Directions for Participation

There are two ways to participate in the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project:

1. If you have access to a site in which milkweed grows and that you can monitor regularly, we encourage you to monitor this site on a weekly basis during the time that milkweed is present. You will register as a Monarch Larva Monitoring Project volunteer, and provide detailed information about your site. Read the next section on registration information.
2. If you don't have the time or an available site to monitor regularly, we would still like to know about any observations of monarch eggs or larvae that you make. This method of participation is also for regular volunteers who may observe monarchs at locations other than their regular monitoring site. To record an anecdotal observation, click here .
   One of the goals of the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project is to determine where monarchs are throughout their spring, summer and fall breeding season. Any observation of a monarch egg or larva will help us to address this goal. If you are a regular MLMP volunteer who observed monarchs at locations other than your normal monitoring site, or if you aren't a regular volunteer and saw monarch eggs, please click here to report your observation

Registration Information

To register, click Data Entry and then the new member link in the left hand margin. All registered participants will be put on an e-mail list, and will receive project updates from us throughout the year. This page and linked pages contain step-by-step instructions for following the monitoring protocol. You should read through these instructions before you decide to register! Please take care to follow the directions carefully, recording all of the data requested, so that your data will be useful as we try to better understand monarch ecology. If you have never registered online but have submitted hard data in previous years, please don't register as a new participant. Instead, email the webmaster for your username and temporary password because we have already registered your site for you.

If this is the first time you've logged onto our site, we encourage you to use our on-line data entry tutorial. This is especially useful if you haven't had much experience with online data forms. Don't worry, no one will see what you type, or judge your mistakes! We encourage you to play around in the tutorial, and be sure to contact us if you have any questions.

On this page, you'll find: Data Accuracy Overview of weekly monitoring activities Supplies needed Returning Data General Monitoring Rules

You may also download the datasheets and other tools for the MLMP.

Data sheets

Tools

 

Data Accuracy

Remember, since the accuracy of the entire MLMP database depends on the accuracy of individual data sets, it's key that your data reflect what's happening at your monitoring site as accurately as possible. Thanks in advance for your carefulness and honesty as you work on this project. We're all depending on you!

Since most of the MLMP sites have too many milkweed plants to check, all of the data we work with are actually estimates of the actual monarch densities at the sites. There are a few things will make these estimates as accurate as possible:

1. Choose the plants you check randomly! If you only look at plants that look "good," there's a good chance that you'll overestimate monarch density.
2. Look at as many plants as you have time for! The more plants you check, the better your estimate.
3. Check the plants carefully! If you miss tiny first instar larvae, or call a milkweed latex dollop an egg, your estimates will be off.
4. Be careful in your identification of the different larval instars!! We've put a picture of each instar on our website. Check under monitoring tools.

Overview of Monitoring Activities

Weekly monitoring involves several different activities. Together, these activities help us to track monarch populations, understand monarch use of available habitat, and investigate some factors, such as weather and parasitism, which affect monarch populations. All participants should do Activity #1, but you may choose whether to do the additional activities. The more activities you complete, the more we learn, but please only do what you have the time and energy to complete. Regardless of which activities you choose to do, make sure you complete the "Description of Monitoring Site" and "Milkweed Density" data sheets. Both of these data sheets, and all of the others, should be filled out online if possible (See the Returning Data section below), but you should print them to take with you to your monitoriing site.

Activity #1: Estimating monarch densities each week at the site.

Objective: Obtain a count of monarch eggs and larval instars at the site by examining a known number of milkweed plants. The result will be a per plant density measurement of the monarch population at the site. We use this measurement to see how monarch densities vary within a year, between years, and among different sites and locations.
Method: Examine as many milkweed plants as possible (50-500), keeping track of the number of plants examined. Record the number of eggs and monarch larvae you find.

Activity #2: Recording weather data.

Objective: Obtain measurements of rainfall and temperature at the site.
Method: Mount a rain gauge at or near the site and record rainfall amounts.Record temperatute daily.

Activity #3: Estimating parasitism rates in monarchs each week at the site.

Objective: Obtain an estimate of parasitism rates in monarch larvae. These data will help us measure the importance of this mortality factor in monarch populations of different densities and at different times and locations.
Method: Collect any 4th or 5th instars found at the site each week as you complete Activity #1. Rear these larvae indoors and record whether they survive to adulthood, and, if not, what caused their death (parasitized by flies, parasitized by wasps, etc.).

Activity #4. Comparing Plants Occupied by Monarchs to Random Plants.

Objective: To assess whether female monarchs choose milkweed plants randomly within a site, or if there are characteristics of milkweed plants that make some plants more likely to be chosen as sites for oviposition. This will help us to understand what characteristics make milkweed "good" host plants for monarchs.
Methods: Measure the same characteristics (height, reproductive status, age, herbivore damage, and the presence or absence of invertebrates) in plants with monarchs and random plants. You will measure all (or a subset if you find over 30 plants with monarchs) of the plants you observe with monarchs, and a random set of 30 plants at your site.

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Supplies Needed

• Data sheets and Field Notebook: You will need at least one copy of each data sheet, and possibly more depending on the number of weeks you monitor. A field notebook (journal type or spiral-bound) is also useful for recording other observations that don't fit on the data sheets.
• Hand lens: A hand lens or magnifying glass is very useful for identifying eggs and small larvae.
• Meter stick or measuring tape (for measuring milkweed density): You will need a meter stick only once during the season.
• Rain gauge (for Activity #2): If you can, mount an inexpensive rain gauge at your site. Try to find one that is designed to prevent the water from evaporating.
• Thermometer (optional): Mount an inexpensive outdoor thermometer at your site, or bring one when you visit the site to monitor each week.
• Field guides (optional): To identify monarch eggs and instars, use A Field Guide to Monarch Caterpillars. A guide to wildflowers is useful for identifying the blooming plants at your site.
• Containers for rearing larvae (for Activity #3): See the Instructions for Rearing Larvae for more information.

You can buy all Monitoring supplies from our Monarch Store!

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Returning Data (ALL PARTICIPANTS)

1. Enter Data Online Log on to MLMP.org and enter all your data online. You will have your own password-protected "home-page" on our website from which you will be able to fill in all of the data sheets. You will be able to modify them throughout the season and visualize your data as the season progresses. Please send us hard-copies of your data at the end of the summer so that we can check our database for accuracy.

2. In addition, send hard copies of data We use these to check for accuracy. If you do not have access to a computer, please send us the hard copies of the data sheets you have completed. Retain copies of all the data sheets yourself, in case of a postal disaster!

Mailing Address:
Karen Oberhauser
University of Minnesota
Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife
200 Hodson Hall
St. Paul, MN 55108

Email: Karen Oberhauser oberh001@umn.edu

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Monitoring Rules (ALL PARTICIPANTS)

1. Be confident. You have read the instructions, you have received training--you have the ability to make good decisions in the field.
2. Be consistent. Once you make a decision, stick with it. Much of the utility of the monitoring data lies in comparisons within a site over time.
3. Keep excellent notes. Document what you do. Fill out all fields on the data sheets, or explain why you can't. If you need to deviate from the protocol, keep track of what you did and why.
4. Ask for help when you need it. You can use email, the website or snail mail to contact us or other monitoring project participants.
5. Monitor regularly. Missing a week or two will not make your results useless or invalid--don't let it be a reason to not participate in the project at all. However, if you need to miss a week or two due to illness or travel, you might try convincing a friend or neighbor to monitor for you. If you are short on time one week, you can just do Activity #1 and skip the other activities that week.