Monarch butterflies are migrating north through Texas. Here’s how you can help aid them in their journey!
DALLAS — Known for their distinct orange hue and white spots lining their wings, the monarch butterfly is easily one of the most recognizable insects. Right now, the monarchs are making their spring migration, and Texas is one of the best states to spot them!
During the spring migration, monarchs make their way north from Mexico. The spring migration is not as dramatic as the fall migration.
“When they start moving north, it’s more of a sporadic thing,” Wizzie Brown, a Senior Extension Program Specialist at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, told WFAA. “So you might see like one or two, or like a few here or there.”
Still, there are some things you can do to increase your chances.
Here’s everything you need to know about the butterflies’ path through Texas.
The journey north
Monarch butterflies migrate north in the spring to leave overwintering grounds in Mexico.
“What they’re doing when they’re moving northward is looking for milkweed,” Brown said. “They’ll find a place on that milkweed to lay eggs because the larvae are going to feed on that milkweed.”
Milkweed is a vital plant for monarch caterpillars. It’s the only plant that monarch caterpillars can eat, so without it, they cannot survive and develop into butterflies.
Once the caterpillars go through metamorphosis, they’ll continue their northward migration. The migration to the northern U.S. and Canada is a multi-generational process and usually takes about three to four generations.
The importance of the right milkweed
In recent years, there’s been a huge push to go out and plant milkweed, but the right milkweed can be the difference between life and death for monarchs.
“We want them planting native milkweed species, which is often very difficult to find in nurseries,” Brown said. “A lot of the nurseries and stores are selling the tropical milkweed.”
The danger in planting tropical milkweed, Brown says, is a microscopic parasite. The single-celled organism is called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, commonly referred to as OE. OE infects monarch butterflies and reproduces inside the insect’s body. Infected monarchs can spread the parasite by scattering spores on other milkweed plants.
“They can carry [spores] to other plants and transfer it to other butterflies if they come into contact,” Brown said.
Infected female butterflies also spread those spores onto the eggs they lay, which causes major issues in the larvae’s development. Those larvae develop and emerge from metamorphosis covered in spores. Oftentimes, OE causes wing damage and deformities in the infected adults that can result in hampered flight or a total inability to fly.
With that being said, native milkweed is the way to go.
“Texas is a huge state and we have lots of different kinds of milkweed,” Brown said. “Make sure if you’re getting native milkweed, you still need to get the native milkweed that’s going to work for your area.”
For North Texas, two species of native milkweed grow naturally: green milkweed and antelope horns milkweed. Brown recommends using Native American Seed as a reliable source for native milkweed seeds.
Look (and track) but don’t touch
According to Brown, the monarch butterflies are already making their way through Texas!
“I saw one here in the Austin area probably about two weeks ago,” Brown said.
Brown told WFAA that a good tool to track the monarch migration is through the website Journey North. The website allows people to report their sightings, and those sightings are compiled on a map to see the path. You can report your very own sightings here.
It’s good to look, but trapping and “rearing” monarch butterflies can be problematic, Brown says. Thankfully, her alternative to watching them grow is the same strategy for keeping populations healthy: planting native milkweed.
“I would encourage people, if they’re going to watch the lifecycle, to plant milkweed and watch the lifecycle occur naturally,” Brown said. “Do not cram a bunch of butterflies or caterpillars in a container because, again, if they are infected with a disease, that can spread more readily in that enclosed space.”
The journey south
While not until fall, Brown says there’s plenty you can do to stay ahead of the curve for the much more impressive migration south.
The first thing is, if you have tropical milkweed, cut it down to the ground. Brown recommends cutting it down by Labor Day to ensure the monarch population coming through does not continue to lay eggs through the winter.
“I usually get people in the middle of December when it’s 30° outside saying ‘I have these monarchs. What do I do with them?’ because they had the milkweed in their yard,” Brown said.
If you’re worried about cutting down your native milkweed, you don’t have to. The native plants will usually die on their own at that time of year.
Another thing you can do to make sure the butterflies are strong for their journey is planting fall bloomers!
“I would encourage everyone to make sure that they have fall-blooming plants that produce lots of nectar for the monarch coming through in the fall,” Brown said. “Fall Astor or blue mist flower or just anything that’s going to provide them with that nectar.”
Brown says that nectar is a necessary energy source for monarchs so they can “keep on trucking into the overwintering grounds.”
So, that’s that! If you’re a monarch fan, keep your eyes peeled this spring, and get ready for a major migration this fall.
