Imperial County, CA 1/2/98

[Mark Walker]

Walter Sakai responded to my earlier post:

>It is interesting that there are always a few monarchs roaming around where
>they are not suppose to be.  They apparently do not read the literature and do
>not listen to the experts.  In some places like the Saline VAlley, there are
>colonies of monarch most winters of a few 100 individuals.  As long as the
>temps. are mild and there are winter nectar sources, the BF;s will make it.


Walter H. Sakai                              "MIGRATE WITH THE MONARCHS"
Professor of Biology         
Santa Monica College                     "The best way to learn it is to teach it."


Thanks for the reply, Walter.  I, too, was surprised to find the monarchs.  I know there are many thousands hanging on the trees of the central coast, but I didn't expect to see so many hanging around tress of the low desert floor.  Also interesting was how much intermingling was going on between D. plexippus and D. gilippus.  They really acted more like siblings than distant cousins.  I've run into D. gilippus many times in the low desert, often in large numbers, and I've seen the two species coexist before as well, but I've never seen them congregate in numbers together in the same location.  It was very cool.

Mark Walker
Castleton, VT.
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