The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) maintains an oasis of native plants and pollinator gardens along the Hackensack River. One important pollinator plant is milkweed, which plays a crucial role in monarch butterfly reproduction and growth before their great migration to Mexico. The number of Monarch butterflies that arrive in Mexico each year has been declining.
Gaby Bennette-Meany, a naturalist with the NJSEA, leads a Monarch rearing program that helps monarchs complete their migration late in the season. In early fall, eggs and larvae remaining in Milkweed plants in the pollinator gardens, which are vulnerable to predators, are collected and moved inside into specialized enclosures. From here, the eggs and larvae complete their metamorphosis into pupae and adults. Staff release healthy adults through October to join the migration. We have released close to two hundred healthy adults this year. Next year, released adults will wear a small sticker on their wings so we can count them when they arrive in Mexico. They return in the spring to reproduce in the meadows, pollinator gardens, and prepare again for a new migration.
