Monarch Meadow

08/20/2026

08/19/2026

When should you begin tagging monarchs?

The monarch fall migration has begun, and with it, the opportunity to tag monarchs to study their annual spectacular migration. In southern Canada and the northern U.S., the migratory generation of the eastern population of monarchs will start heading south around early August, as environmental cues prompt them to leave in search of warmer weather. As fall progresses, the monarchs will continue moving south, eventually reaching their overwintering sites in Mexico around early November.

We've provided a table to help taggers determine when to begin tagging monarchs in their area. The estimated dates of when to begin tagging for different latitudes roughly coincide with when migratory monarchs typically start to move through a location.

As these dates approach, keep an eye out for migratory monarchs in your area! If you'd like to participate in the tagging program, order your tagging kit at the Monarch Watch Shop link below:

https://shop.monarchwatch.org/

08/17/2026

Monarchs have many predators! Birds like the California towhee eat larvae, while ants, spiders, and other insects prey on eggs and larvae on milkweed plants. Wasps and tachinid flies attack the pupae.

08/07/2026

Still no eggs or cats here at Monarch Meadow, but Teddy and I are looking every day.

Monarchs continue breeding as we move through August. If they make it to adulthood, these eggs will likely be monarchs that take on the fall migration to Mexico or the California coast!

Under typical conditions, monarchs take at least three weeks to develop to adulthood. Monarchs that emerge after about mid-August enter reproductive diapause, meaning they do not reproduce. Instead, they take off and head for their overwintering grounds.

Across the first week of the Monarch Blitz, we've received reports from across North America. This map shows sightings of monarch eggs from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7.

Keep your sightings of monarch eggs, larvae, and adults coming. The Monarch Blitz runs through the end of the day Sunday!

08/06/2026

We've added something new to our monarch tagging kits this year 📏

Included in each tagging kit will be a ruler to measure monarch wing length in millimeters using a standard approach employed by scientists. Since wing length provides information about larval development and has been related to migratory success, the information gathered from this new, optional component of the tagging process will give us information about the condition of monarchs during the fall migration to help inform conservation efforts. We hope you'll join us in collecting this data!

You can order your monarch tagging kits for this upcoming fall season on our website (link to our shop in the comments). Thanks to many community scientists participating in the tagging program, we continue to learn more about monarchs and their spectacular migration!

Photo credit: Ann Dean Photo

08/05/2026

I keep looking, but so far, none at Monarch Meadow here in middle Tennessee.

07/25/2026

Do you know how to tell the difference between a male and female monarch butterfly?

Whether a monarch is a male or female is one piece of information you can include with your Journey North reports (although it's always OK to answer that you don't know).

Looking for two small black dots, one on either side of the abdomen, is the easiest way to tell monarch males and females apart. In the comments, we'll circle these dots in case you're not sure what to look for. Females also have thicker wing veins.

Next time you see a monarch, take a look for these signs, and see if you can tell the difference!

07/15/2026

Monarch tagging continues to be an important tool to help us understand the monarch migration and annual cycle; a long-term record is crucial to understand the dynamics of such complex natural phenomena.

Tags for the 2026 fall tagging season are available for pre-order, and we'll start shipping pre-orders soon, ahead of the migration in your area (starting in late July for those in Canada, and starting in August for those in the United States). Priority will be given to areas that'll experience the migration first. Tagging kits are only shipped to areas east of the Rocky Mountains.

Each tagging kit includes a set of specially manufactured monarch butterfly tags, a datasheet, tagging instructions, and additional monarch/migration information. And this year, we've added something new to the tagging sheet. Included in each tagging kit will be a ruler to measure monarch wing length in millimeters using a standard approach employed by scientists. Since wing length provides information about larval development and has been related to migratory success, the information gathered from this new, optional component of the tagging process will give us information about the condition of monarchs during the fall migration to help inform conservation efforts. We hope you'll join us in collecting this data!

If you'd like to tag monarchs this year, order your tags on the Monarch Watch Shop (link in the comments). Stay tuned for more info as we approach the fall about the monarch migration and tagging best practices!


Photo credit: Jessica Fryer-Harper

07/05/2026