IL Monarch Waystation Capital

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IL Monarch Waystation Capital To help create, celebrate Monarch Waystations for Monarch Butterfly habitat in all life cycles stages

The habitat needs of the Monarch Butterfly have not changed, but the many areas where safe Monarch Butterfly habitat areas have existed has changed in the last 18 years in Illinois. The resulting decline of the Monarch Butterfly in Illinois can be changed with the creation and celebration of safe habitat plots. Educating others to the need for milkweeds and nectar flowers along with the protection

of the milkweeds is the purpose of this community page. Sharing photos, rearing techniques, gardening for butterflies and pollinators will be a big part of what happens here. The experiences of Rhonda (aka the Butterfly Lady) Brady's participation in Monarch Watch tagging since 1997 will be shared as well. Monarch Watch is one primary source for information to promote conservation while educating and engaging folks in the citizen science research of tagging. The information and knowledge of many other experts and citizens of North and Central America are most welcome as we strive to protect the Migration Phenomenon of the Monarch Butterfly in North America east of the Rockie Mountains to Michio'can State in Mexico.

Learn more about the Monarch Migration and Nightly Roosts at the 12th Annual Monarch Migration Festival held here in Ga...
20/08/2026

Learn more about the Monarch Migration and Nightly Roosts at the 12th Annual Monarch Migration Festival held here in Galesburg on Saturday Sept. 12th- 10am-2:30pm, at Lakeside Nature Center, 1033 South Lake Storey Rd. Free Fun and Educational too!

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH!!Free Fun!!
19/08/2026

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH!!
Free Fun!!

Order NOW!
19/08/2026

Order NOW!

This is a New addition to data collection during tagging this year.
08/08/2026

This is a New addition to data collection during tagging this year.

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

Yes, We've had Lots of rain, with over 3" in the rain gauge Friday thru Saturday. But did You Know? Monarchs naturally c...
04/08/2026

Yes, We've had Lots of rain, with over 3" in the rain gauge Friday thru Saturday.
But did You Know? Monarchs naturally can handle rain?

Did you know that monarchs have water-resistant wings?

As you can see in the photo, it's been wet and rainy here at Monarch Waystation No. 1! Like many other creatures, monarchs will tend to take shelter and won't attempt to fly in the rain, finding places to stay safe under trees, shrubs, or other vegetation. However, if a monarch were to get some water on it, the droplets would roll off its wings, due to the hydrophobic (water-repellent) properties of the scales on its wings, allowing it to dry off quickly.

FRIDAY July 31 Is the START!
31/07/2026

FRIDAY July 31 Is the START!

The International Monarch Monitoring Blitz is one week away!

The Monarch Blitz is a call to action for people across North America to join efforts to conserve monarch butterflies and the habitat they depend on.

This year's Blitz runs from Friday, July 31 to Sunday, Aug. 9. For these 10 days, submit all sightings of monarchs on the Journey North website. Every observation of monarchs or milkweed matters and helps build a clearer picture of monarch breeding habitat across North America.

Find the link to report sightings in the comments.

Arte you noticing holes in your leaves? Who's eating your milkweed? What insects are you seeing?
30/07/2026

Arte you noticing holes in your leaves? Who's eating your milkweed? What insects are you seeing?

Reminder: There are differences between these two lookalike butterflies!
07/07/2026

Reminder: There are differences between these two lookalike butterflies!

Viceroys are the most common monarch lookalike that we see included in Journey North reports. If you're new to identifying and tracking butterflies, and you get fooled by a viceroy (or even if you've been doing it a long time and one still fools you), that's OK!

Viceroys and monarchs have one key difference to look out for when identifying them in the field. Viceroys have a black line that runs across their postmedian hindwing, which you can see circled here.

Viceroys are also smaller than monarchs, measuring between 2.5 and 3.375 inches (6.3-8.6 cm), while monarchs typically measure between 3.375 and 4.875 inches (8.6-12.4 cm). The viceroy's flight is also erratic compared to the monarchs' float-like, "flap, flap, glide" pattern.

Learn more about monarch lookalikes by clicking the link in the comments!

Which milkweeds can you identify?
02/07/2026

Which milkweeds can you identify?

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