Monarchs on the move

Helping butterflies travel safely through Texas

By Camilla Price

A monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) at a Dallas garden rests between legs of its long journey south on Oct. 9, 2021. Monarchs are threatened by habitat loss, climate change and pesticide use across the United States. (Camilla Price/Copy Chief)

For generations, the monarch butterfly has been a fixture of the Texas fall as it migrates to Mexico for the winter.

Since the mid-1990s, however, the population of the “ambassador of the Americas” has declined by 90% as habitat loss and fragmentation affect the monarchs' 3,000-mile migratory route from Canada to the forests of Mexico.

In July 2022, the migratory monarch butterfly was officially listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature – a wake-up call to conservationists.

But with 161 species ahead of it for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the monarch cannot expect a rescue from the federal government.

There is still hope for the iconic insect: Across North America, conservation organizations are working to research, advocate and preserve habitat for monarch butterflies.

Their most important task, they say, is engaging local communities. With the population on the brink, every individual along the monarch’s migratory pathway can make a difference in saving the species from extinction.

Migrating monarchs

Every fall, the Texas sky fills with monarch butterflies migrating southward in singles, pairs and congregations. Weighing less than a gram, the insects flutter on paper-thin wings from Canada to their overwintering grounds in the mountains of central Mexico. There, millions of monarchs blanket the oyamel fir trees, rest and wait for spring.

According to scientists, the fall migration is made up of a “super-generation” of monarchs that can live up to nine months, first migrating to Mexico and then wafting north back to Texas in the spring where they mate and lay eggs on their host plant, milkweed.

The next generation of monarchs then hatches, but these only live for a month or two before they, too, breed and die. In a unique phenomenon, the return journey to Canada takes the monarchs several generations to complete.

No one knows how the “super” monarchs know the way to Mexico without ever having been there. But this is often part of the appeal: The monarch’s beauty and migratory habits have made it one of the most beloved and recognizable insects in North America.

Map of the monarch migration. Eastern monarchs travel from Canada through Texas to Mexico each year, while a separate western population primarily travels to southern California to overwinter. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

In this Jan. 4, 2015 file photo, a kaleidoscope of Monarch butterflies cling to tree branches, in the Piedra Herrada sanctuary, near Valle de Bravo, Mexico. In 2022, the population rose 35%, but monarchs are still in decline. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Texas, which serves as a critical part of the migratory flyway for the eastern monarch, designates the butterfly as its official state insect.

“Whereas, the monarch butterfly is as beautiful and memorable as a Texas sunset, soaring above all other insects in its nobility and determination, and its unique relationship with Texas makes it a truly appropriate symbol of the majestic spirit of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it resolved, that the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby designate the monarch butterfly as the official State Insect of Texas.”
Texas Legislature, June 1995

Residents watch for monarchs fluttering through Fort Worth on their seasonal migration each year.

Ashley Coles, an assistant professor of geography at TCU and chair of the TCU Sustainability Committee, has personally seen more migrating monarchs since she bought a home in Fort Worth in 2017 and began landscaping her garden for native wildlife.

But monarchs have declined dramatically since she grew up in the nearby cities of Abilene and San Angelo.

“From childhood until now, I have definitely seen a decline overall,” said Coles.

^{Photo: Camilla Price/Copy Chief}

Monarchs in trouble

Today, monarchs are rapidly disappearing as they face new obstacles along their migratory routes. Eastern monarch populations have declined by more than 80% since overwintering surveys first began in the 1990s, according to surveys by the World Wildlife Fund.

Before the population crashed, the fir forests would be littered with butterflies for nearly 45 acres. Last year, the overwintering population rose 35% from covering 5.19 acres in 2020 to 7.02 acres, but the population is trending downward. In 2020, the population fell 53% from the previous year’s count.

Habitat loss and fragmentation have played a major role in the monarchs' collapse, said Carol Clark, the Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas chair for the Native Plant Society of Texas and a conservation specialist for the nonprofit conservation organization Monarch Watch.

As people convert native prairie patches to monoculture cropland and concrete jungles, the butterflies cannot find the native plants they rely on for food and shelter.

“If [habitat patches are] too far apart, monarchs can’t really fly from one piece to another to find them and fuel up,” said Clark. Development across the Midwest has also eliminated the monarch’s host plant, milkweed, which is the only plant its caterpillars eat.

In a perfect storm of human-caused threats, the monarch butterfly has also been pushed to the brink of extinction by climate change, illegal logging in their overwintering grounds and herbicides and pesticides meant for other insects.

In December 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service evaluated the monarch for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The agency found that the butterfly is qualified to be an endangered species, but more than 160 species will take priority in the listing process, leaving the monarch in a dangerous waiting game.

Clark said government protections may not come soon enough, but there is still hope for the monarch if citizens step in to create habitat for the species.

“Don't wait for the government or someone else to solve the problem, because it will be too late,” she said. “Start now on any size piece of land you have control over, and start at the size you can handle, but do it now. Don’t wait.”

Gardening for wildlife

Members of the TCU community can contribute to monarch conservation by adding native plants to local pocket prairies, community centers and their own backyards.

By planting fall-blooming nectar plants for monarchs to feed and milkweed plants where they can lay their eggs in the spring, communities can create valuable habitat for monarchs along the migratory flyway, according to conservationists.

“No matter how small it is, it can be very useful,” said Clark. “Sometimes the home garden is the only place where a monarch can stop by and find nectar plants on that long migration south.”

The Native Plant Society of Texas and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center offer plant lists with recommended native species for different regions.

Lindsey Ebert, the nursery manager at the native nursery Painted Flower Farm in Denton, Texas, said natives offer other benefits for homeowners and landscapers.

“They improve the soil, first of all, and they’ll use a lot less water and fertilizer,” said Ebert.

She added that native plants are adapted to the extremes of the Texas climate and often attract other native pollinators like bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

Coles cultivates native pollinator-friendly plants to help provide food for pollinating insects like bees and butterflies that have an important impact on local ecosystems. She said choosing natives was an “easy sell” because they are easier to care for.

“Plus, if they’re maintained well, they look great,” she said. “My neighbors are always complimenting my flowers.”

^{Photos: Camilla Price/Copy Chief}

Native flowers are part of the landscape at the Fort Worth residence of TCU professor Ashley Coles. (Photo courtesy Ashley Coles)

"[The garden] is just alive with all the pollinators. There’s bees, there’s moths, there’s butterflies, all sorts of creatures are taking advantage of that right now, which, it’s fun to see and it’s fun to see it evolve over time," said Coles. (Photo courtesy Ashley Coles)

A monarch perches on the fall aster plant in Ashley Coles's garden. Nectar plants like fall asters are essential for monarchs to fuel up for the journey south. (Photo courtesy Ashley Coles)

Gardeners who plant native milkweed and nectar plants for monarchs can apply for the Monarch Waystation certification from Monarch Watch. More than 36,000 sites have been registered in the U.S., from home and community gardens to zoos and highway roadsides.

Recipients can purchase a sign to let their neighbors know about their conservation efforts and encourage them to take part in gardening for wildlife, said Clark.

“If you do it and your neighbor does it and somebody down the street does it, then to an insect that flies, that really begins to look like connected habitat,” she said.

Even TCU students living in dorms or apartments can get involved.

At Painted Flower Farm, Ebert often assists students from the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University. She said a small potted garden on a windowsill can still make a difference for local wildlife.

“There was one guy that had gotten a flame acanthus and had it in a pot, and he said he got hummingbirds coming to his plant, so he was providing nectar for the hummingbirds,” said Ebert.

Native plants begin to sprout at the Town Center Monarch Waystation butterfly garden in Keller, Texas, Oct. 2, 2020. Almost all of the plants were introduced that September, just in time for the upcoming monarch migration. (Camilla Price/Copy Chief)

sign for hippo exhibit surrounded by native flowers

Mistflower and Turk’s cap at the Dallas Zoo hippo enclosure are popular native plants for migrating monarchs on Oct. 6, 2020. The zoo features native pollinator flowers throughout its 106 acres as part of its mission to save wildlife. (Camilla Price/Copy Chief)

On a larger scale, planting natives also benefits a whole host of other species by establishing natural habitats for wildlife.

Across Texas, including Tarrant County, much of the developed area used to consist of Blackland Prairie, a type of prairie grassland named for its rich dark soil.

The monarchs’ migratory corridor took advantage of the prairie landscape's diversity, but less than one-tenth of one percent of the Blackland Prairie ecosystem remains, said Clark.

However, as restoration efforts spread across the state in an effort to save monarch habitat, other species are benefitting as well: Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are drawn to the flowers, and other native wildlife like lizards and birds can feed on the insects, creating a network centered around native plants like purple coneflower, goldenrod and milkweed.

“When we plant for monarchs, we really are conserving lots and lots of other things as well, but the monarchs are big and recognizable. They’re the ones that steal our hearts,” said Clark. “They’re really an ambassador insect for prairie conservation.”

^{Photo: Public domain}

Fort Worth Botanic Garden flowers and pollinator sign

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden's Pollinator Walk is one of several demonstration gardens in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Many are maintained by the Native Plant Society of Texas and Tarrant County Master Gardeners, which offer volunteer opportunities to help in the gardens. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Coles)

North Texas Master Naturalist Kristina Wolfe nets a monarch butterfly for tagging at the Dallas Arboretum in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 9, 2021. (Camilla Price/Copy Chief)

woman with clipboard and woman holding monarch butterfly

North Texas Master Naturalists Ellen Guiling and Kristina Wolfe record the unique identifying number of the male monarch they tagged at the Dallas Arboretum in Dallas, Texas on Oct. 9, 2021. Tagging allows for monarchs to be identified later when they are found in their overwintering grounds in Mexico. (Camilla Price/Copy Chief)

More ways to help

Even without the space for a garden, Texas locals can save monarchs with everyday actions.

- Volunteer at a local demonstration garden maintained by a group like the Native Plant Society of Texas. Check out this list for locations in Dallas-Fort Worth.

- Ask city, county and state authorities to protect existing monarch habitat, especially remnant pocket prairies. In Fort Worth, residents can email the city’s Open Space Conservation Program at openspace@fortworthtexas.gov to suggest locations that should be preserved from development.

- Check with local nursery retailers to make sure the plants they sell are not pretreated with insecticides like neonicotinoids. While intended for pests like aphids, the pesticides “will kill anything that chews the leaf, and that would include monarch caterpillars,” Clark said. “So it’s possible to go out and buy a plant that says ‘this is a butterfly plant’ on the tag and it is pretreated with a pesticide that will kill all your caterpillars that try to use it.”

- For those without green thumbs, Clark encourages interested citizens to record monarch sightings on the iNaturalist app or Journey North platform to help scientists track the monarch migration. Learn more about iNaturalist here.

- Join a monarch tagging program! Local volunteers capture monarchs and stick on small tags with unique identifying numbers before their release. The tags are recovered in Mexico and tell researchers where the monarchs came from and where conservation efforts can be concentrated.

- Spread the word about how to help monarchs and why they matter.

As the monarch butterfly follows its invisible path to Mexico, it will depend on the people who are willing to save it. It may stop at a potted garden, a preserved prairie remnant a few miles away or a backyard plot with nectar plants for the journey south. Everyone in the communities along its route can take part in making room for monarchs, before it’s too late.