Monarch butterfly populations have declined dramatically from habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change, raising questions about insect welfare at population and individual scales.
Monarch welfare considerations span both population conservation concerns and questions about individual insect welfare that are philosophically contested. The population decline is ecologically significant and represents loss of a charismatic species with cultural importance. Individual monarchs captured or harmed by pesticides likely experience some form of stress response given nociceptive evidence in other insects. Habitat restoration programs planting milkweed and native flowering plants provide the most direct positive welfare intervention for both monarch populations and other pollinating insects sharing their habitat.