Western monarch butterflies are on the move. After spending November through February concentrated at overwintering sites on the California Coast, adults are now dispersing eastward to California’s Coast Range, Central Valley, and Sierra Nevada foothills to produce 2020’s first generation of monarchs.
This early spring period is considered one of the most vulnerable stages of the western monarch’s annual life cycle. The population is at its smallest, individuals are at their weakest right after their long overwintering diapause, and butterflies are more exposed to the elements than they were at protected overwintering sites.
Early spring is also the period researchers know the least about western monarch whereabouts and behavior, or the availability of early-emerging milkweeds critical for the first generation of spring monarchs.
Researchers increasingly recognize that the success of the first spring generation of western monarchs critically sets the stage for 3-4 subsequent generations produced “relay-style” as monarchs fan out across the West each summer. As they recolonize breeding areas of the West, milkweeds comprise the essential links in the chain of habitats that connect the western monarch population. Also essential on this journey are nectar plants, which fuel monarch migration and reproduction.
What better way to generate needed data than to harness the power of Community Science! And few organizations do community science better than The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a leading voice in the fight to save western monarchs. This spring, Xerces — with partners Washington State University, Tufts University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz — launched the Western Monarch Mystery Challenge, a new campaign to learn where western monarch butterflies occur in early spring.
Participating is a breeze! From February 14 through April 22, California residents are asked to report sightings of monarchs:
- Take a picture of any monarch seen outside of overwintering groves.
- Report it to iNaturalist (a free app) and include date, species, and location OR email your observation to MonarchMystery@wsu.edu.
- By contributing observations, you will be automatically entered in a weekly prize drawing every week you report a sighting. Prizes range from gift cards to REI or Patagonia to other goodies.
Click on the iNaturalist link above to view the incoming data from citizen scientists! In real-time, participants are contributing high-accuracy location records and detailed information on monarch breeding phenology and milkweed/nectar species used by monarchs. Data gold!
The Mystery Challenge also encourages folks that do not see monarchs to participate by being an ambassador:
- By sharing the Western Monarch Mystery Challenge on social media
- By using #monarchmystery and tagging the accounts listed in the Xerces link above
- By being a neighborhood ambassador through the Nextdoor app – anywhere in California, but particularly in the Coast Range and Central Valley.
The urgency of this campaign reflects the all-hands-on-deck investment needed to conserve western monarchs, whose migratory populations have plummeted to less than 30,000 individuals in recent years. This number represents about 1% of the estimated 4.5 million monarchs that overwintered in California in the 1980s. In the last two years, the western monarch overwintering population has hovered at the threshold below which the migration may collapse. The Western Monarch Mystery Challenge and its citizen scientist recruits are providing much-needed insights into monarchs’ early spring habitat needs to help researchers and advocates better target conservation efforts.
Xerces Society also leads the Western Monarch Call to Action, a set of rapid-response conservation actions for citizens across the West to help restore the western monarch population.
The five key steps to recovering the western monarch population in the short term are:
- Protect and manage California overwintering sites
- Restore breeding and migratory habitat in California
- Protect monarchs and their habitat from pesticides
- Protect, manage, and restore summer breeding and fall migration monarch habitat outside of California
- Answer key research questions about how to best aid western monarch recovery
There is a wealth of linked information in the Call to Action, including monarch nectar plant lists by geographic region (downloadable PDFs), a link to Xerces’s Milkweed Seed Finder, and why planting tropical milkweed is a no-go.
Other valuable links:
Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper — an online platform to report monarch and milkweed observations in 11 western states.
Western Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan — a 50-year plan to identify and implement conservation strategies to ensure the viability of the western monarch population.
Scientists Request Help Tracking Monarch Butterflies — NPR Morning Edition segment, March 25, 2020
We’re in a challenging time, but there are still many ways to find joy. With California under stay-at-home orders, it’s important to stay home and stay healthy. However, if you happen to be outside in your backyard or out walking the dog and see a monarch — snap a photo and report it to iNaturalist! Every observation will help solve the western monarch mystery and improve this iconic butterfly’s chances for survival.