The resources listed below are available as links. Most can be accessed in their entirety, for others only portions are available at the discretion of the publisher. If a paywall is known to be in effect, we have noted it after the citation. To the best of our knowledge, Books are available as purchaser only.
Scientific Literature
Natural History:
Migration:
Breeding:
Habitat:
Conservation:
Conservation Plans:
- Borkin, 1982, Notes on Shifting Distribution Patterns and Survival of Immature Danaus Plexippus (Lepidoptera: Danaidae) on the Food Plant Asclepias Syriaca (PDF, 9 pages) (Link)
- Erickson, 1973, The utilization of various Asclepias species by larvae of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus (PDF, 16 pgs) (Link)
Migration:
- Flockhart et al., 2013, Tracking multi-generational colonization of the breeding grounds by monarch butterflies in eastern North America (Link)
- Freedman et al., 2017, Nonmigratory monarchs retain migratory ability (abstract only – paywall) (Link)
- Miller et al., 2012, Migratory Connectivity of the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus): Patterns of Spring Re-Colonization in Eastern North America (Link)
- Reppart and Roode, 2018, Demystifying monarch butterfly migration (Link)
- Urquhart and Urquhart, 1978, Autumnal migration routes of the eastern population of the monarch butterfly (Danaus p. plexippus L.; Danaidae; Lepidoptera) in North America to the overwintering site in the Neovolcanic Plateau of Mexico (abstract only – paywall) (Link)
Breeding:
- Grant et al., 2018, Predicting monarch movement and egg laying with model (abstract only – paywall) (Link)
- Pitman et al., 2018, Patterns and causes of oviposition in monarch butterflies: implications for milkweed restoration (Link)
- Zaya et al., 2017, Long-term trends in midwestern milkweed abundances and their relevance to monarch butterfly declines (Link)
- Koch et al., 2003, Susceptibility of immature monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Danainae), to predation by Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) (abstract only – paywall) (Link)
Habitat:
- Fischer et al., 2014, Enhancing monarch butterfly reproduction by mowing fields of common milkweed (Link)
- Kasten, 2016, Can roadside habitat lead monarchs to recovery? (abstract only – paywall) (Link)
- Agrawal and Inamine, 2018, Mechanisms behind monarch decline (PDF, 10 pgs) (Link)
- Bartel et al., 2011, Monarch butterfly migration and parasite transmission in eastern North America (Link)
- Faldyn et al., 2018, Climate change and an invasive tropical milkweed: an ecological trap for monarch butterflies (Link)
- Lemoine, 2015, Climate change may alter breeding ground distributions of eastern migratory monarchs
(Danaus plexippus) via range expansion of Asclepias host plants (Link) - Pleasants and Oberhauser, 2012, Milkweed loss in agricultural fields because of herbicide use: effect on the monarch butterfly population (PDF, 10 pgs) (Link)
- Wright and Wimberly, 2013, Recent land use change in the Western Corn Belt threatens grasslands and wetlands (PDF, 6 pgs) (Link)
Conservation:
- Jepsen et al., Conservation Status and Ecology of the Monarch Butterfly in the United States (PDF, 35 pgs) (Link)
- Pleasants, 2017, Milkweed restoration in the Midwest for monarch butterfly recovery: estimates of milkweeds lost, milkweeds remaining and milkweeds that must be added to increase the monarch population (abstract only – paywall) (Link)
- Ries and Oberhauser, 2015, A citizen army for science: quantifying the contributions of citizen scientists to our understanding of monarch butterfly biology (Link)
- Thogmartin et al., 2017, Restoring monarch butterfly habitat in the Midwestern US: 'all hands on deck' (PDF, 11 pgs) (Link)
- Vidal and Rendón-Salinas, 2014, Dynamics and trends of overwintering colonies of the monarch butterfly in Mexico (Link)
Conservation Plans:
- Monarch Conservation Implementation Plan 2018 – national plan by Monarch joint Venture (PDF, 31 pgs) (Link)
Books
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- Landscape Conservation Cooperative Network: Urban Monarch Conservation Guidebook (The Field Museum/Landscape Conservation Cooperative Network, 2017, 24 pgs., PDF) (Link)
- Learning from Monarchs, a Teacher's Handbook (University of Minnesota's Monarch Lab, 2010, 47 pg., ISBN-10: 0965747271, ISBN-13: 978-0965747271) (Link)
- Monarchs and Milkweed: a migrating butterfly, a poisonous plant, and their remarkable story of coevolution (Princeton University Press, 2017, 296 pg., ISBN-10: 9780691166353, ISBN-13: 978-0691166353) (Link)
- Monarchs in a changing world: biology and conservation of an iconic butterfly (Cornell University Press, 2015, 336 pg., ISBN-10: 0801453151, ISBN-13: 978-0801453151) (Link)
- Monarchs, Milkweeds and More: a field guide to the invertebrate community in the milkweed patch (Bas Relief Publishing, 2018 (2nd edition), 80 pg., ISBN-10: 0965747239, ISBN-13: 978-0965747233) (Link)
- The Monarch Butterfly: biology and conservation (Comstock Publishing Associates, 2004, 256 pg., ISBN-10: 0801441889, ISBN-13: 978-0801441882) (Link)
- University of Minnesota, Monarch Lab's store: books (Link)
Brochures/Fact Sheets
- Xerces: Farming for Pollinators (PDF, 2 pgs) (Link)
HelpFul Websites/Links
- Field Museum, Keller Science Action Center, Urban Monarch Conservation (Link)
- Jouney North (Link)
- Monarch Health and Parasites (Link)
- Monarch Lab (University of Minnesota) (Link)
- MonarchNet: The North American network of monarch butterfly monitoring programs (Link)
- Monarch Tagging (Link)
- Monarch Joint Venture (Link)
- Monarch Watch (Link)
- Pollinators.org - Are Monarchs at Risk (Link)
- USDA-Forest Service: The Monarch Butterfly in North America (Link)
- US-FWS: Assessing the status of the monarch butterfly (Link)
- West Virginia Department of Natural Resources - The Monarch Butterfly (Link)
- Xerces: Monarch Conservation (Link)
Webinars
- Monarch Joint Venture - Monarch Conservation Webinar Series (Link)
- National Fish and Wildlife Fund - 2018 webinar for applicants submitting proposals to the Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund (Link)
- US Environmental Protection Agency, FGC Webinar: Supporting Monarch Butterflies as Pollinators; A New Mapping Tool and Case Study (Link)
- US Fish & Wildlife Service - Monarch Butterfly Conservation Webinar Series (Link)
- US Fish & Wildlife Service - Monarch Butterfly Conservation Webinar Series via YouTube (Link)
- US EPA, FGC Webinar: Supporting Monarch Butterflies as Pollinators; A New Mapping Tool and Case Study (Link)
Videos
- Raising Monarchs, Encouraging Egg Laying (Rich Lund, YouTube, 10:47 minutes) (Link)
- Raising Monarchs, Part 1 - Finding Eggs (Rich Lund, YouTube, 11:51 minutes) (Link)
- Raising Monarchs, Part 2 - Hatching Eggs (Rich Lund, YouTube, 8:00 minutes) (Link)
- Raising Monarchs, Part 3 - Caring for Caterpillars (Rich Lund, YouTube, 10:40 minutes) (Link)
- Raising Monarchs, Part 4 - The Chrysalis (Rich Lund, YouTube, 12:18 minutes) (Link)
- Raising Monarchs, Part 5 - Releasing Adults (Rich Lund, YouTube 15:29 minutes ) (Link)