The Monarchs have recovered from last winter's big freeze in Mexico

[Royce J. Bitzer]

The Monarch population around Ames, Iowa has been pretty thin this year, 
although there has been an increase in numbers in August in the weeks 
preceding the expected departure date (August 31).  Yet even the 
pre-migration buildup has been relatively small this year.  As far as 
roosting Monarchs are concerned, in previous years I would have been seeing 
dozens to hundreds in several important roosting tree groups on the Iowa 
State University campus on a typical evening.  Last night I saw a grand 
total of two.

Also, Paul Cherubini's photos d) and e) strongly suggest that the Monarch 
populations this year aren't what they usually are.  Each shows only a 
single butterfly in a view replete with nectar plants.  In most years, 
scenes such as these in late August would show on the order of 10 to 20 
butterflies nectaring within range of the camera.  The photos of clusters 
might be more convincing, except the photographer did not indicate whether 
these small groups were the only ones found within a large area, or whether 
there were substantial numbers of other such groups relatively nearby.

Royce J. Bitzer
mariposa at iastate.edu



At 11:05 AM 8/30/04, Robert Dana wrote:
>There's an old saying "a few swallows do not a summer make". I have no
>reason to doubt that the North American monarch population will rebound,
>but it seems a bit premature to proclaim this has happened on the basis
>of the small numbers in the posted photos (by the way, Gaylord, MN, was
>the town in which a large number of aggregated monarchs were killed by
>spraying for mosquitoes, was it last year?). From what I have seen
>myself, and from what I have been hearing from others around this
>region, monarch production was exceptionally low this summer. If this
>turns out to be correct, it is most likely the result of unusual weather
>(much cooler than normal). I have noticed many other insects seem to be
>much scarcer than usual. I don't know how widespread this apparent
>phenomenon is.
>
>What have others been seeing?
>
>Robert
>
>*************************************************************
>Robert Dana, Ph.D.
>MN DNR
>Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program
>500 Lafayette Rd, Box 25
>St. Paul, MN 55155
>651 297-2367
>Email: robert.dana at dnr.state.mn.us
>*************************************************************
>
> >>> Paul Cherubini <monarch at saber.net> 8/27/04 3:00:44 AM >>>
>In the past, the monarchs have always quickly recovered from big
>winter kills and this past summer has been no exception.  Here are
>some picturesI took during a recent trip to the upper Midwest (in
>the heart of YieldGard Bt corn and Roundup Ready Corn &
>Soybean Country):
>
>http://www.saber.net/~monarch/2004a.jpg
>
>http://www.saber.net/~monarch/2004b.jpg
>
>http://www.saber.net/~monarch/2004c.jpg
>
>http://www.saber.net/~monarch/2004d.jpg
>
>http://www.saber.net/~monarch/2005e.jpg
>
>http://www.saber.net/~monarch/2004f.jpg
>
>http://www.saber.net/~monarch/2004g.jpg
>
>So the size of the monarch migration headed to Mexico this coming
>fall should be pretty close to normal.
>
>Paul Cherubini
>El Dorado, Calif.
>
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>    For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:
>
>    http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl
>
>
>
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>    For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:
>
>    http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl
>


 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl