If you can remember through the last 20 or so years, monarch butterflies haven’t been doing too well. Since at least the ’80s, monarch populations have been in decline, and we’ve been worried about the eventual downfall of our favorite migrating butterflies. In the last few years, however, there have been millions of monarch butterflies headed straight for Kansas, more than we’ve seen in a long time. There are definitely millions of monarch butterflies in Kansas, and we can’t wait to see them as the weather begins to get warmer. Are you excited, too? Read on to find out more about these lovely creatures.

Have you heard about the stunning monarch butterfly and its journey before? This butterfly isn't only a pretty picture, it's also a long-distance traveling species, with a road map installed into its very DNA.

Kansas could get millions coming through, as the 300 million estimated butterfly population in Mexico makes its way north.

Every year, generations of monarch butterflies migrate from Mexico to as far north as Canada, stopping through many of our states on the way, Kansas being one of them.

Their migration path takes them straight through Kansas, with plenty of wildflowers. If you flock to spots with wildflowers between March and May, you should see plenty of these beauties.

Once they land in Kansas, they'll be on the hunt for flowers of all kinds, including their favorite plant, milkweed. Milkweed is essential to the health of the migration group, and it's where they prefer to lay their eggs and feast as caterpillars.

Once they've eaten their fill, they turn into butterflies and start moving north, mating along the way. We feel blessed to be one of their stopping points along the way.

When we see them in the states, many areas have locations where butterflies are delicately plucked off of the trees, tagged in a special spot with a very small sticker that doesn't affect their flight at all.

That way when they land, their stickers can be recorded at certain areas to judge the size of the migration and how far single butterflies have flown since they were stickered.

Make sure to take plenty of photos of monarch butterflies in Kansas.

For more gorgeous views, visit local parks and gardens to see as many of these beauties as possible before they move farther north.

If you'd like to help out monarchs this year or for years to come, plant common or butterfly milkweed plants in your garden each spring and keep from treating them with any insecticides. We want the butterflies to eat the plants, after all!

Are you interested in starting your own butterfly garden? If so, here are some of the gardening supplies that will get you started. Also, if you're interested in learning more about insects like these butterflies, why not visit this special Insect Zoo right in Kansas?

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/kansas/ks-unexpected-zoo-hiding/

Do you have any special places where you know monarch butterflies in Kansas will be? Share with us in the comments section!