Over the next few weeks, Northeast Ohio will be in the path of a natural phenomenon. Millions of monarch butterflies will be on the move making their way to wintering grounds in Mexico.
The monarch butterfly is very distinct. They have a black and orange color pattern and they're one of North America's most recognizable insects. But their population has been getting smaller over the last 30 to 40 years.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that since the mid-1990s the monarch population east of the Rockies—including the ones you see in your backyard—have declined 80%.Some estimates say it's actually closer to 90% . Those numbers look worse for the monarch butterfly population west of the Rockies that winters in coastal California .
The Service has proposed listing the monarch butterfly as threatened to give it protection under the Endangered Species Act, but that's a work in progress. In the meantime, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says there are things we can do as individuals to help support the monarch butterfly now.
We talked to two Northeast Ohio naturalists about the monarch migration, conservation and tagging efforts to track these long-distance travelers.
Below are some excerpts from the conversation, edited for clarity.
Meridith Teehan of the Medina County Park District explains how the monarch migration is like a relay or leapfrog.
“If we start in Mexico, we can call that the first generation, where they're going to overwinter in Mexico. And then they are going to travel in the spring north to about Texas. And that generation is going to lay eggs. And then that generation's actually going to die."
"So, the next generation is going to start there in Texas, from those eggs they're going to hatch in about 30 days into full-grown adults where they will then sort of leapfrog ahead to the next portion of their travels, sort of Midwest of the United States, and they'll do the same thing. They'll lay their eggs, and then they will also pass and allow the next generation to travel even further all the way up to, say, Canada or so, And, that generation, again, is going to do the same thing. They're going to lay eggs and then pass on to the next generation which will turn south and head back towards Mexico."
"So, there's about four or five generations depending on whether and what not. The final generation which is traveling right now is going to travel all the way back down to Mexico and stay there for about eight months.”
Mayim Hamblen of the Cleveland Metroparks explains how monarch butterflies navigate the long trip.
“There is a bit of magic involved, but it's really an incredible internal compass that these monarch butterflies have. Something we don't really see in many other insects. In fact, mostly in birds. And so, they are guided, we think, by this internal ability to sense maybe the magnetic field of our earth, the sun, the temperature, and the wind changes, and just kind of know where to go."
Mayim Hamblen of the Cleveland Metroparks explains where you can see the migration in Northeast Ohio.
“We are so lucky to have the beautiful lakefront along Lake Erie and a lot of the monarchs are coming down from Canada. Our peak is between like the 8th, to the 25th of September really, so you kind of have to pay attention to the weather changes, but you're going to look along the lakefront. Wendy Park is an excellent location. There is a little wood lot there that they love to roost in. And we'll see anywhere from 300 to 3,000 to 5,000 monarchs. It really depends. Another good location would be the Euclid Creek Reservation along the Wildwood area there as well. But you're gonna see them in backyard, wildflower gardens as well, and of course, in the Metroparks, we have a lot of monarch way stations, we call them, where you might be able to spot them." Tip: best viewing times late at night or pre-dawn.
Mayim Hamblen of the Cleveland Metroparks on why we’re seeing such a decline in the monarch population.
“There's a lot of factors. I think we're seeing quite a few issues with insecticides in our agricultural fields and herbicides as well, which are really decreasing the number of insects and our milkweed population, which is the host plant of the monarch. … The wildflower population is so important for them to refuel as they fly down on their very long migration of almost 3,000 miles. So really the habitat, those insecticides and the herbicides are some of the biggest things that we're seeing that is causing the decline."
Meridith Teehan from the Medina County Park District explains the monarch tagging program conducted with Monarch Watch.
"We work through Monarch Watch, which is the international program that started in 1992."
"We train our volunteers to go through the process of monarch tagging, which involves catching the monarch butterflies that are currently migrating down to Mexico. And then we're going to collect some data, such as time, location, date, weather, and the sex of the monarch. And then we're also going to affix a very tiny little sticker to the underside of the monarch's wing."
"The sticker assigns a specific number to the monarch butterfly. The, all of that data, including the sticker's number, will go to Monarch Watch and they will use that to collect data as far as where the monarchs are flying, when they're flying, what the weather was like. How many males are making it as opposed to how many females."
"The tagging program is a citizen science program that we do with some of our volunteers. We just did some training last weekend. And we also do several programs for the public where we kind of get the public involved and they can help us to catch the butterflies. Then, we'll kind of go through the steps of what it takes to tag the butterfly and then release it for them as well."
Meridith Teehan of the Medina County Park District on why training is necessary for monarch tagging.
“They are fairly delicate and you want to handle them with care. So, we do train the volunteers to handle the monarchs with care. There’s a specific kind of way to hold them so that they're not going to, you know thrash around or try to escape, that allows us to, you know hold them safely while we're fixing that tag. We also don't want to hold for very long. So, it's a pretty quick process and if we do it correctly, then it shouldn't cause any harm to the monarch."
Meridith Teehan of the Medina County Park District on what you can do to help support monarch butterflies.
“Something simple that we can do right in our own backyards is that we could plant native wildflowers, especially the native milkweeds that we have, the swamp milkweed and the common milkweed. The monarch butterflies need those to lay their eggs on. They do not lay their egg on any other plant, so those are very important. But then also other native plants are important to provide nectar sources for the adults as they're flying from one location to the next.”
Resources:
Cleveland Metroparks
Medina County Park District
MCPD Fall Program Guide
Monarch Watch
Guests:
Mayim Hamblen, Naturalist, Cleveland Metroparks
Meridith Teehan, Naturalist, Medina County Park District