Turn Off the Mower, Keep It Scrubby: Can You Delay the Urge to Tidy Up the Edges?

Moths, butterflies, chrysalides & caterpillars are still active as we head into fall.  

Monarchs are on the move and time is of the essence. Late summer and early fall monarchs emerge from their pupae, or chrysalides, and they are biologically and behaviorally different from those emerging in the summer. The Fall Equinox welcomes shorter days and cooler air which makes a difference in feed and flight patterns for many species. 

Chrysalis in Jared's home meadow. PC: Jared Parks

All caterpillars are vulnerable to predators and they rely on messy habitat for supporting their chrysalides for survival. Unmowed areas provide crucial territory for many of our migrating species including from songbirds, insects, monarchs, moths and more. Take a pause from summer grass mowing and take a look around.

Here are habitat observations from Jared Parks, our Director of Land Programs as he cruises his established meadow and native landscape in Salisbury.  

“Monarchs are preparing for their long fall flight to Mexico. The bright orange and black butterflies take multiple generations and the entire spring and early summer to return to all of North America. Each subsequent generation moves the population a little farther north. The hard work that you have done to add milkweed, goldenrod, asters, and other native plants have paid off, and, hopefully, your yard is full of monarchs in all of their life stages. Though it feels like the end to us, it is just the beginning for this last generation of monarchs, and we need to keep up our stewardship of their habitat just a little bit longer.

I have seen adult monarchs and caterpillars all summer, but I recently noticed a couple of chrysalides, so on September 9th I surveyed my back yard meadow to see how many I could find. In less than 45 minutes, I had discovered no fewer than 23! They were on tree cages, eastern red cedars, tall goldenrod, crabapples, Chickasaw plums, hazelnuts, flowering dogwoods, and even spicebush… a clear sign that the last generation hasn’t fully developed yet and a good reminder that butterflies need the correct surfaces and vegetation on which to form their chrysalides. In my yard, it appears that native shrubs provide a significant percentage of those areas.

Monarch in Jared's home meadow. PC: Jared Parks

I am glad I decided to check before I mowed. If I had mowed my meadow, I would have killed all of those aspiring butterflies before they ever had the chance to emerge and attempt the long journey south. For exactly this reason I typically mow my meadow in the later winter between late February and late March. I time my maintenance to cause the least possible disruption to the butterflies’ life cycles.”

Monarchs rely on milkweed, joe pye weed, asters, goldenrod and other valuable natives with nectar rich food to fuel and house the last pupae of the summer. Tall perennial sticks left unpruned can provide shelter along the way. Generations will stop over as they make their fall migration south, traveling as far as Mexico for their winter hang out.

Although late season Monarchs look like summer adults, they won't mate or lay eggs until the following spring. With smaller bodies they are better equipped for a strenuous flight. Routines change and individual butterflies will form a cozy cluster at night while moving further south. If they linger too long, they won't be able to make the journey; because they are cold-blooded, they are unable to fly in cold weather.

Chrysalis in Jared's home meadow. PC: Jared Parks

Fat stored in the abdomen is a critical element of their survival for the winter. This fat not only fuels their flight of one to three thousand miles, but must last until the next spring when they begin the flight back north. As they migrate southwards, monarchs stop to nectar, and they actually gain weight to aid with their journey.  Some researchers think that monarchs conserve their "fuel" in flight by gliding on air currents as they travel south. To learn more click here: Monarch Migration 

If you want to participate in our preliminary Citizen Science project please tune in. We hope to have an exciting program coming up which will help us track locations and species numbers in our area. Please fill out the survey to let us know your location and the quantity of monarchs you’ve seen this year: Monarchs on the Move Survey

Love What You Read? Show Your Support With a Gift!