Survey Protocols
Data Steward Sites For Monarch Habitat Monitoring
We highly recommend you watch the videos (link) that walk you through the Survey123 app. If you still have questions after watching that, this will be a good place to return.
Remember that you can sign up for monarch habitat assessment site(s) on our website by viewing the information on each site (link to excel sheet) and checking out our map (link). However, you are also welcome to establish a habitat assessment site of your own! Be on the lookout for a patch of milkweed, or return to that patch of milkweed you know of from a trip you took, or maybe on a friend’s property, farm or ranch. Be sure to add a site description on the spreadsheet, including your site’s unique name. Then follow the same protocol for habitat assessment sites.
Please remember that we are asking for for you to walk a 100 pace transect at the site of your choosing for each visit. The direction you take for the transect is up to you, but if you do see milkweed plants, head in that direction! Take a photo of the transect (with a small bit of horizon in the photo) BEFORE you walk in the direction you have decided.
With long, even strides, walk 100 paces slowly and take note of the vegetation 5 feet to your left and 5 feet to your right.
Count the number of milkweed stems - it is ok to estimate if there are many milkweed plants!
As you walk this direction, take photos of the 3 most abundant flowering plant species within your transect.
When you have reached 10 paces, stop, turn around (180 degrees) and take a photo of the path you just walked.
LOOKING FOR SIGNS OF MONARCH
Now, we ask that you walk back through your transect and look carefully at the milkweed plants - on the top and bottom of the leaves, on stems - anywhere a monarch egg or caterpillar could be hiding!
Take good photos of any monarch eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises or butterflies you find on the plants or in your transect.
When you are back at your starting point, upload your photos of plants and monarchs with counts to the habitat assessment form in Survey123 - ensure your GPS location is correct!
Keep in mind that you are most likely to encounter showy milkweed—the most common species in Utah, which is often used by monarchs—but monarchs also use other milkweed species (antelope horn milkweed, swamp milkweed, and others).
Monarchs may be especially limited by their available options for nectar resources, which are needed to power their energy needs for flight, mating, and especially migration for the long-lived ‘super generation’ that heads thousands of miles back to overwintering grounds. This is why we are asking you for this information about your site. This can help us prioritize conservation efforts in the state.
FIRST VISIT TO YOUR HABITAT ASSESSMENT SITE
Milkweed Information
Your first visit to a milkweed patch may likely be the most challenging, as you look for one that meets the above criteria. Early in the growing season, plants will be smaller, so characterize them as well as you can, and take notes on the nearby flowering plants by following the questions on Survey123. One tip for confirming milkweed patches in the early season is to find last year’s seed pods. See photo (right) of last year's seed pods on showy milkweed.
Common flowering resources in monarch habitat.
Floral Resources Information
Providing information on flowering plants to Survey123 should be fairly simple. Do keep in mind that the floral resources can be as far away as ¼ mile from your milkweed patch, but we recommend trying to get the most common flowers closest to your transect. If there are fewer than three flowering species at your site, simply log the ones you find. If you have more than three species, try to capture the most common. You may be pleasantly surprised by how much your site will change over the season!
SUBSEQUENT VISITS TO YOUR HABITAT ASSESSMENT SITE
When you return to your site and the surrounding area, expect to spend some time searching for monarch activity such as: deposited eggs, caterpillars on or near milkweed plants, chrysalis, and/or flying monarchs. To get an idea of when you might see monarch activity in the area of your site, follow the monarch migration on the website Journey North (Link). In general, monarchs will show up in early June in northern Utah, and perhaps as early as early May in southern Utah.
We ask that you spend 30 minutes per 100 stems of milkweed looking for eggs and/or caterpillars so we have a standardized level of effort. Please indicate your search time in survey notes.
Tips on Finding Monarch Eggs
Generally, a female will lay one egg per milkweed plant and on the underside of a leaf, especially if it is a relatively large milkweed patch. However, be sure to look for eggs on the very young and small (sometimes only 1” high!) milkweed plants at the edge of a patch. We recommend bringing a magnifier loupe to be able to verify it is a monarch egg. Many milkweeds get punctured or injured and create ‘milkweed pearls’ that can look like a monarch egg. The ridges on the egg are the best indicator.
Look for a very small pin-sized, cream-colored and ridged egg.
Tips on Finding Caterpillars
When a caterpillar hatches from the egg, you can imagine how small it must be! Its first meal is the egg casing.
Initially, the caterpillars eat only the surface of the milkweed. If you see signs like this, there may be newly hatched caterpillars nearby.
In the span of 2 weeks, the caterpillars grow through 5 instars to ultimately become a couple inches long.
When looking for caterpillars in the heat of the day, be sure to look at the base of milkweed plants as they tend to crawl down there to escape the heat!
Bumble Bee Observations
We are asking for any photos of bumble bees you encounter in your travels. Each individual bee you observe should count as a single sighting, as various bumble bee species are often found foraging together on the same flower resources.
If you have previously taken photos of bumble bees, you can submit those as opportunistic sightings on Survey123—just be sure to enter the correct geolocation and date information.
With uncooperative bees that won’t hold still for a photo, it can be helpful to instead take a video and later take a screenshot that you can submit for your survey observation.
Ideal photos of bumble bees are from the top and from the side—it is valuable to see the coloration patterns of the bees’ back and abdomen to attempt species identification. Multiple photos of the same bees from different angles are especially helpful.
If you have any questions, please contact Mindy Wheeler (mindywheeler@utah.gov, 385-235-1062), Amanda Barth (abarth@utah.gov), or Mary Pendergast (mary@wildutahproject.org).