Monarch Butterflies arrived at Rockhurst High School!

The cycle of the monarch is that they spend the winter as either a pupa or caterpillar, emerging in the spring in the US. They mate in the summer and then lay their eggs on milkweed plants while moving towards their migration path. Monarchs in the Midwest and Eastern portion of the country migrate to Mexico, where they live on the oyamel fir trees. Monarchs on the West Coast migrate to California.

We are hoping that the monarchs we have lay eggs on our milkweed. These will hatch into caterpillars in several weeks; our Biology classes will inspect the milkweed searching for caterpillars.

Now that we know we can attract monarchs, we are going to up the ante and get our garden certified through KU’s Monarch Way Station. We need to add a few types of plants first to continue to attract monarchs. Rich Wikiera is going to remain as a moderator of the Conservation Club and I will work with him on this when he returns from Poland.

Very excited!!!!!