Monarch Butterfly Migration Update: October 18, 2001 Today's Report Includes: It?s Official: Arrival at Mexican Sanctuaries Confirmed! Highlights From Along the Migration Trail Monarchs Now Moving Across Northern Mexico Counting Monarchs With Colegio Ingles: Challenge Question #12 Discussion of CQ #11: How Many Monarchs per Minute? Like Finding a Needle in a Haystack? Try This! Challenge Question #13 Monarch Orientation Mechanisms by Dr. Bill Calvert Discussion of CQ #10: Will My Monarch Make it to Mexico? It?s Official: Arrival at Mexican Sanctuaries Confirmed! After scattered reports since September 10, the certain arrival of monarchs at the Mexican sanctuaries was announced last week by three independent sources. According to Eligio Garcia, biologistat the monarch reserve, ?El día 12 de octubre el Ing. Juan Velázquez, que trabaja con nosotros en la Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca, observo dos mariposas en el vivero de la Sierra Chincua.? (The 12th of October, the engineer Juan Velazquez, who works with us in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, observed 2 butterflies in the tree nursery of Sierra Chincua.) Similarly, Sra. Estella Romero and Sr. German Medina (who live in Angangueo and help with the Symbolic Migration) each saw their first monarchs last week, as did more children in the mountain schools. At the moment the children at Escuela Secondaria Rancho Escondida were honoring the Mexican flag they saw 6 butterflies fly by. They all screamed with surprise! Children at Escuela Presidente Calles say they observed butterflies in their gardens. Some of these children live beside the El Rosario sanctuary and say the number of butterflies increases there each day. Sra. Romero wrote, ?I personally saw a butterfly flying in Angangueo at mid-day on Saturday, October 13. I was almost paralyzed with surprise after watching for so long! I had gone up to the El Rosario Sanctuary with my little brother Fernando last Tuesday, October 9 to look, but we didn?t see any butterflies and the people who work there hadn?t either. Over the weekend, German Medina saw a small group flying by the lower part of town, toward El Rosario sanctuary. So finally, in short, we now can assure that butterflies are here!? We asked for Dr. Calvert?s interpretation of the arrivals reported earlier. Here are his comments: Thoughts About Early Reports of Arrivals in Mexico Highlights From Along the Migration Trail Link to This Week's Migration Data (for classroom mapping). Sunday the 14th was a big day for watching the migration in Texas, as today?s migration data show. Following a rainy Saturday and several days with south winds, Sunday was a sunny, mild day with light, north winds. Perfect timing for a weekend during peak migration. Here are just a few of their reports: ?While driving on a farm road for 10 miles from Temple, TX to Moody, TX I counted over 400 Monarchs overhead,? reported Jennifer Moore of Gullett Elementary in Austin, TX. ?Today Sunday 10/14 there are a large number of butterflies over the city of Irving, TX. My daughter and I counted over 500 butterflies in less the 20 minutes we were standing in one spot, and the butterflies were flying south at various heights,? reported Dagan and Ayelet Lavee. ?We were driving into Austin and the first 1/2 mile down the road my children and I counted 35 Monarchs. It was about 11:35 am, there was a nice breeze, and the temp. was 78 degrees. Between our home and Austin we counted an addition 60 Monarchs flying over the highway. We were so excited to have seen that many flying south,? observed the Bowie family homeschool. Monarchs Now Moving Across Northern Mexico The excitement has crossed the Mexican border with the monarchs. Here are comments from several observers: Escuela Colegio Ingles in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon wrote: ?Hello! This last weekend my students from Colegio Ingles reported many different sightings around the city area. Even the newspaper and the local news are talking about them. They are here!!!!!!!!!!!! These are some of the sightings by my enthusiastic students: At school, very close to the Sierra Madre Mountains tens per minute. Los Cavazos ranch about 40 every ten minutes. Del Valle neighborhood in San Pedro 25 in 30 minutes, 50 per hour. Villa Chipinque neighborhood about 15 per minute. Alpino Chipinque Club about 20. A Ranch in Allende Nuevo Leon about 30 per five minutes. Las Torres Carrefour area 100 per minute. Cadereyta Nuevo Leon, 25 per minute. Antiguo San Agustin, 40 per minute. By the Cerro de la Silla Mountain, 15 per minute. Counting Monarchs With Colegio Ingles: Challenge Question #12 Challenge Question #12: "Which observer from Colegio Ingles saw the greatest number of butterflies? Give your answer in monarchs per hour." (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Senora Rocio Trevino, who founded Mexico?s Monarch Migration Project ?Correo Real,? was on her way to lead a monarch workshop when hundreds and hundreds of butterflies appeared in the skies as she traveled: 13 de Octubre Hoy fue un dia muy emocionante, a las 10 de la mañana fui a Monterrey a dar una platica sobre la mariposa Monarca en el Parque Chipinque. Al Salir de Saltillo empece a contar a las mariposas que cruzaban la carretera durante 43 Kilometros mi contador me indicaba 110 mariposas, de ahi en adelante, en los siguientes 30 Kilometros, mi contador me indico 330 mariposas. Pero la sorpresa fue al llegar a Santa Catarina, N.L. habia ciento y cientos volando bajo, a 10 metros del suelo. Igual numero de mariposas observe en San Pedro Garza Garcia hasta llegar al parque. Ahi habia un buen numero. A las tres y media de la tarde que me regrese, el espectaculo de la migracion estaba en lo maximo eran miles y miles de mariposas, desde casi el nivel del suelo hasta que se perdian de vista en lo alto del cielo. Esto duro hasta la altura del campo de carreras de caballos. Esperaba al llegar a Saltillo ver buen numero y mi sorpresa fue observar unicamente tres mariposas en 15 minutos. Rocio Trevino de Correo Real Senora Trevino founded Correo Real when she realized that children, who didn?t understand the significance of the monarch migration, were killing hundreds of monarchs when they migrated through Coahuila each fall. Here?s her delightful and inspiring story: About Correo Real: Mexico?s Monarch Migration Tracking Project How Many Monarchs per Minute? Discussion of Challenge Question #11 Last week, Profesora Herrera said she saw ?cinco monarcas por minuto.? Felicitaciones to Sister Bernadette?s 5th grade class at St. Veronica School in Philadelphia, PA who knew this meant 5 monarchs per minute and who provided this full translation of Profesora Herrera's statement: ?Finally monarchs in Piedras Negras, Coahuila. Yesterday was Sunday, a day very cold, at least less than ten degrees. We saw five monarchs per minute and on the road to the city of Acuna as well. All were certain and had a clear destination to the south.? Like Finding a Needle in a Haystack? Stop and think for a minute. The monarchs that are now funneling through Texas and northern Mexico have come from points across eastern North America. Picture a funnel, with Texas at the tip: At the latitude of the southern tip of Texas, the monarchs' flight path is only about 8% as wide as it was when they started from their breeding grounds in the North. The area in red measures over 9 million square kilometers. This map shows the HUGE area in North America across which monarchs move on their way to the sanctuaries in Mexico. The area in red measures over 9 million square kilometers! In contrast, the over-wintering sites are a tiny speck on the planet. They are clustered in a region that measures only 800 kilometers square. This means that the monarchs find an area that 11,000 times smaller than the area the migration crosses. Finding a needle in a haystack almost sounds easy in comparison! The monarchs certainly seem to know where they?re going, don?t they? Try This! Challenge Question #13 Calculate the area of a standard football field, then answer this question: Challenge Question #13: ?Finding the Mexican sanctuaries in the North American continent is like finding a _____ on a football field. (Fill in the blank with something to scale. That is, name an object that is 11,000 times smaller than a football field.)? Here are the dimensions of a football field: Length of field: 120 yards (including 10 yards of end zone at each end) Width of field: 53 1/3 yards (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Monarch Orientation Mechanisms by Dr. Bill Calvert ?The means by which monarchs navigate from almost continent-wide breeding grounds to a tiny area of Mexico's Transvolcanic Belt has mystified monarch researchers for over half a century and remains one of the most intriguing questions of monarch biology,? says Dr. Calvert. Dr. Calvert?s Discussion of Monarch Orientation Mechanisms Will My Monarch Make it to Mexico? Discussion of Challenge Question #10 Is it possible for a late-season monarch to make it to Mexico? Challenge Question #10 asked, ?Of the tagged monarchs that were recovered Mexico, what?s the latest date one was tagged?? Ms. Cerullo's seventh grade science classes in Woburn, Massachusetts were relieved after reviewing the tagging data: ?We checked the tagged Monarch recovery list for 1999 and found that the latest release date was November 17. This was very important for us to find out, because we received our caterpillars very late this year. They have just gone into their chrysalises today (10/12). Also, we received a second batch of 2 day old caterpillars by mistake about 2 weeks after the first batch and these caterpillars will not be going into their chrysalises for at least another week. When they emerge we will have the dilemma of releasing them and hoping they can make it to Mexico or keeping them in captivity, knowing they won't live very long and they won't be doing what they were meant to do. Does any one have any suggestions?? (Please write them if you do! HBCTeach@aol.com) How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions: 1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-monarch@learner.org 2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #12 (or #13). 3. In the body of the message, answer the question above. The Next Monarch Migration Update Will Be Posted on October 25, 2001. Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form