Bolinas south into Baja California host overwintering monarchs. This map shows public-access locations and gives information on how to visit. This tagged butterfly, A-6205, a female, was released on September 2 in Elkton, southern Oregon. She traveled 468 miles south to be seen and photographed by talented monarch sleuth John Dayton at Lighthouse Field, Santa Cruz on November 30th. (Presumably she arrived earlier than this.) Many other projects in the western U.S. have been working to fill in data gaps to help monarch conservation and volunteer citizen scientists are making important contributions. We know about these individual butterflies because someone, perhaps a school child, put a tag on them and other people spotted the tag and reported the sighting. You can help monarchs whether you live east or west of the Rockies. Even if you live in a 15th floor apartment your balcony’s potted plants can benefit monarchs and you might see a tagged butterfly. Check out the projects and websites below and find your niche in the monarch conservation effort. Gardening for Butterflies To Save Monarchs, We Need More than Milkweed provides links to sources that identify the proper milkweed species and important nectar plants for your area. Plan your butterfly garden using nature’s design gives butterfly life history details that affect garden design, plus offers a broad view of the subject that will help you determine what is best for your area (with lots of links to more details). Citizen Science and other Research Projects Monarch Butterflies in the Pacific Northwest is seeking volunteers for next season’s tagging program. David G. James, Associate Professor of Entomology, Washington State University reports: People interested in being part of the tagging program can contact me via the FB page or by email (wsu.edu) or mail (IAREC, WSU, 24106 N Bunn Road, Prosser, WA 99350). I'm looking for people who either see Monarchs every year in local habitats (and can catch/tag them) or who rear them at home or in their garden. There are a lot of people who rear 20 or so Monarchs each year from caterpillars they find on their milkweed. I'm happy to give tags to these people so the results of their rearing can possibly be tracked! Only people in the PNW though, including far northern CA (Redding and north). Western Monarch Count website lists projects in California and elsewhere in the U.S. They, too are looking for volunteers to help with the second count in California. Reach them via this link. By having a second count period, we will be able to better understand where monarchs persist into the winter, how cluster sizes change, and much more. The New Year's Count period will be a little shorter than the Thanksgiving Count period and run from Saturday Dec. 31-Sunday Jan. 15. While we welcome counts from anytime during the overwintering season, these two time periods: Thanksgiving Count and New Year's Count are especially valuable to compare trends between sites and years. Monarch Joint Venture’s website has links to websites for tracking migration, larvae monitoring, tagging, reporting sightings of butterflies and milkweed, and many others. Monarch SOS is a free field guide and citizen science reporting app (IOS only) designed by MJV scientists that helps you identify monarchs (and their look-alikes) in all life phases and learn about milkweeds. It includes a form with prompts for reporting sightings to help you include all the data points needed for scientists. Monarch Parasites is collecting data to understand host -parasite interactions in monarchs. They’re seeking volunteers from across North America to help track the spread of an infectious protozoan parasite that can harm monarchs. Sampling is easy — just apply some sticky tape to a captured monarch’s abdomen to take off some of the scales, apply the tape to a white index card, and mail the cards to UGA at the end of the season. The butterflies are released unharmed. (Thanks to DK member wasplover who added this info in the comments below and is working with students on this project.)