Monarch butterflies are in trouble. Here’s how Houstonians are helping them and how you can too.

When the air starts to get cold, Lauren Davidson, Director of the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Cockrell Butterfly Center, gets dozens of calls from worried Houstonians who want help from an expert.

“They don’t want [the monarch butterflies in their backyards] to freeze,” she told the Houston Landing. She suggests leaving them be and that “they know what they’re doing.”

The monarch butterfly —seemingly a small, delicate jewel of a creature— is definitely Texas tough. It barrels southward through Houston on its more than 2,000-mile migration, pumping its tiny, three-inch wings for what can be hundreds of miles a day on its journey to Michoacán, Mexico and back north to Canada, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At times, it has been found to fly over the Gulf of Mexico itself. 

But they have also struggled through dwindling habitat, a crippling disease, exposure to insecticides and climate change – leading to catastrophic losses in their eastern and western migratory populations.  As of December, a new proposal by USFWS aims to list the monarch as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, citing —among other findings— a 56 to 75 percent probability that Houston’s eastern migratory monarchs could go extinct by 2080. 

The final ruling on whether and how the monarch will be federally protected will take place after a public comment period both online and at two public hearings on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15.  

So far, the announcement of the proposal was received warmly by monarch fans and with concerns by others, like Texas agriculture commissioner Sid Miller, who says he’s  worried about how broad protections will impact the local agriculture industry.  

But as the state and country grapple over how best to save the butterfly’s entire migration route, local Houstonians can and are taking action on their own. 

A Houston home garden

Angela Roth, 63, is one of many Houstonians who have decided to give Mother Nature a hand. 

“For the first 15 years of my adulthood, I protected my country in the military, and now I’m protecting our environment for the rest of my life,” said the Navy veteran. “And making it pretty!”

As she walked through her Bellaire home’s garden on a foggy December morning, she had been asked about monarchs, but couldn’t help but point out every plant and insect that appeared through the mist.

“Oh, there’s a green lacewing… it’s a really beneficial insect,” she said of a tiny flying bug. “Best rose in all of Texas,” she proclaimed, beckoning anyone near to smell a flower. “A pollinator!” she exclaimed as a bee buzzed past.  She also touched every native plant she named: “salvia coccinea,” “pineapple sage,” “goldenrod,” “buttonbush,” and many more. 

And that makes sense: monarchs are the popular symbol for an interconnected native ecosystem they share, need, and support. 

“It takes 4,000 to 6,000 caterpillars to raise a clutch of chickadees,” she chirped to a Houston Landing reporter as she circled a native Shumard oak tree.

She also pointed to where the milkweed —the only plant monarch caterpillars can survive on— once stood before it stopped flowering for the winter. 

“This is not the time where you want milkweed, because [the monarchs are] not laying eggs,” she said.

She was worried about the butterflies too, but unlike many who fill Davidson’s voicemails, it’s because one of the bright orange creatures had graced her garden only the day before.

“They’re supposed to be streaming back to Mexico right now,” Roth told the Houston Landing, adding: “I’m like get home, get home.”

How can you help?

On their journey north, monarchs run through three to four generations of butterflies before reaching their destination. That means they must stop to feed and lay eggs on milkweed, said Deborah January-Bevers, the president of Houston Wilderness, which coordinated the Texas Monarch Flyway Strategy. And when flying southward —a journey taken by a single Methuselah generation— the insects need habitat and food when they rest and refuel.

Monarchs migrate in the fall and spring. Data from JourneyNorth shows that the highest number of reported sightings of monarchs was in October for the most recent migration season. Users reported seeing over 3,000 butterflies in over 500 reports across the state in 2024, as shown in the gif below.

Here are some suggestions from experts about how Houston residents can help the monarchs:

1. Create habitat
   • Plant native flowers and, most importantly, milkweed in your garden. And if you can designate an area on your balcony or backyard for pollinators, do that, said January-Bevers.

What kind of milkweed one plants is important. Native milkweed, which goes dormant in the winter, is preferred according to the USFWS. Tropical milkweed can harbor the parasite ophryocystis elektroscirrha, which infects and harms monarchs, and impact migration because of its long blooming season. 

Lists of native plants, their growing seasons and suppliers in the Houston region are available on page 16 of this Houston Wilderness guide.

2. Participate in citizen science
   • Report sightings of milkweed, caterpillars and butterflies so that scientists can learn more about habitat and patterns of migration. 

Some websites suggested by local and national organizations include Journey North, Project Monarch Health, Monarch Watch and iNaturalist.

3. Let nature run its course
   • If caterpillars or butterflies are struggling, don’t try to save them. Nature weans out the weak, so that future generations can be strong enough to migrate, said Davidson – and butterflies can be eaten by other species.

Also, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. 

“Nature’s cruel, and insects are the pillar of the food chain,” Davidson told the Landing, and the dangers monarchs face are bigger than the milkweed plant in your backyard. 

“I get a lot of calls where somebody is like, ‘I tried so hard to help these monarchs and they died’ and that’s just nature. It’s okay,” said Davidson. “You’re not gonna single-handedly save them.”

Roth, who has slowly built up her native plants in her garden, also encouraged those passionate about the winged creatures not to give up if something goes wrong. 

Many people are afraid to try planting native species because they don’t think they have the skill, she told the Landing. But she reminds people that native plants were here before humans were, “and all the little creatures … survived before we started messing with them.”

“The biggest thing I tell people is you can just wail and gnash your teeth, or you just get out there and plant something, you know,” she said. “And if you kill it, try again.”

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