Do Monarchs need Mexican forests?

[Paul Cherubini]

The leps-l server cut off the following from my last post 
so I am trying again:

Well, ALL Texas monarch authorities agree there are alot more
monarchs in Texas and neighboring states this spring compared
to last year. (And to my knowledge not a single monarch
authority has put out a press release announcing this fantastically
good news).

Here are just two examples:

Jim Edson, Professor, Univ. of Arkansas at Monticello
Date:   Wed, 17 Apr 2002 16:13:20 -0500
Reply-to:       dplex-l at raven.cc.ku.edu
From: "Jim Edson" <edson at uamont.edu> 
To:  "Monarch Watch" <dplex-l at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject:  Monarchs in Southeast Arkansas

"I spotted my first monarch (sex unknown) in southeast Arkansas on
March 23rd. On the 27th I caught a female and brought her into the lab
where over the next couple of weeks she laid 250+ eggs. Each day since
then I have been seeing anywhere from 1 to 5 monarchs a day.
Until April 13th, all I was seeing were faded and a little tattered.
Then on the 13th I caught a bright male, a little tattered, but
fresher looking. Since then the number of faded monarchs have declined,
and the brighter ones have increased in frequency. This is a quite a
change from last year when I only had one sighting the whole spring."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Durden,  Austin, TX"

"The last 11 days have seen more monarchs passing through
Austin TX than I have ever seen before in spring (34 springs)."

Paul Cherubini
Placerville, Calif.

 
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