Monarch Monitoring Program

A little insect goes on a great big journey. Here's how you can help.

It’s a tiny little insect that plays a big role in our ecosystem here in the Red River Valley… but to do it, it has to take an even bigger journey, all the way to Mexico and back.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources naturalist Andrea Wakely stopped by the KVRR Morning Show to sit down with Emily Welker live in-studio to talk about these amazing little insects that do so much more than decorate our landscape during the warm summer and early fall months. They also play a significant role in indicating how robust our ecosystem is, as well as pollinating flowering plants.

But migratory monarch butterflies’ numbers are in jeopardy these days, in part because they can’t find enough milkweed to eat and lay eggs on.
You can help them by planting milkweed and getting involved in the Monitoring Monarchs program through the Minnesota DNR.
Even a single plant in your yard can help provide food or a safe spot for a mother monarch to lay her eggs on her way through the region. Once you learn how to spot the tiny eggs, you can then record and report them to help scientists keep track of the species’ progress.

“Female monarchs lay about one egg per plant. They lay about 500 eggs in their lifetime, so if you see one egg on your plant, that’s really great. We’re looking for eggs, and we’re looking for larvae, which is another word for caterpillars,” said Wakely.

For more information on the Monarch Monitoring program, check out the link monarchlab.org/mlmp