Nationally endangered monarch butterfly winters in Winnipeg and lays an egg

The monarch butterfly typically makes a 3,000-kilometre journey from Winnipeg to Mexico during our cold winters, but one butterfly stayed in Canada and even laid an egg before it died late Tuesday evening.

Dorothy Dilay took the butterfly in after lastOctober's early winter storm created colder than normal temperatures, which would have prevented the insectfrom being able to fly.

"This is like a miracle butterfly. I have named her after my granddaughter, I call her Little Lena," Dilay told CBC News early Tuesday afternoon just hours before the butterfly died.

The monarch initially formed its chrysalis a cocoon-like stage in the safety of her garage, but cold weather prevented the butterfly from emerging for 49 days. This process typically only takes about 10 days.

Rather than expose the insect to abnormally cold temperatures, Dilay brought it indoors, where it transformed into a butterfly and was then nursed to health.

Watch Dorothy Dilay and her granddaughter feeding the butterfly:

Rescued monarch butterfly survives Winnipeg winter

5 years ago

Duration 1:03

Dorothy Dilay feeds 'Lena', a monarch butterfly she rescued after an early snow storm hit Winnipeg in the fall.

Three months later, the butterfly was still alive and a small egg the size of a pin headwas discovered on its belly.

The egg was believed to be unfertilized because no males were present, but for Dilay it still representedthe intrinsic desire for this species which is classified as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada to survive.

"She [the butterfly] is wanting to produce another generation, but what the researchers would say is that [the] next generation would be weakened because it's not been exposed to outdoor nature."

Research has shown the need for monarch butterflies to be raised outside, exposed to the elements and natural light.

That's why Dilay's conservation work with monarchs is primarily done outside, except for this unique life or death circumstance.

Over a decade of monarch education

For the last 12 years Dilay has been helping to educate the public and to restore dwindling prairie habitat through the Monarch Teacher Network of Canada.

As a monarch educator, she also creates safe netted areas that allow the insects to feed on nectar and lay eggs on native milkweed plants, the main habitat for egg-laying.

According to Dilay, the wild survival rate of the monarch is only about four per cent, due to predators and loss of habitat of the milkweed plant.

"My initial reaction is that it is quite amazing," said Charmaine Lyons, in reaction to Dilay's rescued monarch.

Lyons is another citizen scientist and a member of the Monarch Teacher Network of Canada. She helped raise almost 200 butterflies last summer.

Lyons describes the loss of the migratory monarchs as the canary in the coal mine for other species. It's a decline she believes is due in part to pesticide usage and habitat loss.

She also believes conservation efforts need to be focused in the wild so that monarchs can maintain their strength to make the migration south to Mexico.

A special gift

"The monarch butterfly is special to a lot of people. People do feel they carry on the souls of those other people who have passed on before us," said Dilay.

"They are just very special."

The monarch was not expected to last throughout the winter, but for Dilay it was a special gift thatwill keep her working for the protection of the species at risk.