LEHI, Utah — Butterfly enthusiasts are patiently waiting for Monarch butterflies to arrive in Utah after their migration was delayed due to cold and wet winter conditions.
“The adult butterflies need nectar sources,” explained Tyler Wilson, a research scientist at Young Living Essential Oils “Those caterpillars need the milkweed. It has taken a lot of plants a bit longer to germinate, including milkweed, so the migration does appear to be a bit slower.”
Wilson gave FOX 13 News a tour of Young Living’s Monarch butterfly waystation located in Lehi. The company also has a larger facility in Mona that will help butterflies on their journeys.
The outdoor garden is home to milkweed and other plants essential for Monarch butterflies to thrive.
“The waystation acts as a resting place for Monarch butterflies to lay their eggs and the caterpillars to change into butterflies,” said Emma Ziebarth, a research scientist. “It's miraculous they can find us.”
Thanks to the wonders of nature, the butterflies find the waystation as they travel from California, through Nevada and Arizona, before making their stop in northern Utah.
Last year, Ziebarth watched as several caterpillars made the transition into butterflies at the Young Living waystation.
It’s a process that happens quickly.
“Once the egg is actually laid to it hatching and there being a caterpillar to chrysalis – we are talking weeks,” Wilson said.
The Young Living scientists have spent weeks preparing for the arrival of the butterflies.
“There is nothing much I have to do,” Ziebarth said. “The milkweed is planted. It’s starting to come up. Nature kind of takes its course.”
The goal of this work is to help the Monarch butterfly population grow.
According to the “Western Monarch Count,” the Monarch population has fluctuated over the last quarter century.
In 1997, more than 1.2 million Monarchs were counted.
By 2018, that number dwindled to less than 27,000. In 2022, the population grew to 335,000.
Wilson believes harm done to the environment by humans plays a major role in the health of the butterfly population.
“They definitely are at risk largely because of the way that we live,” he said. “A lot of the herbicides and pesticides we use, and we are also destroying their habitat.”
That's why Wilson and Ziebarth are both passionate about this waystation. It brings back the plant life butterflies desperately need, helping these beautiful creatures and pollinators flourish in the skies above Utah.
“I just don't want to see them go away,” Wilson said. “I’d like to see my kids enjoy those pollinators just as much as I did.”
Individuals concerned about Monarch butterflies can help by planting milkweed in their own yards.
