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The research topics
that you address with monarchs is limitless! In this section, we have
detailed lesson plans for addressing some questions, and a long list
of other possibilities.
Lesson
Plans on Monarch ResearchFor
Primary Teachers (Grades K-2)
For Intermediate
Teachers (Grades 3-6)
For Middle School
or High School Teachers
Additional
Research Topics
Adult condition and behavior, female oviposition behavior:
- Do females
prefer to lay eggs on certain milkweed species?
- Is plant
age, size, and condition important to female host plant choice?
- How does
the presence of monarch larvae or other insects on milkweed plants
affect female host plant preferences?
- Does plant
density or diversity affect the probability of females ovipositing
at a particular site?
- How far do
females fly between oviposition events?
- Do temperature
or weather affect how many eggs a female can lay?
- Does female
age at the time of oviposition affect the survival or reproductive
success
- of her offspring?
adult movement
and behavior:
- How far do
adults travel each day during the summer?
- Are male
and female movement patterns the same?
- How much
time to monarchs spend foraging, and do they prefer certain types
of flowers?
- Do adults
prefer some kinds of flowers to others as nectar sources?
comparison of
adults at different seasons
- Do the vanishing
bearings of monarchs captured at different times of year and different
locations vary?
- Does adult
size, condition, disease status, or sex ratio vary with seasons?
- How does
adult behavior vary with seasons?
Larval survival
and behavior
larval survival:
- At what stage
are larvae most susceptible to natural enemies?
- Does larval
survival vary with time of year or geographic location?
- How does
the survival of different larval instars vary between the lab
and the field?
- How common
is parasitism by tachinid flies, and what stages are larvae attacked?
- Does proximity
to ant colonies or the presence of aphids affect larval mortality?
- Does larval
density or host plant species affect larval survival?
- How susceptible
are monarch pupae to natural enemies?
larval behavior:
- How often
and how far do larvae move at different stages?
- Do larvae
prefer different types of milkweed?
- How much
time do larvae spend eating, resting, moving, hiding, etc.?
- What fraction
of larvae sever mid-veins on milkweed leaves, and does this affect
their survival or feeding behavior?
- Do larvae
eat at night?
- What are
the characteristics of sites larvae choose for pupation?
- How does
temperature affect larval feeding patterns?
- How does
the amount of light affect larval behavior?
- How do larvae
react to loud noises?
Development
and physiology
- How much
weight to monarchs gain from one instar to the next?
- Does larval
size affect the mass, wingspan, and reproductive success of adults?
- How does
temperature affect the development time and size of monarchs?
- Do monarchs
grow at different rates when feeding on different milkweed species?
- Does larval
host plant affect final adult size?
- In what kinds
of locations do larvae pupate?
Milkweed biology
and pollination by monarchs
- Do the kinds
or numbers of herbivores on milkweed plants vary over the season?
- Do different
milkweed species vary in the kinds or numbers of herbivores present?
- How does
milkweed flowering time vary within a given area?
- Are milkweed
plants that produce flowers different than plants that don’t
produce flowers (larger/smaller/older/in denser stands/in less
dense stands, etc.)?
- What types
of insects most commonly pollinate milkweed plants?
- Does plant
size, nectar production, and flower size or number affect milkweed
pollination success, or number of visits by pollinators?
- Are milkweed
plants pollen-limited?
- Are monarchs
important pollinators for milkweeds or other species?
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