Monarch Migration Update: October 20, 1999 Today's Report Includes: Watching and Waiting in the Mountains of Michoacan They're Getting Closer... How Many More Miles? Challenge Question #16 Volunteers Needed Now for Spring Study: "Milkweed & Monarch Migration" Get Ready to Report Your LAST Monarch of the Season This Week's Migration Data Watching and Waiting in the Mountains of Michoacan Students in the Mexican sanctuary region are carefully watching the skies, and are ready to report the arrival of the first monarchs. They know the butterflies are now traveling through northern Mexican and will soon appear. They also know that thousands of students in the U.S. and Canada are waiting to hear from them! Angangueo student Luis Fernando Romero reported on Monday: "Las mariposas aun no han llegado a Angangueo, pero espero no tarden por que aqui se dice que llegan entre al 2 y el 15 de noviembre. Saludos amigos." Luis Fernando Romero 18 de octubre, Angangueo, Michoacan (19.62 N, -100.30 W) Try the online translator on Alta Vista by "SYSTRAN" if you don't speak Spanish. They're Getting Closer... According to this week's report from Rocio Trevino of the Correo Real Program, the leading edge of the migration is quickly approaching the sanctuaries. Here is her report: "Eligio Garcia me reporta que en su viaje de regreso de Saltillo, Coahuila a Michoacan por la carretera 57, observo mariposas Monarcas hasta 80 kilometros antes de la ciudad de San Luis Potosi (cerca 22.75, -101.00, en el estado de San Luis Potosi). "Me siguen llegando reportes del paso de las mariposas de todo Coahuila y del area metropolitana de Monterrey (en el estado de Nuevo Leon). "Hoy en la manana sali a pasear con un grupo de alumnos de primaria y observamos alrededor de 5000 mariposas dormidas en los arboles de la Alameda Zaragoza (es un parque en el centro de la ciudad de Saltillo, 25.42 -101.00) capture algunas para que las vieran de cerca y distinguieran el sexo. El clima a la hora de observacion (11 AM) era: Temperatura 8 grados centigrados, cielo completamente nublado, sin viento. Para las dos de la tarde, aunque seguia muy nublado, empezaron a verse volando por toda la ciudad, pero sin rumbo al sur. "Recibi varios mensajes de miembros del Correo Real preocupados por las fumigaciones de pesticidas para combatir al mosquito transmisor del dengue (Aedes egypti), tenemos un brote de esta enfermedad en Coahuila y Nuevo Leon, que ya causo varias muertes y las autoridades sanitarias estan combatiendo al mosquito, nos preocupa la gente y tambien las mariposas. "Lei que en algunos lugares de Estados Unidos tienen el mismo problema con la encefalitis. Tenemos que encontrar solucion para evitar la proliferacion de estos mosquitos y evitar las fumigaciones y las enfermedades.Tambien nos preocupa la mortandad de mariposas en las carreteras, aunque en Coahuila y Nuevo Leon ya se trabaja para evitar esta mortandad, tenemos otros lugares de la ruta migratoria en donde falta mucha informacion al publico. "Seguira enviando los reportes de avistamientos de los miembros del Correo Real. Saludos amigos de Journey North" Rocio Trevino, Correo Real Challenge Question #16 "According to Senora Trevino's report from Eligio Garcia, how many miles from the sanctuary have the monarchs now been reported?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Volunteers Needed Now for Spring Study: "Milkweed & Monarch Migration" Monarch biologist Dr. Lincoln Brower has asked Journey North to coordinate a study next spring in order to document the timing of emergent milkweed shoots and the northward monarch migration from Mexico. We hope you will participate because the results of this study may have important implications. Dr. Brower explains: "My observations in Mexico and in the southeastern U.S. over the past few years suggest that monarchs may be leaving their overwintering sites in Mexico earlier than normal. The reason for this, I believe, is that the thinned forests are resulting in drier, warmer air blowing through the overwintering sanctuaries, activating the spring migration prematurely. "If this is true, then monarchs may arrive in northern regions before the danger of frost has passed. Hard frost results in the withering and drying of the tender, newly-emerged milkweed leaves. The problem is that, until frost danger has passed, even if monarch eggs or early instars are not frozen, the frosted leaves can result in larval starvation. Another problem is that monarchs that arrive very early may not be able to find an adequate supply of sprouting milkweeds, so they may keep migrating northwards. And of course, the further they go the worse the problem gets." "One of the reasons this study is so important is because it is very difficult logistically to study the departure times of monarchs from the overwintering sites. Therefore, by collecting spring migration and milkweed data, we should definitively answer the important question of whether monarchs are prematurely getting north of their milkweed food source. "In order to investigate whether this is a problem for monarchs, participants in Journey North can do a very simple experiment. I hope you will join us in collecting these important data." Professor Lincoln P. Brower Research Professor of Biology Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA Please volunteeer your time to help with this important study. How to Participate in the Spring Study: "Milkweed & Monarch Migration" Report the LAST Monarchs of the Season In Texas and other Gulf States, some monarchs remain year round. When do they leave your area? Please help us document the tail end of the migration, and importantly, where monarchs are found during the winter months this year: Each day that you see a monarch, record the date on the "Season Summary Data Sheet". If possible, include the average temperature and photoperiod at the time of your sighting. Periodically, keep notes describing how monarch habitat has changed since the migration passed through your region. What has happened to the flowers? When did the first frost occur? Report to Journey North when you've seen your LAST monarch. (Please try to wait several weeks before reporting, so you're certain you've truly seen the LAST butterfly! How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question 1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-monarch@learner.org 2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #16 3. In the body of your message, answer the question above. The Next Monarch Migration Update Will be Posted on October 27, 1999. Copyright 1999 Journey North. 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