Mission
Our mission is to work with Illinois garden clubs, schools, businesses and other organizations to educate the public of the monarch’s usefulness and plight.
Vision
Striving to increase the local monarch population, one milkweed seed at a time.
Established January 2015, as a community outreach organization, by Peoria Garden Club.
Did You Know?
- Monarchs typically live 2-6 weeks, but the monarchs that migrate can live up to 8 months!
- Depending on the weather, monarchs arrive in Central Illinois in May.
- Monarchs have lookalikes! This is called mimicry. The viceroy is a great example of this!
- Female monarchs lay hundreds of eggs.
- A clutter of butterflies is called a roost.
The task force educates about the monarch butterfly life cycle, the great migration to Mexico, and ways to help the monarch population—such as limiting chemical exposure and what to plant for monarch habitats, especially milkweed!
CIMBTF helps others establish monarch habitats in many locations, with the Marshall County Airport and Donovan Park being the two biggest projects to date. The task force also has a goal each year to put in new Monarch Waystations, which are registered monarch habitats. Some of these installations took place at Wildlife Prairie Park, Donovan Park, Hoerr Nursery, Luthy Botanical Garden, Forest Park Nature Center, and the savannah at Springdale Cemetery.
The task force strives to be involved in important community events such as the Sun Foundation’s Clean Water Celebration and Art and Science in the Woods, Forest Park Nature Center’s Earth Day, ICC Days, Washington’s Greenhouse Community Days, and Peoria Riverfront Museum’s Pollinator Day.
When giving presentations to schools, the task force gives a teacher kit loaded with teaching materials, eggs, larva, migration tags, and supplies to successfully raise monarch butterflies. The task force has reached over 40 classrooms and continues to broaden its footprint on the surrounding areas.
Tagging monarchs for Mexico is another important duty for conservation. Last year the group tagged over 1,000 monarchs for Mexico, and there have been tag recoveries in Mexico from some of the members throughout the years!
How to Help
The task force meets every fourth Tuesday of the month between January and October. Currently, meetings are on Zoom, but you can find the latest updates on the Facebook group page. New members are heartily welcomed! Please message the group on Facebook or reach out through the contact section on the website for more information or questions.
Central Illinois Monarch Butterfly Task Force
centralillinoismonarchbutterflytaskforce.com
Facebook: @Central-Illinois-Monarch-Butterfly-Task-Force-527868667412964
