Monarchs Matter: High Schoolers Transform into Citizen Scientists

By Cynthia Zhang

Cynthia Zhang is a youth environmentalist, a co-chair of ReWild’s Social Media Committee, and the founder of Monarchs Matter, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and protecting the vulnerable monarch butterfly population. 

An incoming junior at Great Neck South High School, she strives to inspire a new generation of environmental leaders on Long Island and around the world through social media.

Amplifying the summer buzz

First monarch butterfly sighting at the ReWild Garden @ Dodge!

Every summer, there is a buzz in the air; bumblebees feast on the sweet nectar from blooming wildflowers, while gardeners excitedly share news of their first monarch butterfly sighting. Over the years, the buzz among gardeners has grown louder, as it’s become increasingly clear that butterflies are disappearing from our gardens and first sightings are shifting later in the year. In order to stay on top of this nationwide trend and to inform effective conservation strategies, researchers need up-to-date observation data collected from the public. This summer, our Raise, Tag, and Release (RTR) Summer Program students have volunteered to become citizen scientists for two monarch community science projects, and you can too!

monarch watch tagging program

The Monarch Watch Tagging Program helps understand the dynamics of the monarch's spectacular 3000-mile fall migration through mark and recapture. Reared or wild monarch butterflies are marked with lightweight circular tags, each with a unique code and adhesive backing. For each tagged butterfly, the tag code, tag date, butterfly gender, and geographic location are recorded, and at the end of the tagging season, citizen scientists submit their datasheets to Monarch Watch. This information, along with recovered migrating tagged monarchs, is then analyzed for monarch conservation research.

For the RTR Summer Program, students will start tagging the monarchs they have raised from egg or caterpillar beginning August 18th, the start date of the tagging season in Long Island, NY. Check the “Additional Information” section at mwtag.org to find out when tagging begins in your area based on latitude.

For a quick review of the tagging basics, read Monarchs Matter’s Monarch Tagging 101 post. For a comprehensive guide to monarch tagging, watch our new video How to Tag and Track Monarchs for Conservation featuring Monarch Watch Director Dr. Kristen Baum. Discover about how tags are recovered in Mexico, the monarch annual cycle, male v.s. female monarch butterflies, and more!

Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP)

August 11 RTR session at the ReWild Garden @ Dodge with 17 eggs and 2 butterflies recorded for MLMP!

The Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP) tracks monarchs and milkweed (the sole host plant of monarch larva) across North America through observation data submitted by citizen scientists via an online portal. In addition to recording egg, caterpillar, pupae, and butterfly counts, the survey collects details about the site, including its area, number of milkweed plants, and milkweed species.

RTR students contribute to this effort weekly at the ReWild Dodge Garden or the Science Museum of Long Island, which hold 12 by 24 and 36 by 90 square feet plots with 120+ and 170+ milkweed plants, respectively.

Viceroy butterfly (Source: Canva)

Tips for finding & identifying monarch eggs and caterpillars:

  • Monarch eggs and caterpillars spend most of their time on milkweed as it’s their sole host plant. Check out our recent blog to learn how you can support monarchs by growing milkweed!

  • To identify monarch eggs, their key characteristics are its yellowish white color, elongated shape, pointed top, and vertical ridges.

  • Even though eggs can be laid on the top sides of leaves and on milkweed flower buds, stems, and seed pods, they are usually laid on the underside of milkweed leaves to shield them from predators, the sun, and bad weather.

  • Eggs are usually laid at the top of milkweed plants and/or on young milkweed plants because their leaves are more tender.

  • For the same reasons as the previous two bullets, monarch caterpillars like to hide on the underside of leaves and eat the leaves near the top of younger plants.

  • To identify the instar stage of a caterpillar, analyze their filament length, stripe thickness, and color, and body size. I highly recommend this detailed guide from Butterfly Life Cycle!

  • Monarch eggs and chrysalises vary in appearance depending on their stage (images below). Moreover, if you see an empty monarch egg shell, look for any caterpillars on the plant or nearby.

  • Monarch butterflies prefer laying their eggs on common milkweed and swamp milkweed, but also check your ecoregion to learn which milkweed species tend to attract the most eggs.

  • Be careful not to confuse monarch butterflies with viceroy butterflies! The viceroy butterfly is smaller and has a distinct black vein across the middle of its hindwing.

  • And of course, have fun exploring :)

Top: Empty monarch egg shell

Bottom: Transparent egg with black tip about to hatch (Source: Monika Maeckle from Texas Butterfly Ranch)

Top: Empty chrysalis (first and last) & fully transparent chrysalis (second from the right)

Bottom: Chrysalises starting to turn transparent

additional Monarch Community Science Projects

  • Journey North: Bring the excitement of your first monarch egg, monarch, and butterfly sighting to this project by sending them the time and location of your sighting! Journey North also collects data of other migrating species, including hummingbirds and robins, from the public

Join Us

Stay tuned for more summer monarch magic from Monarchs Matter! 

🦋🦋🦋

For more information and updates about Monarchs Matter, visit www.MonarchsMatter.net or follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or Facebook.

Cynthia Zhang