How to Find Monarch Butterfly Eggs

Have you ever wanted to rear monarch butterflies? The first step to rearing monarchs is finding the eggs. In this video, Extension Entomologist Dr. Laura Jesse Iles teaches you how to locate monarch butterfly eggs.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Monarch conservation:

Rearing monarchs is not a way to conserve monarch populations, but planting a mix of native prairies and milkweeds are an effective way to help t conserve monarch populations.

Iowa State University Monarch Consortium has information on for farmers and landowners on how to establish monarch habitat: monarch.ent.iastate.edu/habitat-how

For individuals that want information on monarch habitat can check out the Monarch Joint Venture: monarchjointventure.org/get-involved/create-hab…

Milkweed identification:

National Wildlife Federation blog with information on native milkweeds: blog.nwf.org/2015/02/twelve-native-milkweeds-fo…

Xerces Society publication on Native Milkweeds with information and descriptions: xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Milkweeds…

Tracking monarchs:

Journey North has maps that show when monarch adults and monarch eggs are first sighted each spring across the U.S. Once in a map there is a drop-down menu that lets you select other maps: journeynorth.org/monarchs

Monarch egg and larvae identification:

University of Minnesota Monarch Lab has pictures of eggs and young monarch caterpillars: monarchlab.org/biology-and-research/biology-and…

Monarch diseases:

When raising a monarch caterpillar it is not uncommon to encounter disease or parasite problems. It is very important to thoroughly clean out all leaf debris and frass and then sanitize cages between caterpillar batches or if you have a disease problem with a 10% -20% bleach solution. University of Minnesota Monarch Lab has pictures and information on parasites and diseases of monarchs: monarchlab.org/biology-and-research/biology-and…

Rearing monarchs:

Monarch Watch has information on rearing caterpillars: monarchwatch.org/rear/index.htm The University of Minnesota has information on rearing: monarchlab.org/biology-and-research/monarch-rea…

This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Crop Protection and Pest Management Program through the North Central IPM Center (2018-70006-28883)

For more information about Iowa State University Extension and Outreach visit: extension.iastate.edu/

00:00 Intro
00:44 Where to find eggs
01:02 How to collect eggs
01:17 Parasitized caterpillars
01:46 How to care for the eggs