The Monarch Monitoring Project is a long-term study on monarch migration through Cape May, NJ. It is a part of the New Jersey Audubon Research Department, and closely affiliated with the Cape May Bird Observatory.

Monarch Links

Here is a list Monarch Resources.  We will continue to add more resources so check back periodically!


List of Monarch Resources

Tagging and Conservation Projects

The Chincoteague Monarch Monitoring Project: Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Assateague, Virginia.
This monitoring project serves the Mid-Atlantic Region.

Journey North: Monarch Butterfly

Monarch Butterflies: University of Minnesota

Monarch Monitoring Project: Cape May Point, New Jersey

Monarch Program (San Diego)

Monarch Watch

Monarchs and Migration from the Science Museum of Minnesota

Texas Monarch Project

Texas Monarch Watch
 

A Sampling of Magazines, Newspapers and Quick Facts

National Wildlife Federation








National Geographic








NY Times


Backpacker Magazine


Representative Books
Biology and conservation of the monarch butterfly. Edited by Stephen B. Malcolm and Myron P. Zalucki. Los Angeles, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County,             1993. 419 p. (Its Science series, no. 38)  QL561.D3B56 1993
Grace, Eric S. The world of the monarch butterfly. San Francisco, Sierra Club Books, c1997. 114 p.  QL561.D3G73 1997
Halpern, Sue. Four wings and a prayer: caught in the mystery of the monarch butterflies. New York, Pantheon Books, c2001. 212 p. QL561.D3H35 2001
Monarch butterfly biology & conservation. Edited by Karen S. Oberhauser and Michelle J. Solensky. Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 2004. 248 p.                QL561.D3M66 2004
Pyle, Robert Michael. Chasing monarchs: migrating with the butterflies of passage. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1999. 307 p.              QL561.D3P95 1999
Schappert, Phillip Joseph. The last monarch butterfly: conserving the monarch butterfly in a brave new world. Buffalo, NY, Firefly Books, c2004. 113 p. QL561.D3S23 2004
Urquhart, Fred A. The monarch butterfly. Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1960. 361p.               QL561.N9U7
Urquhart, Fred A. The monarch butterfly: international traveler. Ellison Bay, WI, Wm Caxton, c1998. 232 p.                QL561.D3U78 1998

Butterfly Books for Kids!
Frost, Helen, and Leonid Gore. Monarch and milkweed. New York, Athenum Books for Young Readers, c2008. 1 v. (unpaged).  QL561.D3F75 2008
Harvey, Diane Kelsay, and Bob Harvery. Melody’s mystery = El misterio de Melodía. Wilsonville, OR, Beautiful America Pub. Co., c1991. 1 v. (unpaged).  QL561.D3H37 1991
Herberman, Ethan. The great butterfly hunt: the mystery of the migrating monarchs. New York, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, c1990. 48 p. QL561.D3H47 1990
Lasky, Kathryn. Monarchs. San Diego, Harcourt Brace & Co., c1993. 63 p.
 QL561.D3L36 1993
Pringle, Laurence P. An extraordinary life: the story of a monarch butterfly. New York, Orchard Books, c1997. 64 p.               QL561.D3P75 1997
Rosenblatt, Lynn. Monarch magic! Butterfly activities & nature discoveries. Charlotte, VT, Williamson Pub., c1998. 96 p.                QL561.D3R668 1998


Representative Journal Articles

Alonso-Mejia, A., Brower, L.P. 1994. From model to mimic: age-dependent unpalatability in monarch butterflies. Experientia 50: 176-181.
Alonso-Mejia, A., Montesinos-Patino, E., Rendon-Salinas, E., Brower, L.P., Oyama, K. 1998.             Influence of forest canopy closure on rates of bird predation on overwintering monarch butterflies Danaus plexippus L. Biological Conservation             85: 151-159.
Altizer, S.M., K.S. Oberhauser, and K.A. Geurts. "“Transmission of the protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha in monarch butterfly populations: Implications for prevalence and population-level impacts." In The Monarch Butterfly: Biology and Conservation, by K.S. Oberhauser and M.J. Solensky, 203-218. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004.
Anderson, J.B., Brower, L.P. 1996. Freeze-protection of overwintering monarch butterflies in             Mexico: critical role of the forest as a blanket and an umbrella. Ecological Entomology 21: 107-116.
Anderson, P.L., R.L. Hellmich, M.K. Sears, D.V. Sumerford, and L.C. Lewis. "Effects of cry1Ab-expressing corn anthers on monarch butterfly larvae ." Envrionmental Entomology, no. 33 (2004): 1109-1115.
Bradley, KA, and SM Altizer. "Parasites hinder monarch butterfly flight: implications for disease spread in migratory hosts." Ecology Letters, no. 8 (2005): 290-300.
Brower, L.P., Calvert, W.H. 1985. Foraging dynamics of bird predators on overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico. Evolution 39: 852-868.
Brower, L.P. "Chemical defence in butterflies." In The Biology of Butterflies, by R.I. Vane-Wright and P.R. Ackery, 109-134. London: Academic Press, 1984.
Brower, L.P., Horner, B.E., Marty, M.A., Motfitt, C.M., Villa-R, B. 1985. Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus, P. spicilegus, and Microtus mecicanus) as predators of overwintering monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in Mexico. Biotropica 17: 89-99.
Brower, L.P.et al. "On the dangers of interpopulational transfers of monarch butterflies." Bioscience 45, no. 8 (1995): 540-544.
Brower, L.P. 1995. Understanding and misunderstanding the migration of the monarch butterfly (Nymphalidae) in North America: 1857-1995. Journal of Lepidopterist’s Society 49: 304-385.
Calvert, W.H. 1994. Behavioral response of monarch butterflies (Nymphalidae) to disturbances             in their habitat – a group startle response? Journal of the Lepidopterists Society 48: 157-165.
Calvert, W.H., Brower, L.P. 1986. The location of monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) overwintering colonies in Mexico in relation to topography and climate. Journal of Lepidopterist’s Society 40: 164-187.
Commission for Environmental Cooperation. North American Monarch Conservation Plan. Montreal: Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 2008.
Desneux, Nicolas, Axel Decourtye, and Jean-Marie Delpuech. "The Sublethal Effects of Pesticides on Beneficial Arthropods." Annual Review of Entemology 52 (2006): 81-106.
Edgar, J.A., Cockrum, P.A., Frahn, J.L. 1976. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Danaus plexippus and Danaus chrysippus. Experientia 32: 1535-1537.
Fink, L.S., Brower, L.P. 1981. Birds can overcome the cardenolide defense of monarch butterflies in Mexico. Nature 291: 67-70.
Hanna, Bill. "Monarch Butterflies Suffer Population Loss." The Los Angeles Times, March 10, 2010.
Hilbig, B., V. Pocius, J. Marchese, N.M. Waters, and J. Drummond. "Effects of endocrine disrupting contaminants on the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. ." The Proceedings of the National Conference for Undergraduate Research. 2010.
Kelley, R.B., Seiber, J.N., Jones, A.D., Segall, A.D., Brower, L.P. 1987. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in overwintering monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) from Mexico. Experientia 43: 943-946.
Malcolm, S.B., Brower, L.P. 1989. Evolutionary and ecological implications of cardenolide             sequestration in the monarch butterfly. Experientia 45: 284-295.
Malcolm, S.B., R.A. Martin, S.P. Lynch, L.P. Brower, and T. Van Hook. "Cardenolide content, emetic potency, and thin-layer chromatography profiles of monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus, and thier larvalhost-plant milkweed, Asclepias humistrata, in FLorida." Chemoecology 3 (1992): 1-13.
Malcom, S.B. "Milkweeds, monarch butterflies, and the ecological significance of cardenolides." Chemoecology, no. 5 (1994): 101-117.
Oberhauser, K.S., and D. Frey. "Coercive mating by overwintering male Monarch butterflies." In The 1997 North American conference on the Monarch butterfly, by J., Merino, L., Oberhauser, K., Pisantry,I., Price, S. & Wilkinson, T. Hoth. Montreal: Commission forEnvironmental Cooperation, 1997.
Tuskes, P.M., Brower, L.P. 1978. Overwintering ecology of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus L., in California. Ecological Entomology 3: 141-153.
Urquhart, F.A., Urquhart, N.R. 1976. The overwintering site of the eastern population of the monarch butterfly (Danaus P. plexippus; Danaidae) in southern Mexico. Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society. 30: 153-158.
Yeargan, Kenneth V., and Cora M. Allard. "Comparison of Common Milkweed and Honeyvine Milkweed (Asclepiadaceae) as Host Plants for Monarch Larvae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)." Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 78, no. 3 (2005): 247-251.
Zalucki, M.P. "The effects of age and weather on egg laying in Danaus plexippus(L.) (Lepidoptera: Danaidae." no. 23 (1982): 318-327.